About Us
Our Mission
The Chemistry Department is committed to delivering high quality and internationally recognized teaching and research programmes to our students, so that our graduates will be equipped to play the pivotal roles required of them in the overall development of the region and, particularly, in the sectors related to chemical science.
The Department
The teaching of Chemistry at St. Augustine began in 1963 in the former College of Arts and Sciences and today is part of the Faculty of Science and Technology.
Our Department brings together a group of talented teachers, researchers, students and support staff all focused on the teaching, learning and creation of chemical knowledge and communicating the role of Chemistry, the Central Science, in the modern world. We engage in high-quality research facilitated by a range of state-of-the-art instrumentation. The various research groups in the Department also collaborate with regional (other UWI campuses) and international research institutes.
The Undergraduate Level
Students begin with Level I Chemistry courses, designed to bridge the gap between Secondary School and University Level Chemistry, and to lay a foundation for the study of advanced concepts in the Chemistry Degree. Currently, both Level II and Level III courses are classified as Advanced featuring core courses in Analytical, Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry, and a research project for Chemistry Majors.
Students have the option of pursuing a standalone Major in Chemistry or a double major in Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry. The latter Major requires the student to undertake an Industrial Internship to complete the course of study.
The B.Sc. Chemistry Special option includes more advanced Chemistry courses and greater exposure to Chemistry research. It is designed for the students with sufficiently deep interest to successfully pursue Chemistry at the postgraduate level. The B.Sc. (Special) in Chemistry adds advanced courses in Organic, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry to the major with a year-long research project component.
Chemistry and Management is a popular dual-degree that harnesses the energies of students with strong entrepreneurship or business focus.
The Department advances a minor in Chemistry as being also accessible to students of other disciplines who would benefit from having specific knowledge of a Chemistry sub-discipline or closely related group of courses. The Department also offers a minor in Analytical Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Biology and Materials Chemistry which targets the needs of some Chemistry students with a particular interest in being employed in the local market after graduation.
Our programmes are intended to produce graduates with the competencies for functioning in a wide range of Chemical and non-Chemical spheres.
Research Degrees (M.Phil. and PhD)
At the postgraduate level, the Department offers research degrees leading to MPhil and PhD Degrees in Chemistry with research covering the broad areas of natural products, synthetic, inorganic material, analytical, environmental, biophysical chemistry and chemical education. The MPhil degree in Chemistry requires original research and the production of a research thesis. The PhD requires a substantial body of original research presented in a thesis and public oral defence benchmarked to international standards. The M.Phil and PhD degrees both lead to professional expertise and involve a student contributing new knowledge via the thesis and through original scientific publications.
Approximately 50 students are actively pursuing higher degrees. Scholarships are available for students of the highest academic standing, but some funding is also available for students not on scholarship in the form of demonstratorships.
M.Sc. Programme
The Department also offers one taught master’s programme leading to the M.Sc. in Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health which was introduced in September 2009. This programme is designed to prepare persons to function in key areas such as enforcement – to ensure compliance, research and development, training, organisational systems and practice, policy and standards development; consultancy, technical services and entrepreneurship.
