For a profile of Lisa Jing Yao, Overseas student, Year 2 MChem course at York please see here.
York is a research-focussed, high quality university offering a diverse and varied student lifestyle. Students can expect a welcoming environment and strong support networks alongside excellent academic and social facilities, all close to the ancient city of York. The main Heslington campus is set around a lake in 200 acres of landscaped parkland, about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from the city centre.
Despite being a historic city, York has a cosmopolitan environment offering a lively café bar and restaurant culture as well as vibrant entertainment and festivals. It is conveniently located, around two hours by rail from London, Edinburgh and Manchester, and has direct access to Manchester and Leeds/Bradford International Airports.
The Department of Chemistry has an outstanding reputation for teaching and research. In April 2007 we had 46 academic staff, 75 research fellows, 150 postgraduates and 430 undergraduates in the Department. We are the only Department in the country to have three members of staff recognised for ‘excellence in teaching’ by the Royal Society of Chemistry: we were the top-rated department at York in 2005 and 2006 in the national student satisfaction survey: our research ranking of 5A places us in the top six British universities for Chemistry. Over the last 6 years over £17 million has been invested in new buildings and equipment.
Academic Strengths
The undergraduate programmes are built round a core of material which makes up two-thirds of the first three years of study. The other third you select from 15 option modules allowing you to focus on industrial, environmental or medicinal chemistry or to reinforce mainstream chemistry. For BSc students (typically 35 of them) Year 3 finishes with a substantial research project in an area of their choice. Year 4 of the MChem programmes comprises a major research project plus some taught modules. The year can be spent on an industrial placement (usually 35-40 students), at one of our partner universities in Europe, North America or Singapore (around 5-10 students) or you can remain at York (25-30 students).
State-of-the-art research takes place within the Department with particular strengths in Synthetic Chemistry, Structure Determination using MS and NMR Spectroscopy, Liquid Crystals and Nanotechnology, Chemistry of the Atmosphere, Protein Analysis, Bio-inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry and Green Chemistry.
Career Prospects
About half our undergraduates move on to further training (mostly PhD studies or teacher training courses) whilst some 30% find immediate employment in the science-based industries. The financial world and IT organisations also recruit significant numbers of our students. In 2005 94% of students had ‘positive destinations’. To develop the employment potential of students all our programmes include components on key skills such as team-working, communication ability and problem solving.
Student Support
York has a college structure. You are a member of your college throughout your time at university. All students are guaranteed a room in college in the first year. All teaching takes place within the friendly working environment of the Department. You are supported by your supervisor who will be one of the chemistry staff providing learning support to chemistry students from your college. Each lecture course is supplemented by a tutorial (a small group of 4 or 5 students meeting with the appropriate tutor) or, occasionally, a workshop (involving the 20-24 students in your college year-group). All the University facilities are located on the campus at Heslington.
For more information about our undergraduate courses in the Department of Chemistry please visit our website at: www.york.ac.uk/depts/chem/ugrad/index.htm
For details of the Chemistry Department’s International club please see:
www.york.ac.uk/depts/chem/internat/intclub.html
For Admissions Enquiries please contact:
Dr Andrew Parsons, Undergraduate Admissions Tutor
Email: chem-ugrad@york.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1904 432545
