MSc Applied Analytical Chemistry

This is module designed to offer students a thorough grounding in two important techniques within modern analytical science. In contemporary scientific practice, the ability to separate, identify, and quantify components in complex mixtures is essential across various fields, including pharmaceutical development, environmental monitoring, forensic science, and biomedical research. This module will examine the fundamental principles of different chromatographic techniques, detailing how compounds are separated based on their differential distribution between stationary and mobile phases. It also covers the principles of mass spectrometry, a significant technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of ions, allowing for molecular weight determination and structural investigation of a wide range of analytes.Throughout this module, students will not only grasp the core theories underpinning different chromatographic methods (such as GC, HPLC, and TLC) and diverse mass spectrometric ionisation and analysis techniques (including LC-MS and GC-MS as well as ambient ionisation and mass spectral imaging), but they will also gain invaluable hands-on practical experience. Students will learn to operate state-of-the-art instrumentation, develop and validate analytical methods, and critically interpret the rich data generated. The combination of theoretical understanding and practical skills is intended to provide students with the expertise to apply these analytical methods effectively in academic research or various industrial contexts, preparing them for their future scientific careers.

This module is designed to give students a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles of advanced spectroscopic techniques, both qualitatively, where such analysis is required and quantitatively. The quantitative aspect will be consolidated for students by using quantitative laboratory experiments to showcase how this can be achieved in a laboratory setting.Student knowledge will be developed in specialist areas including advanced NMR, IR and Raman spectroscopies, not only in terms of underpinning theoretical principles, but also essential ¿hands-on¿ operation of advanced modern instruments. This practical aspect is intentionally designed for employment-ready graduates with particular attention given to problem solving and troubleshooting, advanced applications and data analysis. Selected case studies will highlight to students how to select appropriate methods of analysis, understand how the data is produced and how to interpret such data. Spectroscopic problems will be solved during workshops ensuring that students have the opportunity to work in collaboration with their peers. Such problem solving activities will embed knowledge and allow students to predict spectral features expected from known functional groups among other typical molecular features.This module demonstrates the application of relevant techniques to a wide range of sectors such as pharmaceutical production, medical sciences, food technology, environmental chemistry, and geoscience.

This module is the pinnacle of the learning journey for MSc students and is intended to allow MSc students to put all their knowledge learned so far to use in an extended practical project. Students work in the research groups of one of the academic staff and carry out independent research leading to the production of a dissertation. Students will engage with leading research topics in the scientific area relevant to their discipline. Therefore, this module will promote deeper learning and develop their ability to conduct independent research i.e. define the depth of their knowledge. The work must be of MSc standard and requires a critical appraisal of the work and literature.

The purpose of this module is to give students a fundamental understanding of the conceptual frameworks underpinning pharmaceutical analysis. A wide range of analytical techniques will be presented to students which are broadly divided into those used in pharmaceutical quality control and those dedicated to drug discovery, drug design and formulation. Furthermore, a range of laboratory experiments are designed to develop Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) amongst students and expose them to a number of major analytical tools used in pharmaceutical sciences. Information obtained in this module closely relates to all other modules on the study programme and together they provide a full picture of the life of pharmaceuticals from drug discovery via drug design, and drug manufacture to drug release on the market. This module provides the necessary knowledge of analytical tools and approaches used to critically evaluate the drug development life cycle to enable the development of safe and effective medicines.

The purpose of this module is to give students an advanced understanding of elemental analysis, including detection and quantification of radionuclides. The student will enhance the knowledge and application of specialist topics in atomic spectroscopy and radionanalysis, including awareness of the operation of advanced modern instruments with particular attention to the principles, practical aspects, problem solving and troubleshooting, advanced applications and data analysis. Case scenario examples will be used to give students a broad understanding of how data are produced and interpreted. This module demonstrates the application of relevant techniques to a wide range of sectors such as environmental chemistry, geoscience, ecotoxicology and medical sciences.

This module provides information, guidance and support for developing the student’s employability. In addition, this module helps students build on their previous skills and generate documents that are required to demonstrate their skill sets to external parties, recruiters and recruiting agencies. Furthermore, skills acquired in this module will enable students to actively participate in placement and employment searches.