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Specialist Topics in Chemical Sciences

Module description

This module provides you with small-group teaching of advanced topics in chemistry at the research level. The material on offer reflects the interests of the staff involved and is at the cutting edge of their research fields. The syllabus consists of four short courses, each taught as a self-contained set of eight lectures (or the workshop/tutorial equivalent). You should choose three of these courses, enabling you to tailor the module to your specific interests and your intended future career.

In order to take this module you must ensure that you have completed the prerequisite modules specific to each short course, these being listed within the Syllabus Plan below.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of this module is to present chemistry at the research level in the form of three short courses, chosen from a set of five, each self-contained and lasting eight hours. This will enable you to tailor the module to your particular interests.

The skills you gain from lectures and seminars will develop or enhance your employability. Transferable skills to other sectors include: problem solving (linking theory to practice, responding to novel and unfamiliar problems, data handling), time management (managing time effectively individually and within a group), and self and peer review (taking responsibility for own learning, using feedback from multiple sources).

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Critically evaluate and analyse the material within your chosen short courses and integrate and assimilate this with material from earlier years where appropriate
• 2. Select appropriate material for personal development and future educational/career requirements in addition to material primarily for assessment purposes

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Evaluate in detail approaches to the development of chemistry through research and the application of research advances (for example in the pharmaceutical industry) with reference to primary literature, reviews and research articles
• 4. Analyse in detail essential facts and theory in specialised, contemporary research areas of chemistry
• 5. With limited guidance, deploy established techniques of analysis and enquiry used in chemistry research

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Communicate effectively, scientific arguments, evidence and conclusions using written means in a manner appropriate to the intended audience
• 7. Devise and sustain, with little guidance, a logical and reasoned argument with sound, convincing conclusions

Syllabus plan

Each of the following topics is a self-contained short course lasting eight hours, with its own specific syllabus available in separate documentation on the associated ELE page for this module. You should select three short courses from this list. There will be a minimum student number required for a given short course to run.

• Radicals in Organic Synthesis
  • Pre-requisites: Either of the first-year modules BIO1345 Structure and Reactivity of Organic Compounds I, or NSC1003 Foundations in Natural Science
  • BIO2085 (which has BIO1345 or NSC1003 Foundations in Natural Science a prerequisite anyway)
  • Ideally BIO3089 Organic Synthesis and Drug Design 

• Physical Organic Chemistry and the Determination of Organic Reaction Mechanisms
  • Pre-requisites: Either of the first-year modules BIO1345 Structure and Reactivity of Organic Compounds I or NSC1003 Foundations in Natural Science
  • BIO2085 Structure and Reactivity of Organic Compounds II (which has BIO1345 Structure and Reactivity of Organic Compounds I or NSC1003 Foundations in Natural Science as a prerequisite anyway)
  • Ideally BIO3089 Organic Synthesis and Drug Design

• Applications of Organotransition Metal Chemistry to Organic Synthesis
  • Pre-requisites: Either of the first-year modules BIO1345 Structure and Reactivity of Organic Compounds I or NSC1003 Foundations in Natural Science
  • BIO2085 (which has BIO1345 Structure and Reactivity of Organic Compounds I or NSC1003 as a prerequisite anyway)
  • Ideally BIO3089 Organic Synthesis and Drug Design 

• Molecular Transport across Biological Membranes
  • Pre-requisites: BIO1340 Fundamentals of Inorganic Chemistry and BIO1346 Biophysical Chemistry or NSC1003 Foundations in Natural Science 

• Atmospheric Chemistry
  • Pre-requisites: Either BIO1347 General Chemistry or NSC1003 Foundations in Natural Science

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons that are approved by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. If deferred, the format and timing of the re-assessment for each of the summative assessments is detailed in the table above ('Details of re-assessment'). The mark given for a deferred assessment will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral - if you have failed the module (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) and the module cannot be condoned, you will be required to complete a re-assessment for each of the failed components on the module. The format and timing of the re-assessment for each of the summative assessments is detailed in the table above ('Details of re-assessment'). If you pass the module following re-assessment, your module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• An indicative reading list will be specified at the start of each short course.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Module-specific ELE page - https://ele.exeter.ac.uk/

Key words search

Variable syllabus, chemical literature, chemistry