University Of The Witwatersrand Chemistry

• Applied Chemistry – for the chemical and allied industries
• Microbiology – for the food, biotechnology and agricultural industries
• Biochemistry – for biotechnology and medical research
• Geology – to work as a geochemist in the mining and exploration industries
• Physics – for work in materials science
• Biology – for work in the environmental field.

To become a professional chemist, you will need additional study at postgraduate level.

Programme overview

Why study Chemistry?
The Honours degree in Chemistry is the equivalent of a professional qualification, and is a pre-requisite for registering with SACNASP as a professional chemist. It functions as the gateway for students who want to embark on higher degree research at the MSc and PhD levels, and for students wanting to make a career in chemistry.
Why study Chemistry at Wits?
The Honours Programme in Chemistry at Wits offers a comprehensive overview of the traditional areas of analytical, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry, and affords candidates the opportunity to select topics of a more specialised or applied nature that will introduce students to some of the cutting edge work being done in diverse areas including energy, catalysis, drug discovery, environmental chemistry, solid state chemistry and bioinorganic chemistry.
The research component of the Wits Honours degree in Chemistry allows candidates the opportunity to work in the School’s well-equipped laboratories with access to in-house instrumentation including a range of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrophotometers, single crystal and powder X-ray diffractometers, chromatography, spectrometry and electrochemistry based-analytical equipment and various techniques to analyse properties of materials. Academic staff are actively involved in research, and the School’s publications are in the top 1% worldwide as judged by the citations they receive. By working within established research structures in the School, candidates will receive exposure to the methods, philosophy and ethos of research in areas of nanotechnology, materials and energy, organometallic chemistry and catalysis, bioinorganic chemistry, biocatalysis and green chemistry, synthesis, environmental and analytical chemistry, electrochemistry and chemical crystallography.
The relatively small class size ensures close support and attention from committed academic staff.  The experience gained in our well-equipped research laboratories and a programme benchmarked against international standards will prepare you for a career in industry or graduate study at any university in the world.