SIW5901 The Master's Thesis Course description

Gradert skala fra A til E for bestått og F for ikke bestått.

All other courses within the master's degree must be passed before submitting the master's thesis.

The students shall acquire basic knowledge of the use of quantitative methods in analytical chemistry. The course includes training in relevant analytical techniques and instrumentation methods for the recording and processing of measurement data. Handling of errors, uncertainty estimates and quality assurance in quantitative analytical chemistry will also be addressed.

To take this course at least 30 ECTS from the 1. study year in the bachelor program must be passed. And Approved laboratory course in KJPE1300 General Chemistry, KJM1400 Organic Chemistry and KJM1500 Physical Chemistry, or corresponding qualifications.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student knows the principles that form the basis for:

• Data processing and statistical analysis of measurement data
• quantitative methods with the use of internal and external standards and standard addition
• acid and base equilibria, preparation of buffer solutions
• molecular spectroscopy techniques such as UV-VIS and fluorescence spectroscopy
• atom spectroscopy techniques such as flame spectroscopy and ICP
• detection limit determination, sources of noise in spectroscopy and chromatography
• chromatographic separation, descriptions of column efficiency and separation ability
• chromatographic techniques such as gas chromatography and liquid chromatography
• quality control and quality assurance in a chemical laboratory

Skills

The student is capable of:

• performing quantitative analyses in accordance with specific procedures
• calibrating and adjusting common measurement instruments
• assessing sources of error and calculating the uncertainty in analytical measurements
• choosing the appropriate laboratory equipment and using it correctly
• using different chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques and using the instrumentation correctly to produce reliable measurement data
• using software to aquire and process data from chemical instrumentation
• using Excel and other relevant software packages in data processing and interpretation

General competence

The student:

• has basic knowledge of quality requirements in a chemical laboratory
• is capable of performing quantitative analyses using different quantification techniques and separation and measurement methods
• has insight into statistical methods for the processing of chemical measurement data
• has knowledge of how accuracy and precision in measurement results are affected by sources of error and uncertainty in instrumentation, procedures and work techniques
• has insight into the application, limitations and functioning of spectroscopic and chromatographic methods

The teaching is organised as lectures, exercises and laboratory instruction.

The following coursework is compulsory and must be approved before the student can sit the exam:

• 3-day laboratory course with 3 written assignments (one individual and two in groups of 2-4 students, 5-10 pages per assignment)
• Some exercise sessions related to the laboratory course will be compulsory. These sessions will be announced separately.

Individual written exam under supervision, 3 hours.

The exam result can be appealed.

In the event of a resit or rescheduled exam, oral examination may be used instead of written. If oral exams are used for resit and rescheduled exams, the exam result cannot be appealed.

The master's thesis will be assessed by an internal and an external examiner. Neither examiner shall be involved in the supervision of the master's thesis in question.

One internal examiner. External examiners are used regularly.