BSc in Chemistry
To use science for the greater good
Chemistry is the science of matter and the transformations it can undergo. It embraces everything in the material world around us — the environment we live in, our bodies, the food we consume, the chips in our computers, the energy that makes the world function, and the lifesaving drugs that prolong our lives.
Our programme provides a holistic, modern, and liberal education in chemistry. The courses in the chemistry major have been designed in such a way that they teach students to think like chemists. We recognise that chemistry is more than just the properties of chemicals and that an understanding of how chemistry works is more important than knowledge of the facts of chemistry.
Who should join us?
At Azim Premji University, join us if you are looking for a programme that incorporates a strong experimental (and computational) component in every course that teaches students the art and science of observation and manipulation of materials.The core themes of our programme intend to reflect the way a chemical scientist thinks in the laboratory.
- Structure and Analysis: What is a substance made of?
- Synthesis and Reactivity: How do I make it and how do I change it?
- Model Development: How do I explain its behaviour and properties?
The core foundational courses are organised along these themes and integrate topics from all the subdisciplines of chemistry including physical, inorganic and organic chemistry.
As students, you will work in laboratories equipped with advanced spectroscopic, analytical and synthetic equipment early in their coursework. The early exposure to research and experimentation in courses and the optional honours research project will equip you with the capacity to be self-directed learners and excel in any future career path that you may choose — inside or outside the scientific research world.
Why study with us?
We offer Interdisciplinary Openness
Our programmes encourage you to explore and follow your interests. We design our courses to ensure that you can specialise in a subject of your choice while learning various subjects across disciplines.
A Common Curriculum for all students
You will meet all your classmates at the beginning of your course to build all the tools you need for your four years of study. This includes foundational courses, an understanding of India, interdisciplinary studies, and courses in creative expressions.
We provide Academic Assistance
Our consistent academic assistance through language support, peer tutoring, faculty mentorship, etc., ensures that you meet the programme’s academic requirements.
We ensure Financial Support
We extend need-based financial assistance to students that cover tuition and accommodation expenses.
Programme Structure
Course Structure
The Common Curriculum will introduce students to the study of the themes and areas that emphasise and build critical and analytical abilities, and sensibilities for dialogue, reflection and cooperative learning. The Common Curriculum has four sub-components organised as below:
Academic Reading and Writing: Introduces students to domain specific reading and writing skills
Creative Expressions: Students are empowered to participate with meaningful social connection, fostering a community of active and responsible citizens
Public Reasoning/The World of Computing: The students will do one of the two courses.
- Public Reasoning: Introduces students to the practices of understanding as well arguing for claims in the public realm.
- The World of Computing: This enables students to explore the potential of computing devices and computational reasoning
Understanding India: India’s history, society and possible future.
Chemicals in the Community
Disciplinary Major
This course looks at themes that delineate chemistry as a human activity.
Introduction to Chemical Thinking — I
Disciplinary Major
Chemistry as a way of thinking.
Introduction to Chemical Thinking — II
Disciplinary Major
Delving further into chemical thinking.
Structure-Property Relationships in Chemistry
Disciplinary Major
Understanding theoretical frameworks with respect to chemical phenomena.
Principles of Reactivity
Disciplinary Major
Understanding reactivity with focus on the chemistry of various compounds.
Thermodynamics and Kinetics
Disciplinary Major
Understanding of the kinetics and thermodynamics associated with reactions.
Chemical Analysis and Spectroscopy
Disciplinary Major
Focuses on mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy in detail.
Inorganic Synthesis
Disciplinary Major
Comprehensive learning about inorganic compounds.
Organic Synthesis
Disciplinary Major
Understanding synthesis of organic molecules.
Mathematics and Computing I & II
Disciplinary Major
Learning about mathematics and computing
Students must be prepared for the world of work at the end of the programme should they choose to enter it. We aim to provide the required skills and competencies for this through a Minor featuring courses in an Occupational or Interdisciplinary theme. These sets of courses are aimed to provide both conceptual understanding and skills and tools that will allow students to contribute through work and further study.
Students can opt for a Minor in any one of the indicative areas listed below.
The selection of these indicative areas is based on the availability of courses and our evaluation of the student’s interests and academic needs. For each cohort, a final list of available courses will be announced at the end of their second semester.
Biodiversity Conservation
Biodiversity conservation, management, and habitat restoration requires a multi-pronged approach, and an interdisciplinary understanding is essential. This OT will acquaint students with the rich biodiversity of the Indian subcontinent and the associated threats to them, and provide the students with the lens to identify pertinent questions such as — what to conserve, why to conserve, when to conserve, and how to conserve. The field of conservation binds the need for species and ecosystem conservation with the requirements for human well-being, livelihood, and rights. Through this curriculum, the students will be aware of the interdisciplinary approach in this field and will…Climate Studies
These courses will help you develop the knowledge necessary to understand the earth’s climate systems. You will examine and analyse the role of human activity on the earth’s climate and its effects on the present and future climate scenarios, and identify the effects of climate change on biodiversity through the lens of historical changes in the Holocene. We hope you will apply systems thinking to examine the origins of the climate crisis and proposed solutions and grow comfortable with civic engagement and transfer of knowledge and resources for climate solutions at different levels.Data, Democracy and Development
The set of courses will orient you to think about data as an essential part of building empathy and democratic values. We ensure you have the requisite tools for data collection, analysis, presentation, and dissemination so that you can construct the right platforms and build technologies that embody democratic principles. These courses will foster a culture of investigation with data, keeping in mind questions of ethics and politics.Design for Communities
Design concerns itself with envisioning, planning and creating objects, spaces or interactive systems to address a need or a problem. It attempts to meet the needs of a variety of users with responses that are aligned with their specific contexts. It aims to understand situations and create holistic, appropriate solutions. While design is a large discipline with many domains, this Occupational Track will look at the design of products, the practical use of technology in various enterprises and the design of spaces for accessibility and interaction. It includes the process of ideating, developing and refining products that meet specific market…Disability, Accessibility and Inclusion
The Occupational Track (Minor) prepares students to understand disability as a social, political, and rights-based issue while building the practical skills needed to create more inclusive environments. Rooted in contemporary disability studies, the programme explores the shift from a medical model of disability to a social model that focuses on removing barriers and ensuring dignity, participation, and equal opportunity.Students engage with the realities of disability in India, where access is shaped by intersections of caste, class, gender, poverty, and geography. The track introduces learners to disability rights frameworks, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities…Education
The Occupational Track (OT) in Education at Azim Premji University leverages the liberal arts tradition by fostering a deep understanding of human society and its relationship with education. This program delves into psychology, sociology, politics, and philosophy, revealing how these disciplines influence how individuals and societies approach learning. Additionally, the arts, humanities, and diverse philosophical perspectives enrich our understanding of educational thought and practice.The OT in Education recognizes the importance of analysing educational processes and systems at various levels, from individual student experiences to national and international trends. By examining different perspectives – personal, communal, organisational, national, and international –…Financial Management for the Social Sector
This Occupational Track (Minor) is designed to prepare students to address the financial and governance needs of social sector organisations. Rooted in the liberal arts tradition, it combines conceptual understanding with practical skills to help students engage with the financial realities of nonprofits, community institutions, cooperatives, foundations, and mission-driven enterprises.Students learn the fundamentals of accounting, budgeting, financial planning, internal controls, and statutory compliance while also examining how finance can promote equity, accountability, and sustainability. The programme pays special attention to the role of financial systems in communities, including access to savings, credit, insurance, pensions, and other services for low-income households.Through…Heritage Studies
This Occupational Track (Minor) prepares students to engage with heritage as a dynamic field of study and practice. Moving beyond monuments and museums, the programme recognises heritage as something continuously created, interpreted, documented, and sustained through communities, institutions, and public engagement.Students explore diverse forms of heritage in India and beyond, including cultural traditions, neighbourhood histories, archives, scientific collections, technological knowledge, landscapes, and digital records. The track combines perspectives from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences to help students understand how heritage is shaped by history, ethics, policy, and everyday practice.Through a strongly applied learning model, students develop practical skills in…Media and Journalism
These courses will introduce you to the critical and conceptual tools involved in media texts. This course is based on research and practice, and you will study how media texts are created and their social, historical and political contexts. This course is for students who wish to prepare for careers in journalism, communications, and social work.Music Education
The undergraduate Occupational Track programme in Music Education is designed in collaboration with SaPa, the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts. SaPa is on a mission to make quality music education accessible to all. A large part of this involves creating enough music teachers to build the ecosystem for music education, and creating certifications and knowledge sets to make music teachers employable, both in schools and at music institutions.The Music Education OT aligns with this objective and aims to offer students an understanding of music itself, and how music may be taught in different environments. This will help students be employable,…Public Health
This Occupational Track (Minor) combines critical perspectives on health with practical skills that prepare students to contribute meaningfully to public health in diverse work settings. Rooted in the liberal arts tradition, the programme helps students understand health not only as a biological condition, but as a social phenomenon shaped by economic, political, environmental, and cultural factors.Students explore key public health challenges in India and globally, while examining how governments, communities, and non-state actors respond to them. The track introduces foundational analytical skills in epidemiology to understand disease burden, patterns of illness, and population health outcomes. It also develops the ability…Sports and Fitness
We believe that a regimen of physical activity can have a powerful effect on an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Sport can be used as an effective tool to help an individual learn crucial life skills and also to build an empathetic, equitable community. In these set of courses, we want you to have a powerful experience of sport not just as a physical activity but as a way to build yourself and your social surroundings. We also want to teach you ways in which you can create these transformational experiences for others.Technology for Social Good
The Technology for Social Good occupational track has been designed based on the Azim Premji Foundation’s extensive experience in working with social sector organizations. Many of these organizations are addressing long-standing social problems through utmost dedication and a strong desire to improve the society we live in. There is a lot of scope for facilitating the work of these organizations through the use of digital technology. While accomplishing social change is a slow process requiring long-term engagement, digital technology can assist these organizations in making their operations more effective and by permitting better utilization of scarce resources. At present, these…
Students can craft their own educational experience by selecting courses in the following ways:
- Students will have the option to take additional courses in their Disciplinary Major.
- Interdisciplinary Minor that will enable them for their further higher studies or career pathways.
These courses could also be selected to enhance and broaden their
- Language skills and Quantitative reasoning capacities/programming skills.
- Understanding of themes outside their Major subject.
Classroom Practices
The goal of the chemistry curriculum is education, broad in its focus and intent. In practice, balancing education and training entails emphasis on a holistic view of chemistry that expands modes of thinking beyond the science classroom. Incorporating research, observation and experimentation skills, early interdisciplinary and collaborative research practice are some of the key considerations.
The chemistry programme aims to take students from a diversity of socio-economic and educational backgrounds through a four-year rigorous undergraduate programme that opens up multiple academic or career possibilities. On the one hand, while enabling a wide range of future options, accessibility and inclusivity form the core of the programme from a societal perspective.
Honours Projects
The honours with research or internship section of the curriculum prepares students to further deepen their understanding and capabilities and allows for different pathways into higher education or entry into the workforce.
Students interested primarily in the higher education pathway would be expected to do a semester-long independent research project, resulting in a thesis submission in the four-year programme.
The research honours pathway is designed to give qualified students an opportunity to engage with chemistry research more intensively. Through the project, students receive rigorous training in posing scientific questions, conceptualising testable hypotheses, conducting experiments, and documenting their results in the form of presentations and a final written thesis.
In the Chemistry Research Seminar course for 3 credits, developments and techniques in chemistry are discussed by selecting journal articles from current literature. Students will be able to use the seminar course to augment the skills developed through the research project by researching chemical literature, critically reading and evaluating scientific journal articles, and making scientific seminar presentations.
Publications
- Mitra, A., Ghosh, S., Paliwal, K.S., Ghosh, S., Tudu, G., Chandrasekar, A., & and Mahalingam, V. (2022). Alumina-based bifunctional catalyst for efficient CO2 fixation into epoxides at atmospheric pressure. Inorg. Chem., 61(41), 16356 – 16369. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c02363
- Mahalingam, V., Mitra, A., Paliwal, K.S., Ghosh, S., Bag, S., Roy, A., & Chandrasekar, A. (2023). Diaspore as efficient halide-free catalysts for the conversion of CO2 into cyclic carbonates. Inorg. Chem. Front., 10, 6329 – 6338. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3QI01386C
- Praveen, A.E., Mishra, V., Ganguli, S., Chandrasekar, A., & Mahalingam, V. (2023). Phosphorus-induced one-step synthesis of NiCo2S4 electrode material for efficient hydrazine-assisted hydrogen production. Inorg. Chem., 62(39) 16149 – 16160. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c02418
Conferences
- Electronic Structures Predicting Unconventional Chemistry. Aditi Chandrasekar. Annual Research Conclave. 12th-13th January 2023. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.
- Investigation of Insertion Type Product of Noble gas in Polyhedral closo-borate Compounds. Ruthvik Vasu and Aditi Chandrasekar. Science Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC). 8th-9th December 2023. Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.
Our Graduates
The programme in the form of electives, interdisciplinary studies and minors provides exposure such as to enable the students to explore a range of options that include careers outside the sciences.
Advanced electives and a cutting-edge honours research programme in well-equipped laboratories give students technical skills for higher education, academic research or employment in sectors such as pharmaceutical industries, chemical manufacturers, forensic science labs, plastic industries, and agrochemical industries.
The option of taking a minor in different subjects in the programme with different skill-based training, such as Education, Media and Journalism, Data and Democracy, Sports and Fitness, Climate Studies, and Arts prepares interested students for careers outside research, industry and academia.
These careers can involve applications of scientific and chemical reasoning skills such as research for environmental organisations, science policy and advocacy, science journalism and writing, intellectual property law, and higher education in non-science degrees.
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