Chemistry
Welcome to the Chemistry programmes within the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Many congratulations for choosing an exciting subject that is key to solving the health, environmental and energy problems that we face today. We look forward to helping you in your studies and meeting you in September.
This page contains some general information about your course that may be useful before you arrive at the university. If you still have any questions before you arrive please contact the Director of Learning and Teaching for Chemistry, Dr Scott Turner.
At the University of Surrey we provide an outstanding amount of academic and pastoral support, transferable skills and advice to help you in future careers. We will help you to gain skills in scientific presentations, technical writing, communication, team-working, problem-solving, critical thinking and many other useful areas, alongside the theory and laboratory experience in Chemistry.
Course information
We have three flavours of degree:
- Chemistry
- Chemistry with Forensic Investigation
- Medicinal Chemistry
All of these degrees can be taken at either BSc or MChem level. We have designed your degrees with flexibility in mind. That means you may be able to change course once you are here, typically up to the end of second year. For example, a number of students begin taking a 3-year BSc but after recognising the value of a placement decide to move to either the 4-year BSc or the 4-year integrated masters degree.
The academic year is split into two semesters October-February and February-June with coursework throughout the year and examinations at the end of each semester. In your first year you will be taking the following topics.
Semester 1
- Analytical Chemistry with Labs
- Inorganic Chemistry with Labs
- Maths and Computing for Chemistry
- Forensics OR Data Analysis OR Cell Biology (depends on degree and options chosen)
Semester 2
Top tips
Re-familiarise yourself with notes from your pre-university chemistry studies, typically A-level chemistry. This will help to make sure you hit the ground running since it is easy to forget things after the long summer break.
Review other pre-university notes that maybe useful. This includes most science subjects (if you did them) e.g. Biology, Physics and any Mathematics.
You will be asked to take a mathematics diagnosis test before you arrive. This is not compulsory and does not contribute to any marks. However, it will give you an idea of where you may have weaknesses. But don’t worry, whatever your mathematical ability every relevant topic will be covered in your first year.
It’s not all work! We have a wonderful student society, ChemSoc, which we hope you will join and get involved in their activities. In your second year you could even be on the committee running ChemSoc!
Before you arrive you can also explore the range of other societies that the university offers on the University of Surrey Students' Union website.
Recommended reading
During your degree we will recommend a range of texts and other sources for general and specialised topics. Before starting your degree you are welcome to purchase physical copies. However, we suggest waiting until you arrive because you will be given free access to digital copies of all the texts listed below. If you prefer a physical copy there are also plenty in our university library.
Three texts concern traditional areas: Inorganic, Physical and Organic Chemistry. A fourth is provided since we consider Analytical Chemistry as an equally important branch of Chemistry. The current list is:
- Inorganic Chemistry by Catherine Housecroft and Alan Sharpe (5th edition) Pearson
- Physical Chemistry by Peter Atkins, Julio de Paula and James Keeler (11th edition) Oxford University Press
- Organic Chemistry by Jonathan Clayden, Nick Greeves and Stuart Warren (2nd edition) Oxford University Press
- Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Daniel Harris and Charles Lucy (10th edition) Macmillan International
In addition you will be given free access to a digital copies of texts on general Chemistry text and Mathematics as applied to Chemistry.
- Chemistry3 – Introducing Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry by Burrows, Holman, Lancaster, Overton, Parsons, Pilling and Price (4th edition) Oxford University Press.
- Maths for Chemistry by Paul Monk and Lindsey Munro (3rd edition) Oxford University Press
In the first week you will also have a presentation from the Royal Society of Chemistry and, if you join the RSC (currently free), you will receive their monthly magazine “Chemistry World”. This is an excellent read covering a large range of chemistry related stories from industry and research.