Test-tubes and flasks

Enthusiasm about work in the laboratory is essential for anyone who wants to do a degree in Chemistry. The Chemistry undergraduates Benedikt Wanner, Michael Drisch und Lisa Mailänder all agree on this. There are lab practicals during the semester, but also some in the vacations: then you can spend four weeks intensive work with flasks and test tubes, taking notes and writing calculations in your lab log and on the board.

Maths und Physics are part of the course

And when they are not in the laboratory? Generally, the prospective chemists spend their mornings at lectures and the afternoons are spent in tutorial groups. At the beginning of the course there is plenty of Maths and Physics, “because you really need them for Chemistry,” Lisa says.

“There is a good mix of theory and practice when you do Chemistry. You are not just sitting at a desk all the time,” Benedict adds. Lisa particularly likes the relaxed, friendly atmosphere: “After two or three semesters, you know practically everybody, including the people in the work groups and the administrative staff.”

Exciting research projects

Lecturers and professors? “They always have time to listen to our questions, even outside the designated office hours,” says Michael. The professors have exciting research projects, too, and the students can join in on this work and be at the forefront of research. This could be the subject of their Bachelor dissertation, which they are allowed to choose themselves.

Benedikt, for example, has been writing about the active ingredients of an African plant which might have a later application in the treatment of cancer. Lisa has been working with water-based colourants which show “amazing fluorescence” and which are interesting for other areas of science.

This is typical of Chemistry in Würzburg: it is linked up in so many ways with other subjects, such as Biology, Physics, Medicine, Pharmacy and Food Chemistry.

Pharmacy and Food Chemistry

The work in the lab is in the forefront in the Pharmacy and Food Chemistry syllabus as well. The Institute is on the Hubland campus next door to the Chemistry Department. There is exciting research being done there, too. New antibiotics and painkillers are being developed. They are also concerned with quality control – in other words including the detecting of counterfeit medicines. Food chemists also examine how effective and safe food additives are.