All Department of Chemistry courses

FS1 - Successful Completion of a Research Degree An hour devoted to a discussion of how to plan your time effectively on a day to day basis, how to produce a dissertation/thesis (from first year report to MPhil to PhD) and the essential requirements of an experimental section.

FS2 - Dignity@Study The University of Cambridge is committed to protecting the dignity of staff, students, visitors to the University, and all members of the University community in their work and their interactions with others. The University expects all members of the University community to treat each other with respect, courtesy and consideration at all times. All members of the University community have the right to expect professional behaviour from others, and a corresponding responsibility to behave professionally towards others. Nick will explore what this means for graduate students in this Department with an opportunity to ask questions more informally.

This is a compulsory session for 1st year postgraduates.

You will be introduced to Fortran 90/95 and provided with materials which cover the basics of Fortran 90/95 with an emphasis on applications in the physical sciences. The key concepts of loops, functions, subroutines, modules, and other standard Fortran syntax will be introduced sequentially.

• This course will be made available on Moodle from 2 to 30 November

You will be introduced to Fortran 90/95 and provided with materials which cover the basics of Fortran 90/95 with an emphasis on applications in the physical sciences. The key concepts of loops, functions, subroutines, modules, and other standard Fortran syntax will be introduced sequentially.

A thorough awareness of issues relating to research ethics and research integrity are essential to producing excellent research. This session will provide an introduction to the ethical responsibilities of researchers at the University, publication ethics and research integrity.

This training is available via Moodle.

Unconscious Bias refers to the biases we hold that are not in our conscious control. Research shows that these biases can adversely affect key decisions in the workplace. The session will enable you to work towards reducing the effects of unconscious bias for yourself and within your organisation. Using examples that you will be able to relate to, we help you to explore the link between implicit bias and the impact on the organisation. The overall aim of the session is to provide participants with an understanding of the nature of Unconscious Bias and how it impacts on individual and group attitudes, behaviours and decision-making processes.

Unconscious Bias refers to the biases we hold that are not in our conscious control. Research shows that these biases can adversely affect key decisions in the workplace. The session will enable you to work towards reducing the effects of unconscious bias for yourself and within your organisation. Using examples that you will be able to relate to, we help you to explore the link between implicit bias and the impact on the organisation. The overall aim of the session is to provide participants with an understanding of the nature of Unconscious Bias and how it impacts on individual and group attitudes, behaviours and decision-making processes.

How are you approaching getting published? Are you (passively) writing up your research, submitting your article and hoping for the best? Or are you (proactively) doing your best to get your work published into your intended journal and so contribute to your discipline and society? If it’s more the former than the latter, that’s OK: this introductory ‘Fundamentals of the Publication Process’ aims to help you to help yourself to be as successful as you can.

In the process of this practical and pragmatic half-day session outlining a series of proactive steps that you can take, this course will explore among other topics:

• how to select a target journal
• the peer review system in terms of submitting, revising and re-submitting
• how to communicate effectively with editors and reviewers
• explore what editors really look for

Have you ever struggled with styles of communication of others (peers, lecturers, supervisors, staff), wondered why some people seem to use more formal language, or be more direct than others? Culture plays a big part in how we communicate, and adjusting to the cultural communication norms means more than learning a foreign language.

In Cambridge's diverse and multicultural environment, we constantly communicate with people whose cultural communication norms differ from ours, whether you are a native English speaker from the United Kingdom, a native English speaker from elsewhere in the world, or have learnt English as a foreign language.

In order to avoid misunderstanding, or worse still, conflict, brought on by variations in communication styles we need to learn to make allowances for the cultural differences in how people communicate. To better understand cross-cultural complexity and increase your awareness of cultural identities, come to a session on intercultural communication to increase your cultural awareness and give you a better understanding of how culture may affect your everyday communication.

This compulsory session is intended to welcome new graduate students to the Department of Chemistry Library service in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The session will briefly cover how the physical library space can be used and, most importantly, give you practical information on how you can access the wide range of electronic resources available to you remotely. It will also cover the services available to you from other Cambridge libraries.

This session is intended to set you up so you can start to do your research as efficiently and effectively as possible.

• Once booked onto the course, you will receive a link to pre-register on Zoom.

This session introduces three citation databases: Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed (if relevant to the audience). These databases index all the scientific literature that is published. When used efficiently, and in combination, they are a powerful tool for finding the research publications you need - so you don't miss out on anything. They will be compared and contrasted with each other, and with using Google or Google Scholar, to find citations.

You will be guided on how to search these databases effectively; the session includes a hands-on element where you can practice. The session covers how to set up email alerts for searches and citations, so you can keep up with research published in your field. It also covers how to find metrics and altmetrics available for a journal, journal article, or author, so you can evaluate the quality of a piece of research, or a particular author's research before collaborating with them, for example. It will cover how to export the citations you find to your reference manager so you can easily create a bibliography and/or cite publications in your own work.

The session will be most suitable for those who are new to searching citation databases or would like a refresher.

Please register via Zoom

This session introduces three citation databases: Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed (if relevant to the audience). These databases index all the scientific literature that is published. When used efficiently, and in combination, they are a powerful tool for finding the research publications you need - so you don't miss out on anything. They will be compared and contrasted with each other, and with using Google or Google Scholar, to find citations.

You will be guided on how to search these databases effectively; the session includes a hands-on element where you can practice. The session covers how to set up email alerts for searches and citations, so you can keep up with research published in your field. It also covers how to find metrics and altmetrics available for a journal, journal article, or author, so you can evaluate the quality of a piece of research, or a particular author's research before collaborating with them, for example. It will cover how to export the citations you find to your reference manager so you can easily create a bibliography and/or cite publications in your own work.

The session will be most suitable for those who are new to searching citation databases or would like a refresher.

This compulsory online course will equip you with the skills required to manage the research information you will need to gather throughout your graduate course, as well as the publications you will produce yourself. It will also help you enhance your online research profile and measure the impact of research.

• This training will be made available on Moodle from 2nd November until 31st May 2021.

This compulsory online course will equip you with the skills required to manage the research information you will need to gather throughout your graduate course, as well as the publications you will produce yourself. It will also help you enhance your online research profile and measure the impact of research.

The course is self-taught through Moodle, you can enrol here: https://www.vle.cam.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=252874.

These optional drop-in sessions provide an opportunity for new chemistry graduate students who have completed the compulsory online IS4 Research Data Management and IS3 Information Research Skills courses to ask the trainer any questions they have about the content, or about how they can apply what they have learnt, in more detail.

• Please email training@ch.cam to book a 15 minute slot and you will receive a Zoom link. You will be asked to confirm your attendance one day before it takes place. If you do not confirm, your place will be offered to someone else.

As our understanding of gender identity and sexuality continues to grow, it is up to us as professionals to keep up to date with new language and terminology, as well as maintaining our inclusivity practice in the workplace. This training will provide you with the tools and training needed to create a safe and inclusive professional environment for your staff and students

This session introduces new undergraduate Chemistry students to the Department of Chemistry Library and its place within the wider Cambridge University Library system. It provides general information on what is available, where it is, and how to get it. Print and online resources are included.

This course explores how to write a paper and improve your writing style in Chemistry papers. The course will be particularly useful for those working on their first year report, MPhil thesis or an article.

This event is in-person only.

Science is a strikingly successful and powerful feature of contemporary human cultures: it has transformed lives, enabled great technological feats and often revealed the world to be a much stranger place than appearances suggest. But what is science, really, and how and why has it been so successful?

Science is a strikingly successful and powerful feature of contemporary human cultures: it has transformed lives, enabled great technological feats and often revealed the world to be a much stranger place than appearances suggest. But what is science, really, and how and why has it been so successful?

An 8 week Improv Theatre Course Improv teaches excellent skills for scientists! It will boost your confidence, teach you to be spontaneous and overcome the fear of failure. It will work wonders for your public speaking, communication and presentation skills.

This course will cover the quantitative background to underpin many of the electrochemical methods exploited by the research groups in the Department.

• The first part ('Foundations') will cover the background physical chemistry relevant for electrochemical systems: Following a reminder of the basics of electrochemistry, we address the physical chemistry of metals, ionic solutions and the electrode/solution interface, including electrode dynamics, and connection to experimental measurements.

• The second part ('Applications') will cover specific examples of applications drawn from active research groups in the department.

Enrol onto the Moodle course and access notes here: https://www.vle.cam.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=254073

This course is made up of 8 sessions which will be based around the topics below: unlike other courses in the Graduate Lecture Series, it is essential to attend all 8 sessions to benefit from this training. Places are limited so please be absolutely certain upon booking that you will commit to the entire course.

Once you book this course, you will need to register for each session via Zoom.

This is a practical skills-based course which comprises of 1 optional drop-in session and 6 compulsory instructor-lead statistics sessions. These will take place in Todd Hamied

The Departmental Advanced Safety Training covers basic induction training in how to work safely, including emergency arrangements for fire and evacuation, first aid and incidents including flood and gas leak. By attending, you are made aware of the Department’s Health and Safety Policy and your responsibilities under health and safety law. You will be introduced to the process required to prepare a risk assessment with standard operating procedure (SOP) or method statement, how to select the correct type of protective equipment (PPE) and why it needs to be worn, and reminded of the importance of good house keeping for reducing the likelihood of there being an incident. The hazards associated with display screen equipment (DSE) and manual handling are identified and the need to control them by a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk is explained. Electrical safety and the requirement for annual Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) is made clear.

• Please note you will find this training on Moodle.

Part of Induction Week