Graduate Courses

Course Registration

Check below for a list and descriptions of the Chemistry graduate courses offered in 2026-2027.

Chemistry graduate students need to follow the course selection process outlined on the Chemistry Grad Platform: Courses and Enrolment page.

Students in other departments should follow the instructions provided by their home department.

Registration Deadlines

Fall Course Registration Deadline: End of September

Winter Course Registration Deadline: End of January

Courses offered by cross-disciplinary departments:

For a list of all courses across campus, check the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs academic calendar

Mandatory Courses

Expand to see the description of each course.

All chemistry graduate students are required to take CHEM 801, 802, and 803. Students do not need to request enrolment in these courses. The Graduate Assistant will enrol them.

Pass/Fail

An introduction to safety procedures and the safe handling of chemical compounds and equipment in the laboratory. This non-credit course is required for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering students. All other members of the Chemistry department are welcome to attend. Students must attend all lectures and exam.

Coordinator: Paul Duchesne

This non-credit departmental seminar course must be taken every year in all three terms by all Chemistry graduate students. As part of this course, MSc and PhD students must attend a minimum number of departmental seminars. In addition, PhD students will present one seminar on their research prior to their thesis submission.

Seminar Schedule

To achieve a Pass, students must maintain an attendance record of 75% at CHEM 802 seminars. Seminar attendance is monitored using sign-in attendance sheets. If a student does not attend the required 75%, they will get an Incomplete and in subsequent terms, the student will have to attend more seminars than the required 75% in order to reach a 75% overall attendance.

Students can also receive credit for attending seminars in other departments that are relevant to their research, typically in physics, biochemistry, environmental science, etc. To get this credit, students need to follow the instructions on the Chemistry Grad Platform.

Coordinator: Zhe She

3 units

Principles of scientific verbal and written communication in Chemistry. Topics include computer literature searching, scientific writing techniques (for research reports, journal manuscripts, and theses), oral and poster conference presentations, and communication skills as teaching assistantships. Assignments will include completion of online course modules on scientific communication from MyGradSkills.ca.

Time and Location: Friday 9:30 to 11:00 in Stirling 414

Instructors: Hugh Horton and Ben Broerman

Elective Courses

For most graduate courses, times and locations are decided by the instructor in consultation with the students. Most Chemistry courses run on a 6-week schedule, with the Fall or Winter Breaks in between.

Some courses are offered concurrent with fourth-year courses, so they have both a 800-level and a 400-level code. Students can only count 3 units of 800/400-level courses towards their graduate course requirements.

Fall 1 Courses: Sept 8 - Oct 11

Fall Break: Oct 13 - 16

Contact the course instructor to find out if classes may run during the Fall Break.

1.5 units

An introductory course on identification of organic and organometallic compounds using multinuclear NMR techniques. The focus will be on practical applications for those working in synthetic chemistry.

Instructor: Muzaddid Sarker

Fall 2 Courses: Oct 19 - Dec 8

1.5 units

A detailed description of the technique, means of circumventing its limitations and expanding its capabilities. Examples of applications, including environmental analysis.

Instructor: Diane Beauchemin

1.5 units

Advanced methods for the identification of organic and organometallic compounds using multinuclear NMR techniques. The focus will be on practical applications for those working in synthetic chemistry.

Prerequisite: CHEM 805

Instructor: Muzaddid Sarker

1.5 units

This module focuses after a brief review of ionisation techniques and current mass spectrometric equipment on novel hybrid-tandem-MS instruments and current applications of mass spectrometry in different areas of the life sciences. Topics include, but are not limited to, atomic composition determination, identification methods for proteins and determination of post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation or glycosylation now widely used in the evolving field of proteomics, studies of non-covalent biomolecule interactions and new high-throughput screening techniques as employed in drug or catalyst development.

Instructor: Mario Khalil

Full Fall Courses: Sept 8 - Dec 8

3 units

This is a combined graduate-undergraduate course.

This course is a discussion of biological chemistry concepts and an introduction to the bioanalytical tools used to study them. This course focuses on the discovery, function and analysis of biomolecules which may include DNA, Peptides/proteins, carbohydrates, polyketides/fatty acids, alkaloids and terpenes. Offered jointly with CHEM 416.

Instructors: Avena Ross and Chantelle Capicciotti

3 units

The Science Leadership and Management course will be delivered over twelve 3-hour sessions to Chemistry and Physics students in either of the first two years of their PhD studies (or other graduate students with permission from the course coordinator and supervisor). The first and last four-week sessions will focus on the development and application of leadership skills, and the second four-week session will focus on the development of management skills, that are useful in scientific positions in industry and academia. Graded Pass/Fail.

Time and Location: Monday 11:30 - 2:30 in ELLIS 319

Instructor: Hugh Horton

Winter 1 Courses: Jan 4 - Feb 14

Winter Break: Feb 16 - 19

1.5 units

Enzyme mechanisms and inhibition, catalytic antibodies, stereochemical and other biological probes. Phosphoryl group transfer reactions.

Instructor: David Zechel

1.5 units

A survey of materials characterisation methods with an emphasis on practical applications in materials and polymer chemistry. Techniques will include electron microscopy, scanning probe methods, photoelectron & Auger spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and powder X-ray diffraction methods.

Instructor: Emerson MacNeil

1.5 units

The theory and practice of scanning probe techniques, including scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) and related techniques. Applications to modern research in surface and interfacial chemistry.

Instructor: Zhe She

1.5 units

A critical review of the current research literature with strong emphasis on student discussions and presentations. Topics are selected from recent examples in the literature and may include light-matter interactions, nanostructures, surface probe studies, computational methods and other examples in physical chemistry and molecular physics.

Instructor: Paul Duchesne

1.5 units

This course explores recent advances and current trends in computational chemistry and may include review of literature, hands-on tutorials, student discussions, and presentations. Lecture topics may include machine learning, scientific software development, high-performance computing, electronic structure theory, modeling chemical reactivity, molecular dynamics simulations, chemical reactions, spectroscopy, and quantum computing.

Prerequisite: CHEM 313 or CHEM 413 or equivalent, or permission of instructor

Instructor: Farnaz Heidar-Zadeh

1.5 units

This course introduces the three pillars of scientific computing in the context of molecular modelling: numerical algorithms, computer programming, and high-performance computing. Topics may include computational linear algebra, calculus, and statistics. Students gain hands-on experience implementing these methods and using existing libraries to solve problems.

Prerequisite: CHEM 313 or CHEM 413 or equivalent or permission of instructor.

Instructor: Farnaz Heidar-Zadeh

1.5 units

An introduction to the field of Chemistry Education Research and related Discipline-Based Education Research. This course will explore modern learning theories, research methods, and current trends and challenges in the field, with a strong emphasis on student discussions of the literature. Students will learn how discipline-based education works, how to read and understand the literature, and what implications the field might have on their own teaching practice or research projects.

Instructor: Amanda Bongers

Winter 2 Courses: Feb 22 - Apr 4

1.5 units

This is a combined graduate-undergraduate course.

A discussion of some modern methods used in organic synthesis with an emphasis on stereoselective reactions; illustrations of the value and scope of the methods and applications in the synthesis of complex molecules. Offered jointly with CHEM 422.

Instructor: P. Andrew Evans

1.5 units

This course will examine the biosynthesis of major classes of natural products including polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides, terpenoids, indolocarbazoles, and alkaloids. Focus will be given to the mechanisms of the biosynthetic enzymes. Strategies for discovering new natural products as well as engineering existing pathways to create new compounds will also be considered.

Prerequisite: CHEM 883 or equivalent

Instructor: Avena Ross

1.5 units

This course introduces the current topics in luminescent materials chemistry including photophysical and photochemical properties of transition metal and main group compounds, and characterization methods.The design and synthetic aspects of luminescent materials and their applications in sensing and optoelectronic devices, and photocatalysis will also be discussed.

Instructor: Kevin Stamplecoskie

1.5 units

An introduction to the design of chemical products, reagents, syntheses and solvents for the reduction of the environmental impact of human activities. Design strategies and impact prediction will be emphasized.

Instructor: Philip Jessop

1.5 units

Physical basis for organic chemistry, dealing with specific mechanistic pathways and the tools necessary for the understanding of organic reaction mechanisms.

Instructor: Graeme Howe

1.5 units

This course explores advanced topics in scientific computing for molecular modelling. Topics may include sparse tensors, differential equations, stochastic algorithms, and machine learning basics. Students learn best practices in software development, parallel and distributed computing, and scalable molecular modelling. This course culminates in a student-led project.

Prerequisite: CHEM 825 or permission of instructor.

Instructor: Farnaz Heidar-Zadeh