Program Overview

The MChem Chemistry with an Industrial Placement Year course gives you a great opportunity to build experience and confidence in applying your chemistry skills in a commercial laboratory environment.

You will spend your third year working at a leading organisation in the chemical industry, paying reduced fees for the year you are on placement. Most students earn salaries during their placements and many are offered a graduate level job at the end. Previous students have worked in labs at businesses such as GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, and even companies overseas.

When you return to Sheffield in your fourth year, you will further develop your research skills through advanced lecture topics, and in a research project where you will join a team that is working to make new discoveries in chemistry. The course is accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry, which means that you can acquire a range of skills and knowledge that employers look for as you work independently, in teams and on a range of projects.

We cover a wide range of topics based on the latest concepts and findings in chemistry, and the skills and expertise that chemistry graduates can offer industry and society. These include:

• Environmental and sustainable chemistry
• Biological and medicinal chemistry
• Advanced materials and nanotechnology
• Astrochemistry
• Computational chemistry

Your lectures in first and second year are supported by small group tutorials, where you can delve deeper into complex topics. These small group teaching sessions are led by your personal tutor in first year, and specialist experts in later years. In addition, your personal tutor will also help you work out which skills you need to develop and support you as you build up your experience in time for graduation.

If you want to study chemistry, but don’t meet the entry requirements to go straight into the first year of this course, you may be able to apply for our Chemistry with a Foundation Year course. Finish the year-long foundation programme with an average mark of 60 or above, and you’re guaranteed entry onto the first year of your chosen chemistry degree at the University of Sheffield.