Undergraduate Programs in Chemistry | Chemistry and Biochemistry | SIU

Programs

Current Chemistry degree description, requirements and courses can be found in 2021-2022 Academic Catalog.

Faculty

With approximately fifteen faculty members whose education and research interests cover the all major areas of chemistry, the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences offers the resources for a thorough education in chemistry. Itroductory courses for the majors are taught with the University Honor’s program and are separate from the non-major tracks, which allows small class sizes. The upper-division classes are small enough to allow faculty to give you individual attention.

Our faculty members are active in research, attracting more than one million dollars each year in external support from a variety of agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, NASA, the American Cancer Society, etc. Some of these funds are used to support undergraduate students carrying out research projects in the faculty member's lab. Our research work covers many areas of experimental and theoretical chemistry, focusing on design and fabrication of new materials, synthesis of new products and entirely new molecules with biological activity, catalysis, understanding the fundamental sources of interactions between molecules, and devising new methods and instruments for separating one type of molecule from another or of recognizing the presence of certain substances at only trace levels.

Graduate and Professional Programs

While your immediate goal may be a bachelor's degree and a job, at some point in the future you may decide you would like further education. SIUC offers master's and doctor's degrees in chemistry. Currently, more than 40 students are enrolled in these programs. Also available are graduate programs in computer science, geology, mathematics, microbiology, physics, physiology, and zoology.

Many of our undergraduates have gone on to graduate work at major institutions throughout the country. Often they have begun their research careers as undergraduates in our school, working with faculty members. Some chemistry majors enter medical school - an undergraduate degree in chemistry is an excellent preparation for a career in medicine or other health-related fields.