Work in outstanding teaching laboratories

The chemistry teaching laboratories were recently renovated as part of a £12m investment. You'll study in bright and spacious laboratories using new, high-tech equipment.

In the chemistry laboratories you will: 

• Use a wide variety of specialist equipment
  Gain hands-on practical experience with research-grade equipment such as NMR and IR spectrometers and X-Ray diffractometers. You’ll make and analyse your own samples, with full support and training.
• Prepare for your future career
  The techniques you learn and equipment you use will prepare you for roles in the chemical industries. The equipment is the same kit that you’ll find when you go to work in industries such as pharmaceuticals, materials science, green chemistry, analytical chemistry and electrochemistry.
• Benefit from upgraded IT support
  Each student has a laptop to use in the laboratories which can be converted into a tablet, with touchscreen and stylus. The software enables you to analyse your data from the laboratory instruments; conduct computational modelling and calculations; search chemistry databases and create your laboratory reports.
• Work in a bright, airy and spacious environment
  The modern laboratory design creates a calm and pleasant space where it’s easy to focus; and with plenty of equipment available, it’s there for you when you need it. Laboratory-grade dishwashers mean you don’t have to spend all your time cleaning up your experiments too!  
• Study in energy efficient laboratories
  The refurbishment enabled us to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our laboratory teaching. With a closed water recirculation system and better thermal insulation, the laboratories are extremely energy efficient. We’re saving over one million litres of water each year.
• Become part of a supportive community
  In the chemistry laboratories you’ll be supported by laboratory technicians, PhD demonstrators and academic staff so there are plenty of people there to answer any questions you have. You’ll also form a strong community with your lab mates as you work on experiments together. 

In addition, with variable-height benching and fume hoods the laboratories are accessible for all our students.

Practicals to look forward to:

Laboratory equipment

Here’s a list of some of the key pieces of equipment which will be available to you in the laboratories. Much of this is research grade and is the same equipment as you’ll find in industrial laboratories.  

• Magritek NMR spectrometers (80 MHz and 60 MHz) for 1H, 13C and 19F NMR
• Rigaku XRD, Powder Diffractometer
• Agilent HPLC with autosampler and dual wavelength detector
• ThermoScientific FT Infrared spectrometers
• Advion Mass Spectrometer with thin layer chromatography plate reader
• Biotage laboratory microwave
• Vapour Tec automatic flow reactor
• EmStat Potentiostats
• Perkin Elmer UV-Vis spectrometers
• Carey Eclipse fluorescence spectrometer
• ThermoScientific Raman spectrometer
• Avantes AvaSpec fluorescence spectrometer system
• Arduino control units
• Furnaces
• Automatic mixer mill