Prospective students for this Chemistry degree must have a solid education in chemistry and have gained as many credits as possible in mathematics and physics in upper secondary school education. Students will also need a good aptitude for laboratory tests.
Learning objectives
The general objective of the Bachelor's degree in Chemistry is for students to acquire the skills for understanding the chemical behaviour of elements and compounds and for designing and executing experimental set-ups. Thus, the contents that are worked on in the Bachelor's degree in Chemistry are cross-disciplinary and cover the different areas that are part of chemistry (physical, analytical, organic and inorganic chemistry, biochemistry and engineering) including both theoretical and practical subjects, with more than 500 hours of laboratory teaching.
The proposed curriculum is intended to ensure, when you finish the degree, you will have acquired a sound basis of theoretical and practical knowledge that you can apply to the problem-solving and designing innovative strategies, in order to deal with the many social demands that the chemical sector receives every day. This also implies acquiring other competences, which include analysing and interpreting data, scientific communication (both written and oral) in English as well, teamwork and the capacity to generate proposals based on ethical and sustainability criteria, in order to respond to the problems and needs of the industrial, economic, environmental and biomedical sectors, among others.
Basic competences.
- CB-01. - Capacity for critically analysing complex situations, by collecting information and interpreting data, and designing creative and innovative strategies for solving them.
- CB-02. - Knowing how to communicate orally and in writing in scientific and professional spheres, using own languages and English.
- CB-03. - Working in a team, helping to prepare specific and multidisciplinary projects.
- CB-04. - Planning and assessing one's own activity and learning and elaborating strategies to improve them by applying quality criteria.
- CB-05. Capacity to act, generate proposals and take decisions in research and professional activity with ethical and sustainable criteria.
Specific competences
- CE-01. Applying scientific rationale and the scientific method (to gather and manage data in order to formulate and test hypotheses) to analyse and explain the discipline’s subject matter.
- CE-02. Using and applying the instrumentation and experimental methodologies typical of the discipline safely.
- CE-03. Using chemical terminology correctly: nomenclature, conventions and units, and applying concepts, principles and theories associated with the different areas of chemistry.
- CE-04. Identifying and understanding, at a structural and functional level, the molecular bases of the structures and the biological processes, their applications and the regulation mechanisms.
- CE-05. Relating the macroscopic properties of matter with the characteristics and structure of the individual molecules including biomolecules and macromolecules (natural and synthetic).
- CE-06. Applying the principles and theories of chemical reactivity to the study of organic and inorganic compounds and the development of processes.
- CE-07. Using and applying the main basic operations of engineering relating them to chemical and / or biological principles.
- CE-08. Interpreting and applying the physico-chemical principles to describing the structure and the properties of atoms and molecules.
- CE-09 Applying metrological processes in order to obtain quality information in resolving problems of a qualitative and quantitative nature linked to identifying, characterising and determining organic and inorganic substances.
- CE-10. Drawing up and planning the management and execution of work-related projects.
- CE-11. Integrating bachelor's degree knowledge in a professional and research environment, incorporating economic, legislative and managerial knowledge.
The organisation of the Bachelor’s degree.
The Bachelor's degree in Chemistry is 4 years long, during which the student will acquire the necessary competences to analyse and study the composition and properties of substances and materials in order to understand qualitative changes, produced naturally or otherwise.
In the first year, the following basic scientific studies are taken: chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics and statistics, as well as a practical module called integrated scientific techniques. These basic subjects provide the student with the necessary tools to understand chemistry, while the integrated scientific techniques allows the acquisition and development of competences and skills related with laboratory and field experiments.
The second and third years cover the central topics of chemistry: Physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, inorganic and organic chemistry. Similar subjects, such as biochemistry and chemical engineering, are also introduced.
Fourth year students learn to create, design and manage projects and be introduced to materials science. Furthermore, students begin to specialise by choosing two optional subjects from the following: ‘synthesis and reactivity’, ‘biomolecules’, ‘structure analysis and determination’ and ‘quality and industry’. Students can also decide on the career path of their studies when they choose either work placement or other optional subjects in the “specific complementary subjects in chemistry” module. Students complete their studies with a bachelor's thesis in which they demonstrate the application of all acquired skills.
Chemistry is everywhere and, therefore, a science that is constantly developing. That entails an increasing socioeconomic demand, alongside the growth in population. The chemical sector ranks second in Spain for exports and number one in research and development, achieving a good percentage of growth even during the years of economic crisis. Moreover, the percentage of indefinite contracts is around 95%, much higher than in other sectors and the national average.
From an education point of view, the UdG Bachelor's degree in Chemistry will turn you into a very versatile professional, ready to enter any of the chemical sectors, such as the following:
- Industry: research and development projects, production, quality control, environmental safety, engineering and process design, commercialisation, etc., both in the basic chemical industry as well as in transformation or fine chemistry.
- Education: university bachelor's degrees, secondary education in health sciences, technical-scientific subjects, vocational education and so on.
- Research: projects developed in industry (applied research) and in public institutions (applied and basic research).
- Services: chemical analyses in health, environmental and safety officers, insurance sector, etc.
University master’s degrees
The UdG offers an extensive master’s-degree programme. Master's degree courses offer advanced, specialised or multidisciplinary training, aimed at providing students with an academic or professional specialism or an introduction to research. These are official courses that enable students to move on to study for a doctoral degree.
Doctorate degree programmes
The doctoral studies are aimed at providing students with advanced training in research techniques and include the preparation and presentation of a doctoral thesis, consisting of original research work. To join a doctoral programme you need to have a minimum of between 60 and 120 ECTS credits at official university master's degree level or equivalent.
Postgraduate courses and specialisation
The University of Girona Foundation: Innovation and Training is the centre that plays host to and organises ongoing educational activities to meet the needs ongoing higher-level education. If offers own masters, postgraduate courses, specialization courses and other postgraduate activities covering all areas of knowledge.
Through the following links you can access the calendars and timetables that correspond to this bachelor's degree.
The academic calendar marks the beginning and end of classes, non-teaching days, holidays, exam periods, and so on. The administrative calendar marks the periods to make the different formalities administrative.
Students can complete part of their degree programme abroad through the Erasmus programme, which enables them to carry on their studies whilst undertaking an international exchange with academic value in a European university.
They also have access to grants for placements at universities in Spain and on other continents, thanks to bilateral agreements, the SICUE programme and the expansion of the Erasmus+ Programme.