skip to content

Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Image: Department of Chemistry

We'll be welcoming prospective undergraduates during the University Open Days on Thursday and Friday. They are coming to find out what it's like to study here, and we'll be offering them a sample lecture.

Like other departments and college, the Department of Chemistry will open its doors to prospective applicants during Open Days to help them find out how this subject is offered and taught at Cambridge.

The Open Days are always very popular. Last July, when Director of Teaching Dr Bill Nolan gave a sample first-year chemistry lecture (on organic synthesis), the Wolfson Theatre was so full that some were sitting on the stairs and more were standing at the back of the room.

And members of the department who ran the chemistry information stand on the University Sidgwick Site were swamped with questions from potential applicants during the day.

Natural Sciences
Unlike other UK universities, Cambridge doesn't offer a single-discipline chemistry degree. Instead we offer a broader course called the Natural Sciences Tripos. Undergraduates can study Natural Sciences on either a three-year (BA) or four-year (MSci) degree course. 

Many students apply for the Natural Sciences Tripos because they like the idea of being able to study a broader range of options to begin with before refining their choice of science later on. As Dr Nolan explained - before he went on to discuss drug synthesis - there is a range of subject options within Natural Sciences. Students can make chemistry one of their subjects in the first and second years and then choose to specialise in chemistry in the third (and optional fourth) year if they wish.

Drug Synthesis
The Open Days got the thumbs-up from many attendees. The lecture, which focused on the molecular structure of drugs from painkillers and statins to antibiotics and antihistamines, was interactive. Attendees were encouraged to answer questions about functional groups in compounds and the types of chemical reactions needed to convert one to another.

One prospective student said afterwards: "I went to a lecture in another department, but that was more of an overview of the course. It was really interesting to come to Chemistry and see the kind of lecture we would get as first-year undergraduates."