King's College London

Teaching is led by the Chemistry Department though you will also be taught by chemists whose expertise is embedded within different faculties of King’s.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work, e.g. 150 hours work for a 15-credit module. These hours cover every aspect of the module: lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions, independent study, coursework and preparation for examinations.

In your first and second years you will develop your knowledge of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry, including on the Chemistry in Cells and understanding the role of proteins, taking some modules with biochemistry students. Alongside this you will take a specialised module on core mathematical skills for advanced physical and computational chemistry. Our comprehensive integrated laboratory programme will teach you how to apply a large number of different, experimental techniques.

In your third year you can pursue a professional internship and get paid a salary to work for a company, including in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, in finance, banking, management and law, and smaller organisations such as biotech companies. We help you secure these competitive year-long placements by providing support from King’s Career Services, a Chemistry academic Year in Industry lead and a dedicated Faculty Placement Coordinator.

In your fourth year after returning from industry, you can choose from a range of specialised modules exploring the application of chemical principles to biological and biomedical problems, including including the chemistry of disease and therapy, and molecular biology techniques, with the option of studying advanced protein chemistry, or biophysical techniques – such as Xray crystallography. You will also undertake project work.

The fourth year is completely different in that you will gain hands-on experience of tackling a major project – undertaking six months of in-depth research exploring an area of your interest. You can work in our state-of-the-art research labs in Chemistry, or work with a Department in the Faculty of Health Sciences or King’s affiliated hospitals, or even at the Francis Crick Institute, a King’s partner and global leader in biomedical research. Covering a range of real-world problems, the projects range from antibacterial and antiviral therapies, the origins of life, computational chemistry and AI, radio chemistry and cancer therapies.

Through this project you’ll develop key workplace skills including project management, creative thinking, working as a team, and communication and presentation skills. You will be assessed via a literature review, a poster and your thesis, and a viva where you present your research to peers and senior academics and respond to questions.

At King’s, all students are allocated a Personal Tutor who will play a key role in helping you to get the most out of your studies, providing support and encouragement for your time at university. Personal tutors provide you with the opportunity to periodically take stock of your learning, academic progress and general wellbeing as you progress through your studies, offering guidance on how to seek further support if you need it, and how to access the range of opportunities available to you as a King's student. 

We will use a delivery method that will ensure students have a rich, exciting experience from the start. Face to face teaching will be complemented and supported with innovative technology so that students also experience elements of digital learning and assessment.

This course is primarily taught at the King’s College London Waterloo Campus, with some teaching at Guy’s Campus putting you in the heart of London with access to all its academic resources and within easy reach of the social and entertainment attractions of one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities.

Courses are divided into modules. You will normally take modules totalling 600 credits.