Chemistry – (M.Sc.)

The two-year MSc programme in Chemistry at Aarhus University targets students from tertiary education institutions in Denmark and abroad. The degree programme is both practical and research-oriented and is aimed at the business community, research institutions and the public sector. The degree programme is flexible and shaped to match the academic interests of the individual student. As a student on the programme, you get to specialise in a particular subject area while at the same time acquiring general competencies in chemistry.

The teaching at the university is greatly influenced by the research conducted here, as the lecturers are active researchers.

As an MSc student you have excellent opportunities for working with researchers in the laboratory, and you can also complete a project in collaboration with a private company or a public institution.

Students as researchers
The Master’s thesis written during the final year of the degree programme carries considerable weight and, in this context, students benefit from the informal atmosphere between staff and students. When you work on your Master’s thesis, you become associated with a group of researchers of your own choice. In this way you have the opportunity to participate in the group’s research projects, academic discussions and articles. You also have the option of specialising in a topic within a broad area, including one of the areas of chemistry in which Aarhus University is particularly strong:

* Synthesis and analysis of new organic substances, e.g. for pharmaceuticals

* Structural studies: NMR, X-ray and laser spectroscopy

* Computer simulations for investigations and calculations of molecular properties and reaction- mechanisms

* Materials chemistry – synthesis, structure, properties and new materials.

Research, synthesis and teaching
Graduates from the Department of Chemistry find work in a wide range of fields and institutions. Most jobs are within research, development, teaching, communication and consultancy in the public or private sectors, particularly chemical and pharmaceutical companies. Those chemists who are employed in the chemical industry typically perform a wide range of functions. For example, you might work with developing new products, analysing chemical reactions in order to improve them, or become responsible for supervising production to prevent errors from occurring.

If you have a desire to communicate about chemistry, you can choose to teach at Danish upper secondary or other schools or at laboratory technician or teacher training colleges, or in connection with different forms of adult education or other advanced education programmes. If you would like to teach at Danish upper secondary schools, you must supplement your MSc degree in Chemistry by taking elective subjects to gain teaching proficiency in one more Danish upper secondary school subject in addition to chemistry.