Overview
Master of Science in chemistry has materials covering the traditional branches of chemistry namely organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. It also has courses from other branches of chemistry such as analytical chemistry and industrial chemistry. It seeks to explain factors that course reactions to occur, how they occur and their adverse and non adverse effects on our well being.
Graduate students will in addition to the traditional areas of chemistry take courses in descriptive inorganic and physical inorganic chemistry. They will also be introduced to bioinorganic chemistry, inorganic polymers, research methods, reaction kinetics and synthetic chemistry.
The Objectives of the programme shall be to train and equip the students with;
- Knowledge in analytical, environmental, industrial, material science, drug development among others.
- Competence in developing creative research and also synthesise novel inorganic and organic compounds.
- Skill to synthesize and characterize organic compounds
- Knowledge in extraction, separation, purification and characterization of compounds from plants
- In-depth knowledge of molecular structure, thermodynamics and chemical kinetics of transformation of the various chemical processes, materials and surfaces.
- Skills to apply current research and technology to detect chemical and biological analytes in a variety of contexts including environmental testing, biological probing and medical diagnostics
- Skills to derive useful information and expression for practical application of equilibria of processes and kinetics of various chemical interactions
Structure
Course Structure and Duration
- The course shall be evaluated in terms of units; a course unit being defined as series of 45 one- hour lecture equivalents. For this purpose one 1-hour lecture is equivalent to one 2-hour tutorial or one 3-hour practical or any combination of these that may be recommended by the School Board and approved by Senate.
- The course consists of coursework, continuous assessment, written examination and a research project.
- The continuous assessment shall comprise tests, assignments, practical in certain units and term papers.
- The candidate shall be required to take 10 course units; 9 of which shall be core and 1 elective.
- In second year the candidate shall undertake a mandatory research and thesis equivalent to eight course units.
- The course shall be covered in a minimum of four (4) and maximum of eight (8) semesters of 15 weeks each.
Admission Requirements
The common regulations for the Masters degrees in the School of Physical Sciences shall apply
In addition to meeting (a) above, candidates wishing to register for Master of Science in Organic Chemistry must have any of the following:
- A degree of the University of Nairobi of at least an Upper Second Honours in Chemistry or equivalent from any other institute recognized by the Senate
- A lower Second Class honours degree of the University of Nairobi in Chemistry or equivalent from any other institute recognized by the Senate plus at least two years relevant research/work experience
- A pass degree of the University of Nairobi in Chemistry or equivalent from any other institution recognized by the Senate plus at least five years relevant research/ work experience.
Careers
It prepares learners for employment in the chemical and allied industries, Research scientist, Managers in various chemical & Allied Industries e.t.c.
Fees and Funding
