Are you a current student? For the programme of this academic year, check the course guide.

Curriculum of Physical Chemistry

The programme comprises of compulsory courses, supplemented by a set of specialisation electives. In addition, you’re allowed to follow a few courses at any faculty or university you want. The biggest part of your programme consists of your Master's internship(s), which includes practical work and report, as well as a literature thesis and, optionally, one or two courses relevant to the internship. 

About this study curriculum

The course overview is an indication of the study programme of the academic year 2024-2025. Are you a current student, please consult the online course guide for your course overview.

COURSE GUIDE

Course overview

The programme consists of the following elements:

  • Compulsory courses (16 EC)
  • Elective space (24 EC)
  • An internship (44 EC)
  • A minor programme or extra internship (30 EC)
  • Literature thesis (6 EC)

You can also choose to do the synergy track Computational and Data Science. You can find more information about this track at the bottom of this page.

Total EC
120 EC
Compulsory courses
P1
P2
P3
P4
6 EC
  1. P1
3 EC
  1. P1
3 EC
  1. P1
1 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4

Choose between:

Total number EC: 3 EC
3 EC
  1. P1
3 EC
  1. P2
Elective courses
P1
P2
P3
P4
Scientific Master's courses
6 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4
Specialisation electives
9 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4
Philosophy elective
3 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4
Free electives
6 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4

Your core curriculum is supplemented by electives. The elective programme consists of courses and/or a second internship in your specific field of interest. You’re free to compose this programme as you wish, provided that the level and coherence is sufficient for the Examination Board.

Scientific Master's courses (6 EC)
Master's courses in the domain of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Computing Science and/or (Bio)Medicine.

Electives (9 EC)
You can use this elective space to follow extra courses or for longer internships.

Philosophy elective (3 EC)
Choose one Philosophy course from a set list of Science Philosophy electives.

Free electives (6 EC)
You also have some free space for electives of your own choosing, for example at another faculty or university. You can also use these ECs as extension to your second internship. 

Internships
P1
P2
P3
P4
44 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4
30 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4

During your first and major internship, you’ll work in a mixed group of top level scientists in a specialisation-related research field. The internship entails practical work, your master thesis, and a presentation (44 - 53 EC). Have a look at possible internship departments:

FIND INTERNSHIPS

You can do your second internship or broadening programme – which consists of courses and/or an internship – externally. We encourage you to explore your future career opportunities: specialise in a specific theme at another university, go abroad or propose your own research question to a company or governmental organisation. We have multiple collaborations with companies ranging from multinationals (AkzoNobel, DSM, Shell, Teijin) to start-ups (NovioTech, Future Chemistry, Spinnovation). They work on a wealth of topics, such as the analysis of biofuels, understanding structure-function relations in performance plastics, the development of anti-caking agents for rock-salts and the characterisation of hydrogels for drug-delivery or wound-healing. 

Interested in going abroad? Have a look at the list of collaboration partners or contact one of our researchers, they can easily connect you to top groups elsewhere in the world. It is for example possible to do your internship in Berlin, at Cambridge, or at Harvard. Moreover, you can apply for a grant to perform an internship at the Max Planck Gesellschaft, one of the world's most renowned research institutes.

Thesis & research
P1
P2
P3
P4
6 EC
  1. P1
  2. P2
  3. P3
  4. P4

Usually you will select a topic for this literature thesis in accord with your internship supervisor.

Specialisations