Nanyang Technological University (NTU): Science: Chemistry & Biological Chemistry
Category Chemistry & Biological Chemistry, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Science, Singapore, UndergraduateTags Biological, Chemistry, Nanyang Technological University, NTU, Science
The Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry (CBC) at the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) was established in 2005 under the College of Science as part of NTU’s expansion initiated with the aim of becoming a world class comprehensive university. Since our inception we have grown in stature and established ourselves as a center of excellence with high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate programs and high caliber research in cutting-edge areas.
We offer a BSc Honors program in Chemistry; and research degrees at the masters (MSc) and doctoral (PhD) levels. We believe that learning occurs in both the classroom and the laboratory. Therefore, we encourage our students to participate in summer research right from year one of their undergraduate program besides having various lab based courses every semester as part of our curriculum that satisfies the American Chemical Society (ACS) curricular guidelines for a rigorous undergraduate professional education in chemistry. This allows students in CBC to experience first-hand, the joys and challenges of research. We thus aim to produce graduates with a solid theoretical foundation in chemical sciences backed by excellent research experience who can thrive in a research and innovation intensive environment.
Graduate students are critical to our central mission of scholarship and research. Each research group, headed by highly research intensive faculty recruited from all over the world, enjoys a highly conducive research environment and focuses on cutting edge research in the field of chemistry and biological chemistry in a free-wheeling and energetic environment. Diversified events such as open seminars given by graduate students and staff, colloquia and presentations by visiting faculty, conferences of various kinds hosted by the Division such as ISCFC-2008 offer plenty of opportunities to extend knowledge beyond individual areas of research. CBC therefore provides a fertile environment for graduate research backed by a full research scholarship.
Research in the Division covers a wide spectrum of chemical specialties but generally falls within the following broad research themes: Synthetic Methodology, Natural Product Synthesis, Biological Chemistry, Catalysis, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry. Our brand new chemistry complex modeled after the University of Oxford’s facility provides a safe and modern environment for research and is already recognized as one of the best in the world. Currently, our instrument laboratory houses various world-class instruments, including five high field NMR spectrometers, a range of mass spectrometers, confocal microscope, a new SCD X-ray and a range of HPLCs and GCs. A close synergy with the industry as well as institutions and research centers from all over the world is being fostered to ensure the relevance of our paradigm with the changing times.
The Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry (CBC) offers an undergraduate major in Chemistry that satisfies the American Chemical Society (ACS) curricular guidelines for a rigorous undergraduate professional education in chemistry. The programme is intended to prepare students for professional work in chemistry or for entrance into graduate school in the chemical sciences.
The rigorous curriculum in modern chemistry will emphasize the mode of thinking in chemistry and science, and will be delivered by a strong faculty, supported by modern laboratory facilities and instrumentation, and good library resources for the education of its students. Problem-solving skills that cut across the traditional subdivisions of chemistry will be emphasized and developed.
It would be impossible and really not necessary to cover every possible topic in chemistry. We believe that it is more important that students learn how to learn through problem-solving, laboratory exercises, and project work which also brings out teamwork, and communication (through writing and speaking) skills. Employers value such skills.
Programme Available
- BSc (Hons) in Chemistry & Biological Chemistry
- BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry with Concentration in Green Chemistry or/and
- BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry with Concentration in Medicinal Chemistry or/and
- BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and Biological Chemistry with Concentration in Food Science and Technology
Green Chemistry
Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes with the aim of reducing or eliminating the use and generation of hazardous substances. It is mainly centered on chemical synthetic protocols which take into account environmental impact in the selection of reactants and reaction conditions (eg. solvents) and is growing in importance as both industrial and academic researchers become aware of the environmental and economic advantages of an environmentally benign or “green” approach.
The relevance of green chemistry has been highlighted by the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry which was awarded to Robert H. Grubbs, Richard R. Schrock and Yves Chauvin for discoveries that let industry create drugs and advanced plastics in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way.
Studying Green Chemistry at CBC
The principles of a green approach are not covered in traditional chemistry courses, perhaps contributing to its slow growth as an area of academic research. The first step towards the goal of incorporating green chemistry into chemical product and process designs is to incorporate it into the chemistry education system. For green chemistry to enter widespread practice, chemists must be educated about green chemistry during their academic training.
With this objective in mind, the undergraduate programme at CBC with concentration in Green Chemistry focuses on the following aspects
- application of innovative technology to established industrial processes
- design of new green chemicals and materials
- development of sustainable resources and biotechnology alternatives
- evaluation of environmental impact.
Independent and collaborative learning, along with focused study in core areas such as Green Chemistry, are cornerstones of the CBC undergraduate curriculum which follow the rigorous American Chemical Society guidelines for accredited Chemistry programmes.
Medicinal Chemistry
Medicinal chemistry aims to explore the interface between chemistry and biology, blending synthetic chemistry, molecular modeling, computational biology, structural genomics, and pharmacology to discover and design new drugs, and to further investigate Physicochemical principles of drug action, basic principles of drug design, molecular basis of drug action and structure-physicochemical activity relationship.
Highlights of our curriculum
The Undergraduate program at CBC with concentration in Medicinal Chemistry aims to lay the foundations for this important and rapidly expanding field of modern science through a fine blend of discovery, learning and engagement that integrates the basic chemical and biological sciences for the improvement of human health.
Our flexible undergraduate curriculum is designed for those students who do not wish to be confined within the traditional degree requirements of a single department but rather would like to tailor-make an individualized interdisciplinary program better suited to one’s particular career objectives. It allows students to concentrate in Medicinal Chemistry and add other undergraduate-level courses from other related disciplines.
Areas covered by our curriculum in the field of Medicinal Chemistry includes
- Physicochemical principles of drug action
- Basic principles of drug design
- Molecular basis of drug action and structure-physicochemical activity relationship
- Discovery, design and development of pharmacodynamic agents
- Combinatorial Chemistry
- Drug Screening Assays
- Diversity-oriented synthesis
- Chemical genetics
- Chemical library design
- Bioinformatics
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