Chemistry

Understand the full potential of the elements – the building blocks of our planet
student working in the chemistry lab with highly fluorescent compounds under UV light

Why Plymouth?

  • ?Our Chemistry degrees have been ranked number one in UK for student satisfaction with teaching and for satisfaction with feedback by the Guardian Best UK Universities guide 2025

  • 6In the Complete University Guide 2025 Chemistry ranked 6th in UK for overall student satisfaction

  • @Benefit from outstanding teaching – 100% of our students felt that their learning was supported and 96% felt that staff were contactable (NSS, 2024)

  • <Degrees accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry

  • 'Industry-standard ISO 9001 certified laboratories

  • AEmphasis on practical and laboratory skills

  • >Stepping stone towards Chartered Chemist status (CChem)

Which course?

Final-year chemists working on their research project
BSc (Hons) Chemistry
Shutterstock: Crystals of water ice under the microscope with a magnification of 80 times and in polarised light.
BSc (Hons) Chemistry with Foundation Year
Chemistry student using lab facilities
BSc (Hons) Environmental Chemistry
Grand prismatic spring in Yellowstone
MSc Environmental Geochemistry

Welcome


Chemistry is key in solving our current challenges because it studies the molecules that make up everything around us from the sand on the beach to the silicon chip that drives our smartphone. The chemistry course at Plymouth is designed to provide students with the skills and experience of modern chemical and analytical techniques that makes them so valuable to employers. Recent graduates are working in diverse fields such as environmental protection, energy and pharmaceuticals, contributing to making the world a better place.
Dr Hayley Manners
Programme Leader
Dr Hayley Manners with a colleague on board the research vessel Chikyū, investigating life in the deep biosphere
Dr Hayley Manners with a colleague on board the research vessel Chikyū, investigating life in the deep biosphere

Read about our student and staff success in our latest newsletter.

Recent edition: Spring 2025

Jon ShawProfessor Jon Shaw
Head of School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

SoGEES newsletter cover Spring 2025
 

What we offer

students being taught in a lab

Award winning chemistry teaching

Chemistry facilities - student using lab equipment

Chemistry facilities

Students using a petrographic microscope

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science facilities

Biogeochemistry Research Centre

Researching the environmental behaviour, fate and impact of nutrients, metals and pharmaceuticals in terrestrial, atmospheric and aquatic systems.
The Biogeochemistry Research Centre comprises expert researchers and instrumentation, with acknowledged international leaders in organic geochemistry and environmental analytical chemistry and a strong focus on marine science and current and past ecosystems and climates.
Scientists working with a University of Plymouth team on sea ice in the Arctic (credit: Simon Belt/University of Plymouth)

Dr Roy Lowry, Associate Professor of Chemistry runs a YouTube channel designed to help teachers and students get to grips with the important concepts in chemistry.

Here is Roy explaining 'The Peculiar Atom'

Earth Smart

At Plymouth, we are bridging the gap between research and action – we are Earth Smart. By bringing research directly into the field, working with farmers, landowners and communities, we are co-creating sustainable land management strategies. We are developing practical approaches to using advanced agri-tech and sensor technology to provide rapid, real-world data that can be applied at the right time and in the right place for productive, sustainable, healthy landscapes.
Earth Smart logo
A diverse and respectful place in which to work and study is fundamental to everything we do.
Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science .

Academic staff