Starting at NTU
Chemistry / Chemistry (Professional Practice), MSc
Welcome to your new course and your new life as an NTU student. We've gathered together all the things you'll need to know to help you settle in here – have a read through and start thinking about how you're going to engage with your subject.
My course
Welcome from the team
Congratulations on securing your Masters place in Chemistry at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). You’ll soon be meeting lots of interesting people, and we are looking forward to meeting you on Monday 9th January 2023.
The MSc course focuses on the theory and principles of applied chemistry and demonstrates how they are put into practice in the chemistry laboratory. The course aims to enable you becoming and independent learner, and developing the skills required for a career in modern chemistry.
As a postgraduate and in student you'll learn about synthesis, identification and analysis of chemical samples and materials. You will experience how scientific methods are used to solve complex problems, often at the interface between chemistry and biosciences or applied physics. The skills and knowledge you'll gain will also equip you for a career in the chemical sciences such as PhD, and roles in industry or teaching.
You will encounter ideas and processes that may be completely new to you. We are a friendly team, and there is always someone from the academic or administration team available to provide support. As Masters students your first points of contact are the PG year tutor (Dr Warren Cross) and the course manager (Dr Valeria Puddu). We will support you settling in the course and guide you during the academic year.
Contacts
Course Leader - Valeria Puddu valeria.puddu@ntu.ac.uk
PG Year Tutor - Warren Cross warren.cross@ntu.ac.uk
PG Chemistry Admin – chemadmin@ntu.ac.uk
Pre-arrival activities
We would like you to complete a small task before you come to university to help you prepare for your course.
Purpose
This task has been set to help you consider your course in a wider context and to encourage reading around a chemistry related subject areathat interests you. We would also encourage to reflect upon your reasons for choosing to study MSc chemistry and to think about your personal and career goals at this stage. This will help you developing a greater understanding of aspects of your course and to encourage you to use all resources you have available, including instrumentation, articles, databases, the internet and teaching staff.
Activity
Read some popular science journals which contain chemistry-based material e.g., New Scientist, Science or Nature (available in libraries and online). You may also want to follow some of these journals on Twitter to get daily updates. Try to get an idea of what are the current “hot topics”, list three of these topics and try to link them with relevant areas of chemistry (e.g. synthesis, materials, drug development, etc.). Don’t be put off if it’s in an area you are unfamiliar with, if a phrase or term is new, try doing some research online to find an explanation. This is a simple example of independent research; you will do loads of it during your time as chemistry postgraduate student at NTU!
You should also give some thought to what your ideal job might be and find out what skills you need to develop. Before you arrive, it’s also a good idea to update your CV and set up a LinkedIn profile.
During your induction week, you will discuss the reading activity and the hot topic lists you produced with your Postgraduate Tutor, Dr Warren Cross in a group activity. This will also help you to get to know other members of this year’s MSc and MRes group, as well as your Postgraduate Tutor.
You will discuss your career aspiration and skills development during your personal tutorials starting in term 1, with your personal tutor. More information on personal tutorials and who your personal tutor is will be provided during induction.
Timetable
Your course induction has been designed to introduce you to your course content and tutors. You will also meet your personal tutor and peers in your tutor group.
Take a look at your induction timetable.
You will find the most up-to-date version of your course timetable in NOW - your personal online workspace. Please note that you will need your student number and the password that you have created for yourself when you enrolled to log in to NOW.
For further information about enrolment, please take a look at the Starting at NTU enrolment pages.