Master's Programme in Chemistry – Physical and Computational Chemistry

The Physical and Computational Chemistry specialisation within the Master's programme in Chemistry provides you with in-depth knowledge in advanced physical and computational chemistry.

The programme provides you with a solid foundation of theoretical knowledge and practical skills in all the most important areas of theoretical chemistry and computational chemistry, such as chemical bonding and electron structure of molecules and materials, molecular dynamics, and Monte Carlo simulations. You will also gain in-depth knowledge in advanced areas of physical chemistry and modern experimental methods such as (laser) spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and photochemistry.

During the programme, you will:

• have the opportunity to have a personal mentor who will help you prepare for your future career;
• build a foundation that will enable you to pursue advanced studies in a range of modern research areas in academia or industry; and
• be part of a university with two Nobel Prizes in chemistry.

Student profile

You are probably coming directly from your Bachelor's degree or have had a relevant job to strengthen your skills. You have a firm basis in physical chemistry, and possibly some experience in computational chemistry. You are interested in quantitative tools, such as mathematics and programming, to understand chemistry.

A PhD education is a distinct possibility in your future so you would value coming into contact with current research and prominent researchers in the respective international field.

Career

A Master's degree in chemistry from Uppsala University gives you a competitive edge both in Sweden and internationally, not least thanks to its close links to excellent and world-leading research. You will have great opportunities to shape an exciting future career in business, the public sector, entrepreneurship, or academia.

Surveys show that the job market for chemists graduating from Uppsala University is very good. Among those who have completed a Master's degree in the last ten years, 97% are in work or studying/doing a PhD.

The programme provides you with the knowledge and skills required to perform specialised and advanced tasks in your field, while also qualifying you for jobs in many other areas where problem solving, abstract thinking, and analytical skills are needed.

Job duties after graduation vary and may include, for example:

• research and development
• safety responsibility and legal issues
• patenting of inventions
• marketing and sales
• overall work with environmental and sustainability issues

Chemical issues are present in most sectors, and with specialisation, you will have a solid background for holding key positions in the work of meeting future challenges. This could be in areas such as the control of new products and production methods, advanced methods for environmental control and monitoring, or methods for finding new biomarkers for diagnostic applications.

Some examples of where previous students work are:

• Total Defense Research Institute
• Stora Enso
• CR Com
• AFRY AB
• Deloitte
• Cube Squared AB
• Uppsala University, University of Geneva, University of Cambridge, and Nantes Université (as PhD student)

Content

Year 1

During the first semester, you will take chemistry courses that build on your previous knowledge and skills. Some of these courses are also shared with other specialisations within the Master's programme in Chemistry. In the very first course, you will meet many of the researchers in the different fields of chemistry giving seminars about the current trends in their respective research fields.

The second semester, you will take courses in different areas of physical chemistry and computational chemistry, including photochemistry, catalysis, advanced electrochemistry and computational methods for materials and molecules. The courses will provide you with a thorough understanding of energy-relevant applications, e.g., solar cells, chemical conversion through catalytic processes and electrochemical energy storage.

Year 2

The third semester you will have a course in laser spectroscopy, advanced solar cells and batteries, as well as a course in statistical thermodynamics and simulation methods, taught by leading experts in the field.

Given the close connection to research, these courses often provide the inspiration for a degree project of 30 credits which concludes the programme.

Some examples of recent degree projects:

• van Hees: Impact of the electrolyte concentration on proton desolvation free energy: A computational study.
• Dietrich: Modelling inorganic crystalline electrolytes with neural network potentials: The case study of Na+-β-alumina.
• Wega: Influence of the Heavy atom effect on the cage escape yields of iron(III)-photosensitizers with N-heterocyclic carbene ligands.
• Fransén: Photophysics and photoinduced electron-transfer reactivity of a doublet charge-transfer excited ruthenium(III) N-heterocyclic carbene.

Learning experience

The courses combine theory and practice. The teaching takes the form of lectures, laboratory work, lessons, seminars, and projects.

The teachers on the programme are active researchers, which guarantees that the teaching is up-to-date and in-depth. We pleace great emphasis training you in a scientific approach where you get to solve problems, think critically and analytically, and independently plan and design research projects, where analysis and interpretation of the results are an important part.

You will be assigned a personal mentor who will invite you to seminars, group meetings, and other activities to prepare you for your future career. There you will meet doctoral students and post-docs who have come to Uppsala to be part of our research environment. Our research groups have well-developed collaborations with other institutions and authorities, which will be of great benefit to you when choosing your thesis topic and also in creating a broad network of contacts.

As a chemistry student at Uppsala University, you will receive systematic communication training in both oral and written presentation as an integral part of your education, which is in high demand on the labor market both in Sweden and internationally.

The programme is taught in English.

Degree

The programme leads to the degree of Master of Science (120 credits) with Chemistry as the main field of study. After one year of study, it is possible to obtain a degree of Master of Science (60 credits).