What can I study?

Home /
What can I study? /
Postgraduate study /
School of Engineering and Physical Sciences /
Chemistry /
Key Information

Key Information

Chemistry at Heriot-Watt University will provide research projects to stimulate your imagination, whether you are interested in exploring fundamental chemical questions or prefer applying your chemistry to real-life problems.

The chemistry research is summarised below under the themes:

biomimetic and medicinal organic chemistry
inorganic chemical synthesis and computation
chemical dynamics, photochemistry and applied spectroscopy
synthesis and properties of new materials

Together these link the research interests of various members of staff. You will notice the many interdisciplinary projects which have developed as a consequence of the friendly atmosphere here. The exceptionally broad interests of the academic staff range from fundamental aspects of pure chemistry to interdisciplinary areas which require interactions with colleagues in physics, applied science, materials engineering, biochemistry, and molecular biology.

Detailed information can be found at the following link http://www.che.hw.ac.uk/research/research_areas.html

Not surprisingly, the applied nature of much of our research continues to attract significant funding from many of the top industrial companies, both in the UK and overseas. This has important spin-offs for our students, many of whom have the opportunity to spend time working with our industrial partners.

In both the 1996 and 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 96 and 2001) we were identified as one of the most rapidly advancing university chemistry departments in the UK (now Grade 4A). The last five years have seen over £3 million of investment in new equipment and a doubling of research output.

We have excellent research facilities. In recent years new research suites have been created for multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, molecular modelling/computational chemistry, polymer chemistry, laser chemistry and laser mass spectrometry. These underpin recent staff appointments in a number of key areas. The key facilities are:

NMR

Bruker DPX400 spectrometer with Z-gradients for multinuclear and multidimensional work; open-access AC200 spectrometer, with automatic sample-changer, for routine 1H and 13C spectra.

X-RAY DIFFRACTION

New CCD and 4-circle single crystal X-ray diffractometers with low temperature attachments, powder diffraction facilities.

MASS SPECTROMETRY

Thermoquest Automass Multi with ESI/APCI, EI, LC, GC (low resolution); Kratos Concept IS (high resolution MS).

COMPUTERS

Laboratory for computational studies in inorganic chemistry. Sun and Silicon Graphics workstations for molecular modelling.

LASERS

Range of tuneable dye, fixed frequency excimer and high power solid-state lasers.

POLYMER CHARACTERISATION

Full range of standard and specialist equipment – includes molecular weight determination, thermal analysis, light microscopy, dielectric spectroscopy, conductivity measurement and tensile testing of single fibres.

ADDITIONAL FACILITIES

These include scanning electron microscopy, HPLC and GC, elemental analysis, UV, IR, scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy.

AUDIOVISUAL RESOURCES ROOM

For preparation of talks and posters, funded by Esso Grant for Teaching in HE.

STUDENTSHIPS

A number of research positions are offered each year leading to the award of PhD and MPhil degrees. Details of studentships currently available are provided on our website.

Funding is usually available from the following sources: