Bachelor of Science - Chemistry

The Chemistry program at Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) emphasizes personalized instruction and student research. Students receive direct individual attention by the faculty of Ph.D. Chemists in small classes and seminar groups and are encouraged to start work on a research project as early as the second year of study. This commitment has been supported by over $1.3 million in faculty and departmental research grants and student research scholarships. Results from undergraduate research projects have been presented at regional and national conferences and published in scholarly journals with international distribution.

Programs of study leading to the Bachelor of Science in Chemistry are as follows:

• Professional - option A.

This program provides the academic foundation for students who may wish to continue their studies in graduate chemistry, chemical engineering, or biochemistry. Students completing this program with 3 additional advanced chemistry hours and a chemistry GPA of 2.5 or better will be certified by the Committee on Professional Training of the American Chemical Society.

• Interdisciplinary - option B.

This program provides the academic foundation in chemistry for students who may wish to reinforce their degree with a background in biology, business, computer science, chemical engineering, or other areas.

• Biochemistry/Pre-Professional - option C.

This program provides the academic foundation for students who wish to continue their studies in biochemistry at the graduate level or in professional schools of optometry, physical therapy, pharmacy, physician’s assistant, medicine, dentistry, or veterinary medicine. Students will also be able to matriculate into the Research and Development areas of industry and areas of forensic science.

For advancement as a pre-professional student seeking to gain admission to professional school (Medical, Dental, Veterinary Medicine, Physician’s Assistant, Pharmacy, etc.), it is expected that students in options A-C will gain experience, formally or informally, in how these practices are run. This experience can be gained through employment, paid or unpaid internships, volunteering, or other instances where students can observe the various aspects of a professional practice.

Equipment in the Chemistry Program

Teaching and research laboratories and private research laboratories utilize modern instrumentation including:

• High performance liquid chromatography systems with UV/Vis and electrochemical detectors • Gas chromatography instruments with flame ionization • Gas chromatography/mass spectrometer • A 200 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer • Single-beam, double-beam and diode array UV/Vis spectrometers • Fourier transform infrared spectrometer • Electrochemistry work station for cyclic voltammetry and coulometry • Atomic absorbance/atomic emission spectrometer with flame, graphite furnace, and hydride generation atomizers • Computer controlled thermogravimetric analyzer and calorimetric analyzer • Low temperature photon counting fluorimeter for solid and gas samples • High precision scanning fluorimeter.

Additionally, students have access to computer software for quantum mechanical and thermodynamic computations, molecular mechanics and results rendering, statistical analysis and graphical presentation of data as well as presentation software for talks and seminars.