Chemistry (120 ECTS)

Programme content

A real choice

Equipped with solid skills, students have a choice of pursuing a 60-credit Master's in Chemical Science (which consists of a reorganisation of the programme by one of the 1st part of the Master's, including a dissertation for 16 credits) or by one of the 3 Master's programmes for 120 credits.

Other Master's programmes offered by the Faculty of science are equally accessible, like the Master's in Biochemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology, in Bioinformatics and modelling, in Oceanography or Environmental Science and Management.

With a view to expanding students' scientific horizon, the Master's programme offers both compulsory courses and options that provide them with the opportunity to discover and go into greater depth in highly specialised basic research fields (materials chemistry, polymer chemistry, biochemistry, processes at the interface, nuclear chemistry, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, analytical instrumental technologies, forensic chemistry, etc.) as well as more applied fields with a view to preparation for a career in industry (industrial chemistry, chemical engineering, toxicology, pharmaceutical chemistry, management topics, etc.).

The emphasis is on using the knowledge acquired during the Bachelor's programme to address the most current research or development topics, in particular via the organisation of research placements in a laboratory or internships in industry.

Master's students devote about half a year to preparing their dissertation in the course of which they will engage in research in a laboratory of the chemistry department, potentially in close collaboration with an industrial partner.

Master's for teaching

This programme prepares students for a career in secondary teaching and comprises the 30 credits that fulfil the requirements for a teaching certificate (Agrégation de l'Enseignement Secondaire Supérieur - AESS) required for an appointment to teach in a secondary school. The dissertation is worth 21 credits. Significant periods of practice teaching in a school are required.

Specialised Master's

This programme stresses an applied training directly involved in the world of industry thanks to specialised courses as well as an internship and a dissertation, both located in a company with co-supervision by the university and the industrial partner.

The Advanced Master's

This programme leads to a specialisation in the basic research or applied fields and leads naturally to the writing of a doctoral thesis. This Master's programme comprises specific courses and the preparation of a research project in a university laboratory.

This programme includes courses taught in French and courses taught in English.

Learning outcomes

Note: the learning outcomes highlighted in this text are examined from the perspective of proposals made in the European "Tuning Educational Structures in Europe" report and known under the name "Budapest chemistry descriptors", which the Department of Chemistry at ULiège helped write.

Profile

The Master's in Chemical Science programme, in its advanced, specialised and teaching streams, is aimed at training people who, thanks to their mastery of the fundamental areas of chemistry acquired in the course of a multidisciplinary programme and oriented towards integrated projects that demands both individual initiative and team spirit, are able to analyse critically of problems raised by fundamental or applied research, by industry or by the teaching of their subject, offering original solutions and implementing them effectively.

Learning outcomes - main general skills

By the end of their Master's programme, graduates will have the skills summarised below:

They will:

• have an integrated view of their knowledge, enabling them to assimilate new information and approach chemical problems in all their complexity
• be able to apply their knowledge and know-how to solve problems arising in an unfamiliar and multidisciplinary context
• demonstrate autonomy in project management, while easily integrating into multidisciplinary teams
• be mindful of their ethical responsibility, in particular with regard to issues relating to chemical safety
• be able to communicate, in English and French, clear and structured scientific information to both expert and general audiences
• be able to consider the evolution of their discipline and their professional practice from a critical perspective
• have the ability to acquire new knowledge through autonomous learning and manage their continuing education and professional development.