Master in Chemistry

In the professional life, the graduate students put into practice their knowledge and skills as chemists in research laboratories and production units, or as scientific experts and advisors. They are often hired in leading-edge technology chemical industries in which they quickly get high positions of responsibility.

A Master degree in Chemical Sciences opens job opportunities in the following areas:

• Industrial or academic research

• State-run services: crime laboratories, heritage laboratories, health services...

• Teaching

• Production

• Analysis

• Technical and commercial sectors

• Health

The chemist can be viewed as an architect, creating new molecules, developing new materials, developing and optimizing manufacturing processes, contributing to the improvement of the quality of life in many areas (medicine, environment, energy, food, cosmetics,...)

Activity sectors

Chemical companies (petrochemical industry, polymers, fertilizers, fine chemistry, specialties, paints, pigments, oleo chemistry, catalysts,... )

Pharmaceutical companies

Consumer goods (cleaners, glues, cosmetics,... )

Environment, recycling

Chemical engineering

Analysis and control Laboratory

Research and development

Teaching

Academic sector (researcher or teacher in universities and high schools)

Federal institutions,

Types of functions :

Research and development, intellectual property, product steward, project leader, ...

Due to its central position among the sciences, studies in chemistry open up extremely broad possibilities through links to biochemistry, medicine, geology, physics or biology. Creating materials with new properties, developing alternative energy sources, synthesizing new medicines, ensuring high quality in foodstuffs, monitoring and reducing pollution are all examples of the challenges that chemists take on. Today's chemistry is the cornerstone of many sustainable development issues. The Chemistry Department at ULB is fully aware of these challenges and trains students to analyze the new societal problems and develop the creative potential to solve them. The aim of the Master in Chemistry is to complete the basic training of the Bachelor's curriculum, and develop student's analytical skills and independence.

One fundamental line of the Master in Chemistry is the deep understanding of the basic concepts used in chemical sciences and their integration. The emphasis is put on the learning of autonomy, through personal works and a Master thesis to be defended by the student at the end of the MA second year.

The cursus contains theoretical and practical teachings. Six series of lectures have to been chosen amongst the seven following options:

- Polymer chemistry

- Macroscopic Physical Chemistry: from self-assembling to self-organization,

- Strategies of organic synthesis,

- Computational approaches to the states of matter

- Chemistry of interfaces and nanostructures,

- Chemistry and structure of biological macromolecules,

- Environmental Chemistry and chemical risks.

The students also choose a set of options in their domain of interest. They realize in the second block of the Master a research-oriented Master thesis within one of the research units of the department.

ULB's Chemistry Department is well placed both geographically and strategically. Located in Europe's capital, at the heart of a vast network of chemical industries, the department provides high-level training through direct contact with SMEs and major players in the sector on the one hand, and with cutting-edge academic circles on the other.

Moreover, due to its international scientific reputation, it strives to provide excellent training in a multi-disciplinary university context, in line with the major technological and environmental issues of our time.

At the Master level, the mobility of students is encouraged in the form of traineeship in a formal enterprise, either in Belgium or abroad.

Chemists play an active role in our society. The Master degree covers education targeting various professional activities (industries, research and teaching). In the professional life, the graduate students put into practice their knowledge and skills as chemists in research laboratories and production units, or as scientific experts and advisors. They are often hired in leading-edge technology chemical industries in which they quickly get high positions of responsibility.

The Master curriculum allows the student to:

Develop specialized transverse knowledge

Understand advanced concepts in the various domains of chemistry

Acquire an interdisciplinary culture

Make an original research in a specialized domain of chemistry

Show innovation and creativity

Apply skills and knowledge to develop and manage a project in an autonomous way

Solve complex problems

Identify the risks and anticipate the consequences of decisions

Integrate the multidisciplinary aspects into the management of a project

Identify the potentialities of technological developments of a research in the field of chemistry (MA "Finalité spécialisée")

Recognize the industrial and economic importance of the intellectual property (MA "Finalité spécialisée")

Be an active partner of multidisciplinary projects in a complex industrial context (scientific, economic, environmental, etc.) (MA "Finalité spécialisée")

Transpose the acquired knowledge and methods into various objects of study

ULB is the only complete university located in the capital of Europe. Almost one third of the students are foreigners, which constitutes a real advantage and makes ULB the most open university in Belgium.

The Chemistry Department is composed of different research groups that are internationally recognized, whose works were rewarded by several prestigious prizes. The Chemistry Department of ULB is the only Belgian one having been rewarded by the Nobel Prize of Chemistry.

The Chemistry Department also benefits from the scientific activities (colloquia, conferences) organized by the Solvay Institutes of Physics and Chemistry localized in the university.

The students can be assisted through various channels

http://www.ulb.ac.be/enseignements/support-enseignements/reussir.html