English > Studying at SCIENCE > Full degree MSc Degrees (in english) > MSc Programmes > Chemistry

Climate, health and environment are global challenges to which chemists are able to provide solutions. As a chemist, you might work to improve existing medicines, materials and fuels or create new substances and analyze their impact upon the environment. As a trained chemist you will be prepared to work as a researcher, developer and consultant. You might manage a public or private laboratory here in Denmark or abroad. You can teach at the university or high school level. Or, you can start your own business with insights gained at the Department of Chemistry. By earning a master’s degree in chemistry at the Department of Chemistry you will have actively engaged in an education which has primed you for a creative, well-paid and secure career.

• Profile
• Career opportunities
• Programme Structure
• Competency description
• Admission requirements
• Tuition fees and application

Profile

The master’s programme in Chemistry combines formal coursework with independent research under the guidance of an experienced researcher. A master’s degree in chemistry equips you with the necessary skills for participating in research groups or for the independent leadership and management of complex work and development situations within the field. As a graduate student in chemistry, you may tailor an education that satisfies your own interests or pursue an established curriculum that offers you an organic synthesis skills profile. This skills profile is in high demand throughout the Danish pharmaceutical industry.

Career Opportunities

Chemists are employed in research and analytical laboratories in the private sector. They are also employed as advisers in both private firms and public institutions. Careers in education include instruction at the high school and university level. Finally, some chemists work abroad or engage in entrepreneurial endeavours which draw from insights gained during their studies.

Programme Structure

Graduate studies in chemistry take two years to complete. The first year consists of a series of compulsory and elective courses. In the second year, you will concentrate on your Master’s thesis. Your thesis work occurs within a research group setting at the Department of Chemistry under the guidance of a researcher. You will shape a program of study and description of your thesis work together with your supervisor. You may begin with your thesis work once you have completed 15 ECTS in your graduate studies. Oftentimes, thesis work occurs over a two year period. This means that thesis work and courses with relevance to it are concurrent during a significant duration of your graduate program. You can also complete your thesis work in a private firm or public institution in Denmark or abroad. You will then be assigned an internal supervisor from the Department of Chemistry as well as an external supervisor from wherever you are performing your thesis work. Your graduate education is completed with an oral defence of your thesis conducted by an external examiner.

During the course of your studies you must:

• Complete the course, “Scientific Writing, Planning and Presentation”
• Take at least one Major Course (15 ECTS) in either physical chemistry, organic chemistry, computational chemistry or inorganic chemistry
• Select at least one 7.5 ECTS course from a series of graduate courses in chemistry
• Complete an additional 30 ECTS of elective coursework. Most students opt for chemistry coursework, but should you wish to pursue a specialized interest, you are free to select courses from throughout the University of Copenhagen.

Master's Thesis: 60 ECTS
Restricted Optional Courses: 22,5 ECTS
Compulsory Courses: 7,5 ECTS
Optional Courses: 30 ECTS

Master's Thesis: 45 ECTS
Restricted Optional Courses: 37,5 ECTS
Compulsory Courses: 7,5 ECTS
Optional Courses: 30 ECTS

Master's Thesis: 30 ECTS
Restricted Optional Courses: 52,5 ECTS
Compulsory Courses: 7,5 ECTS
Optional Courses: 30 ECTS

Competency Description

Chemistry graduates acquire the skills to:

• Work independently, both individually and in teams
• Formulate, structure and execute a research project involving the development and use of chemical methods
• Manage complex research and development situations
• Investigate and synthesize available knowledge in a field of chemistry
• Evaluate chemical methods, their capabilities and limitations
• Discuss chemical methods, theory and results in general as well as at a scientific level
• Discuss the application of chemical results in an industrial, societal and ethical context from a professional basis
• Assume responsibility for one’s own professional development and specialisation.

Additionally, a master’s level graduate in chemistry with an organic synthesis profile can:

• Assess security risks of a given synthesis and take necessary precautions
• Situate organic chemistry within the field’s wider perspective
• Explain likely reaction mechanisms

Skills

A chemistry master's graduate acquires the following skills:

• Process and analyse data
• Read and understand literature in the field of chemistry
• Utilize chemistry databases
• Account for work orally and in writing

Additionally, chemistry master's graduates with an organic synthesis profile shall be able to:

• Perform advanced organic preparative work, including work with reactive, toxic and air-sensitive reagents
• Organize, describe, execute and optimize multistep syntheses on large and small scales
• Communicate detailed instructions in writing with such detail that they can be followed by persons without specialized knowledge or can be published in international journals.
• Make use of synthetic chemistry literature, databases, reference works in conjunction with the knowledge of chemical reactions' detailed processes to develop and improve preparative methods

Knowledge

Chemistry master's graduates will:

• Through course and project work, acquire knowledge and methodology in selected research areas
• Through independent research under supervisor guidance, acquire in-depth knowledge of a specialised field at an internationally competitive level

Additionally, chemistry master's graduates with an organic synthesis profile possess knowledge of:

• Methods of producing the main functional groups
• Reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry
• Conformational, steric and stereoelectronic effects

Admission requirements 

The admission requirements are described in §4 of the curriculum.

Tuition fees and application

You can find information about tuition fees and how to apply for the programme under Admission.