KJM2300 Analytical Chemistry I Course description

At the end of the second semester, a two page project description must be submitted and approved before the student gets a supervisor. A master's thesis preparation seminar will help the student to produce the two page project description.

A supervisor will be appointed by the programme director. Supervision is a crucial component in the preparation of the thesis. The supervisor is to assist the student when he or she is acquiring the necessary and relevant knowledge, as well as, when collecting and analysing data. The supervisor must ensure that the student-s research activity comply with accepted ethical standards within social research, including standards defined by the Norwegian Data Protection Official and the National Committees for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities

Every student is entitled to approximately 10 hours of face-to-face consultation, individually or in groups, or the equivalent if part of the supervision is conducted via email.

An agreement between the student and the supervisor must be signed by both parties to ensure that rights and obligations are understood. The student and the supervisor may request a substitute if either party fails to meet the obligations outlined in the agreement.

The research work (analysis of qualitative and/or quantitative data or a literature review) is conducted during the fourth semester. Norwegian students are encouraged to carry out their data collection abroad. International students often collect their data in their home countries.

The course builds on KJFP1300 General Chemistry, KJFP1400 Organic Chemistry and KJM1500 Physical Chemistry.

Compulsory activities must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam:

• A two page project description must be submitted and approved.
• A signed agreement between the student and the supervisor must be submitted by a set date.

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.

Simon Innvær

One internal examiner. External examiners are used regularly.

Per Ola Rønning

The course has an overlap of 10 credits with KJTF2311 and KJTF2310.

Under the rule that students have three attempts to take an exam, attempts in equivalent courses also count.