University of Cyprus aims to establish itself as a Pioneer Research Institution achieving International Scientific Recognition in European Higher Education, offering Competitive Programmes and to become a Centre of Excellence in the wider Euro - Mediterranean Region.
From the academic year 2017-2018 the Chemistry Department offers a new unified Chemistry programme, whilestudents admitted in previous years have been distributedin three parallel chemistry directions, with specialization in(a) Food and Environmental Chemistry, (b) MaterialsChemistry and (c) Biological Chemistry. In addition to itsstandard basic programme(s) of study, the Department ofChemistry offers a Chemistry minor degree to students ofother Departments of the University of CyprusAll programmes are based on ECTS and comprise:(a) Introductory Courses in Chemistry, Physics, Mathematicsand Computer Programming (1st and 2nd semester); (b)Basic Courses for the Chemistry degree, such as analytical,inorganic, organic and physical chemistry, and biochemistry(3rd - 6th semester); (c) Courses specific to each of the threedirections programme (7th and 8th semester) for studentsadmitted prior to the academic year 2017-2018, while forstudents admitted to the new unified Chemistry programme, courses that cover a wide range of modern Chemistryareas are offered in the seventh and eighthsemester. Tograduate with a B.Sc. in Chemistry, students must acquire atotal of 240 ECTS.At the theoretical level, Chemistry is taught through lecturesthat are complemented by seminars and problem-solvingsessions. Chemistry is by nature an experimental science;therefore, the Department places strong emphasis onLaboratory Courses (eight laboratory courses of 6-7 ECTSeach), which are regarded as independent courses, meaningthat their grades are not compounded with those of therelevant theoretical courses. To complete a Chemistrydegree, the student must also take four university-wideElective Courses (20 ECTS total) from at least three differentFaculties of the University, as stipulated by the Universityregulations. The student must also acquire 10 ECTS units inforeign language courses. All courses include a written finalexamination. However, the final grade of a course iscalculated based on the students performance in the finalexams, homework, intermediate examination, scientificliterature projects, and laboratory reports. There are usuallyprerequisite courses in a series of related courses (e.g.Inorganic Chemistry I, II and III), where level I must precedelevel II, etc., and it is not possible to enroll in an advancedlevel course, without having first performed satisfactorily inthe lower level course(s) in the series (see related Table).All Chemistry programmes cover all the basic Chemistrycourses in the first three years of studies. This ensures that allgraduates with a B.Sc. in Chemistry will have equalcredentials in the job market. The differentiation of the threedirections occurs in the fourth year of studies, in which allcourses of each programme are different, providing thestudents with a significant first level of specialization in threeimportant areas of modern Chemistry. However, it must beemphasized that this level of specialization cannot matchthat offered by a postgraduate degree. In the 4th year ofstudies of the new unified Chemistry programme, coursesthat cover a wide range of modern Chemistry areas areoffered.The Diploma Thesis (9 ECTS) is an important feature ofthe undergraduate programme. During the fourth year ofstudies, each student works independently for two semesters under the supervision of a member of the academicstaff, studying one of the special experimental projectsproposed. During the course of their Diploma work,students learn how to work independently, solve laboratoryproblems, search, study and analyse scientific literature,give seminars to their fellow students in a clear andcomprehensive way, and present the results and conclusionsof their Thesis work. Although a Diploma Thesis need notcontain original research work, students usually work ontruly original research related to the research interests oftheir supervisors.