MSc in Environmental Chemistry and Health
http://www.farma.ku.dk/index.php/A-317-2-Aquatic-Environmental/6140/0/
There are many thousands of chemicals affecting the environment in our modern society, and their use is increasing rapidly. As a graduate from the MSc programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health, you have insight into the potential impacts of these chemicals on the environment and human health.
You know how environmentally harmful substances move and are degraded in the environment, and you know what is toxic. And, most importantly, you are an expert on what we can do to find solutions to the challenges.
The MSc programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health is one of the University of Copenhagen’s elite study programmes. This means small classes, offering you good opportunities for experimental courses and close contact with the researchers. You will only find this unique combination of study programme elements at the University of Copenhagen.
The language of the study programme is English.
Read an interview with the student Denisa Cupi.
Content:
Admission requirements
Profile
Career opportunities
Structure
Teaching
Student life
Application
Contact
Admission requirements
To get admitted to the MSc programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health, you must have a degree from a relevant BSc programme.
The following BSc programmes at the University of Copenhagen give direct access to the MSc programme:
• Natural Resources (core module course in Environmental Science)
• Environmental Chemistry
In addition, students with a BSc degree in natural science or health science can apply for admission, e.g. with a BSc degree in:
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Biology-Biotechnology
• Pharmacology
• Molecular Biomedicine
• Natural Resources
• IT and Health
• Public Health
• Medical science (medicine)
Other BSC degrees in natural science may also give access. Read more about the specific admission requirements here.
Profile
On the MSc programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health, you acquire knowledge and competences which society is increasingly demanding.
You are able to analyse what happens in nature and people when exposed to potentially harmful substances. You know how to avoid or remedy the potentially harmful effects of chemicals, e.g. endocrine disrupting effects. And you are able to handle specific issues such as degradation of oil and pesticides in soil, the toxicity of heavy metals to humans and organisms in the soil and risk assessment of harmful substances.
The study programme is composed of the subject areas atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, human toxicology, epidemiology and risk assessment. The subject areas provide you with the interdisciplinary knowledge required to link the presence of substances in the environment with the possible hazardous and environmentally harmful effects.
The MSc programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health is interdisciplinary, and you will be sharing your studies with students from several faculties. The study programme is anchored at the Faculty of Life Sciences, but you will also attend classes at the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Faculty of Health Sciences as well as at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
Career opportunities
As a graduate with expertise in environmental chemistry and health, you have many career opportunities, and you are generally highly sought-after in the labour market. This is particularly true internationally where, among other things, new and ambitious EU legislation in the chemicals area is creating many jobs within the EU administration and in companies required to comply with the new legislation.
Recent graduates from the programme are, for example, working both in Denmark and abroad, e.g.:
• In R&D departments in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry or in consulting firms, where they, for instance, develop products which are not harmful to the environment.
• Within ‘cleantech’, with developing air filters, for example, and purifying water.
• Assessing chemicals allowed in, for example, food and toys, in ministries and government agencies such as the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
• Handling natural disasters caused by chemical pollution, e.g. oil spills.
• Within legislation and regulation in, for example, ministries or in new municipalities and regions in Denmark.
Structure
The study programme is composed of the following subject areas:
- Atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic environmental chemistry
- Ecotoxicology
- Human toxicology
- Epidemiology
- Risk assessment
Together, the subject areas provide the knowledge required to link the presence of substances in the environment with the possible hazardous and environmentally harmful effects.
The compulsory courses build on the knowledge you acquired at BSc level and brings you further by means of new subject areas, models and techniques that you have not used previously. In addition, the courses are interrelated so that the MSc programme provides you with interdisciplinary understanding of the connection between environmental chemistry and health.
The compulsory courses provide you with a broad foundation on which to base the elective courses. The elective study activities along with the knowledge obtained from the compulsory courses equip you for writing the final thesis.
You can, for example, work with subjects such as:
- The greenhouse effect
- Degradation of oil and pesticides in soil
- Toxicity of heavy metals to humans and organisms in the soil
- Risk assessment of harmful substances
- You may also investigate what the implications are when several substances are present at the same time; the so-called cocktail effect
The compulsory courses strengthen your general competences, whereas the elective study activities and the subject for your thesis ensure the specialisation in the study programme.
The programme is organised as follows:
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Year 2 |
Block 1 |
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Block 2 |
Thesis |
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Block 3 |
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Block 4 |
A block is 9 weeks long and equals 15 ECTS.
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The dark fields are the compulsory courses |
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The medium-coloured field is the thesis |
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The light fields are elective courses |
Note: The five partners offering compulsory courses for the MSc programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health have different procedures and application deadlines for course registration.
Instruction is in the form of lectures, seminars, practical and theoretical exercises, and there will be a good deal of project work. You will be working both independently and in project groups.
As an MSc student on the Environmental Chemistry and Health programme, you will be attached to an annual international environmental science symposium organised by a number of research programmes and research schools. Here, you will have the chance to meet international researchers and PhD students. The symposium establishes contact between you as an MSc student and research environments at several institutions in Denmark and abroad.
Student life at LIFE is absolutely unique – both with regard to the physical and the academic environment. The Gardens, which are part of the Frederiksberg Campus, are popular among both students and locals. In the summer months, you can drop by Café Væksthuset located in an old greenhouse for a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a delicious sandwich.
As a student, you can join student clubs and societies of a more or less academic nature. Regardless of whether you are interested in choral singing, sports, the theatre or a special academic subject, there is a club for you.
The faculty has a large number of international students who contribute to the dynamic and exciting student life. You will also have plenty of opportunity to travel abroad in connection with your studies.
Would you like to hear from a student what it is like to study on the MSc programme in Environmental Chemistry and Health at LIFE? Then you can read an interview with the student Denisa Cupi.
Applicants with a BSc degree from Denmark must apply before 1 April to start the programme the following September.
Applicants from Scandinavia, the EU and Lichtenstein must apply before 1 April to start the programme the following September.
Applicants from countries outside Scandinavia and the EU must apply by 1 January to start the programme the following September.
Tuition fees
Read more about application processes, tuition fees and scholarships.
Contact
You are always welcome to contact the faculty’s student counselling service, LIFE Student Services, if you have any questions about the programme, student life etc.
You can contact Student Services on tel. +45 3533 3533 or by email to .
Each spring, the faculty’s MSc programmes host open house events. At these events, you have the chance to meet directors of studies and students, who can tell you more about the programme.
Kirsten Jenlev , - last update:13 April 2012