The Department of Chemistry

Course Description

CHEM 3670 is a one semester condensed chemistry research project course for students pursuing a Chemistry Major in which the skills and techniques acquired in the Level I and II lab courses are utilized in solving a research problem. In this course each student will engage in guided research under the supervision of a member of staff on a project which may be interdisciplinary or in one of the sub-disciplines: analytical, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry. The student will be required to meet each week with his/her supervisor to discuss/review their experimental results, progress on the project and weekly work plan before executing their plan each week. Students are expected to work more independently in this course but will receive further guidance on specific safety issues; searching, reviewing and critically assessing the chemical literature; developing and testing a research question/hypothesis; interpreting and drawing conclusions from experimental results and in presenting research results in written and oral formats. The course also introduces students to specialized advanced techniques and skills specific to individual projects and provides hands-on experience with modern research instrumentation.

CHEM 3670 comprises sixty hours of bench work, two two-hour sessions of instruction and ten one-hour non-lab based research work sessions each semester. A compulsory research project specific safety test must be passed within the first two weeks of the course before lab work can commence. Assessment will focus primarily on the chemical knowledge, practical competency, problem-solving skills and research capability of students through the preparation and quality of milestone reports, the final project report, and oral presentation as well as the quality of research work performed, and active participation in group discussions.

Assessment

Coursework     100%