Headstart Course at University of Manchester

You will be treated as a first-year undergraduate, with lectures, Lab experiments and workshops in The University of Manchester’s School of Chemistry. We are a large school in a large university: One of the biggest and one of the best. You will stay in one of our halls of residence and experience all the teaching methods we use: A unique mix of Lectures (including demonstration-lectures), tutorials (small groups of 5 or 6), workshops (groups of 20 working through problems) and, most importantly, labs, working as an individual, making molecules and measuring their properties. We may even offer you a taste of our final teaching method, Peer-Assisted Study, i.e. a chat (structured around a set of problems) with a current undergraduate. Some of the topics may stretch you, but you will be grateful when you are ahead of your colleagues when you get back into year 13.

What will I be doing?

• Synthesis: making some pharmaceuticals, and using Green chemistry to turn waste into valuable products.
• Measurement: See with your own eyes direct evidence for quantum theory: electrons have quantised energy levels. See also (and use) advanced instrumental techniques you will need to know about for A-level: IR, NMR, and Mass spec.
• Theory: See some evidence about oxygen that challenges your current understanding. Then learn in lectures about about the implications of thinking of electrons as waves: Molecular orbital theory explains all. There will also be lectures and workshops on interpreting data from IR and NMR and Mass Spec to identify unknown chemical compounds
• Systems Biology: see what goes on at the interface of biology with chemistry, during a tour of the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology

Would this course suit me?

Don’t worry too much if the above seems a bit too much like physics, or Biology. It’s there to show that Chemistry, as the central science, has intersections with Physics, as well as with Biology. While the health of science as a whole depends on a strong core of mainstream chemistry, its central position keeps many options open for a chemistry student. We hope to showcase just a few of these in evening sessions with recently appointed chemistry graduates working in a range of local industries and academic centres.

What do I need to be suitable?

You need to be studying for an A-level in Chemistry and at least one other science (ideally two, with Maths counting as a science). If you want to get in here as an undergraduate student, you need to be heading for A grades, but whatever your predicted grades, the experience you gain here will be of help to your A-level studies, and to your application to any reputable chemistry department.

We particularly welcome applications from people with a background with little prior involvement with Higher Education. Fully funded bursary places are available for qualifying students

There is a fee to attend this course, but some bursaries are available.

Applications need to be made by students.