Master of Chemical Sciences

Refine your chemistry skills.

La Trobe's Master of Chemical Sciences gives you advanced training in key chemistry fields such as analytical, computational, medicinal, organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. Complete a research project, prepare a thesis and graduate ready for chemistry careers across a wide variety of industries.

Key features

• Excellence Scholarships may be available for high-achieving students.
• Graduates are eligible to apply for membership with the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

You'll learn:

• Advanced chemistry
  Complete core subjects in advanced chemistry including environmental, medicinal, organic, inorganic, polymer chemistry and more.
• Chemical structure and characterisation
  Build on your understanding of techniques for the study of chemical compounds.
  Receive advanced training in spectroscopic methods such as NMR and UV-visible spectroscopy, separation science and chromatography.
• Scientific communication skills
  Understand how to make your findings coherent and intelligible through report writing and data visualisation.
  Learn to access scientific information using scientific journals, databases and online resources.

The qualification awarded on graduation is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) as Level 9.

Experts in chemical sciences are employed in a range of roles including:

• Industrial chemist
  Use your knowledge to provide technical support in an industrial setting.
  Innovate and develop products and processes.
  Report to management, lead or work in teams and ensure documentation is current.
• Senior process engineer
  Develop, advise and lead teams to improve industrial processes related to chemistry.
  Train staff, provide support and feedback to management.
  Work towards the continuous improvement of all technical and human-related processes.
• Senior analytical chemist
  Mentor and train staff
  Solve problems, maintain and improve processes, test new methodologies, lead teams and report to management.

Depending on industry, experience and ability, a senior industrial chemist can earn over A$100 000.

Professional recognition

Graduates of the Master of Chemical Sciences may apply for membership with the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Membership may be subject to additional or ongoing requirements beyond the completion of the degree. Please contact the relevant professional body for details.

Please note, the following course structure is indicative and subject to change depending on your course location, offer year or how you tailor your course with specialisations, majors, minors and electives. Structures for the following year are not normally finalised until October, so the sample provided is based on the most recently approved structure.

To qualify for the award of Master of Chemical Sciences, students must complete a total of 240 credit points across 2 years.

Year 1

Year 1 requires the completion of 120 credit points

including:

• 75 credit points from chosen Core
• 30 credit points from chosen Core choice
• 15 credit points from chosen Core Choice

Year 2

Year 2 requires the completion of 120 credit points

including:

• 120 credit points from chosen Core

Core choice subjects

Core choice subjects are one or more subject groups you need to select in your course. Core choice subjects may be specific to your course, major, minor, specialisation or other learning requirements.

• Chemistry and the environment
• Medicinal and bioinorganic chemistry
• Molecular structure and spectroscopy
• Sensors and materials chemistry
• Synthetic topics in chemistry