Welcome to the School of Chemistry
Trinity College is the single College of the University of Dublin, and was founded in 1592. Formal chemistry teaching commenced in August 1711 when the first dedicated Lecturer in Chemistry was appointed.
The School of Chemistry, currently in its Tercentenary year, has 19 academic staff, 4 administrative staff and 14 technical and attendant staff, of whom 2 are employed full-time in workshops that provide electronic and glassblowing services.
The School has an active research program that spans all sub-disciplines of Chemistry, and is involved in a great many inter- departmental and international research programmes. Research income (>€6 million for 2010) is earned from national, international and commercial sources, and several groups are involved in networks of European laboratories. It has a strong research community consisting of the academic staff, Fellows Emeriti, and over 100 postgraduate students and ~35 postdoctoral fellows. Postgraduate students entering the School automatically become part of Dublin Chemistry, a Graduate School initiative managed jointly by the Schools at Trinity College and at University College Dublin. Regulations for postgraduate students and details of current research within the School are given in the following pages.
The College fosters an interdisciplinary approach to research and members of the School have strong links with colleagues in the physical, technological and biological sciences. There is an extensive overlap of interests with the School of Physics, especially in surface and solid state science, polymeric and optical materials, and with CRANN, which is jointly supported by the Schools of Chemistry and Physics.
The principal undergraduate honours course in Chemistry provides students with a broad base in the subject, with approximately equal time being given to each of Organic, Inorganic and Physical Chemistry. The School also teaches four year honours degree courses in Chemistry with Molecular Modelling and in Medicinal Chemistry. The latter is especially tuned to fostering and training the creative talent and skills required for the Pharmaceutical industry, which is a major employer in Ireland. The School also teaches, in conjunction with the School of Physics, the Moderatorship in Nanochemistry, Physics and Chemistry of Advanced Materials - an honours course specialising in the study of materials for electronic, optoelectronic and related applications. The School provides courses in Chemistry to other Science students, and to students of Engineering and Health Sciences.
Highly-regarded and relatively new laboratories for all of the School’s undergraduate teaching are located on the main campus. The Sami Nasr Institute for Advanced Materials houses five of the academic staff, together with six purpose-built research laboratories with associated instrument rooms. The School also commands space in the Lloyd Institute for Information Technology and Advanced Computation. The Chemistry Building houses the School Office, two lecture theatres; six research laboratories, a number of instrument rooms, much of the School’s major instrumentation and further accommodation for academic staff. During 2011, new state-of-the-art accommodation for research amounting to 2000 m2, which is located in the Biosciences Building, will be handed over to the School.
School of Chemistry, Trinity College Dublin
Making a difference since 1711!
Prof. David H. Grayson
Head, School of Chemistry