Haere Mai and welcome to the Chemistry capstone course, CHEM 399.
Chemistry impacts our lives in countless ways and in CHEM399 but in modern society chemistry and chemicals can also be commonly seen in a detrimental manner. Due to its fundamental nature as a core science, chemists are frequently required to explain the impact of chemical processes to diverse audiences. In this course you will use your combined chemistry knowledge, working individually and in groups, to explore how chemistry has, or will have, an impact on the social, environmental, economic, and ethical considerations of New Zealand and also globally.
In this course, the first half of the semester you will take a topical chemistry problem and summarise it for a general audience, working in a group to prepare a popular science-written article. In the second half of the semester, you will take another chemistry topic and work in a group and individually prepare a video presentation and written piece, explaining chemistry-related phenomena to an advanced academic and also to a less knowledgeable audience. Students enrolled in the Medicinal Chemistry or Green Chemical Science Specialisations will work on topics that directly relate to their area of study. During the course, you will also complete individual reflective exercises where you use your combined chemistry skills to understand the multidisciplinary nature of modern chemical science
The skills and capabilities developed in this course will benefit those students who are entering into postgraduate research but will equally benefit those entering into the workforce directly after their studies. All students in the BSc majoring in Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry or Green Chemical Science are required to pass this course as part of their degree.