The Experience

At Trent, you will study in modern laboratory facilities designed to maximize student performance, work with faculty members who have received awards for their teaching and research, and participate in student directed research in consultation with faculty members.

Focusing their study on the underlying principles, students acquire a wealth of transferrable skills - using equipment and methods similar to those used in industrial, academic, and government laboratories. Practice the techniques to develop a molecular perspective during problem solving, and this can lead to an exciting career in pure chemistry, or most any area of science! Research in chemistry continues to uncover the impact we have on our surroundings, and how the choices we make today will affect our world in the future. At Trent, you can contribute directly to these discoveries.

Undergraduate

Within the Chemistry Department you can specialize in organic, inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry, or biochemistry, and take advantage of course options supported by the Departments of Physics, Biology and the School of the Environment. You will be studying in a program accredited by the Canadian Society for Chemistry, and gain experience with special equipment for modern experimental and theoretical chemistry, including spectrophotometers, mass spectrometers, as well as gas, ion, and high-performance liquid chromatography equipment. You will benefit from opportunities to assist faculty in research or develop independent research projects through our research project course or summer employment as a student research assistant. Students are often recognized as contributing authors in published journal articles. All this gives you a solid foundation for employment or further education through graduate studies in M.Sc./Ph.D. and/or professional programs.

Information on undergraduate research funding opportunities

NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award 

Graduate

Trent is a small school with a large reputation for research and scholarships.  With small class sizes, regular interaction with faculty, and an emphasis on research-intensive programming, Trent offers you a unique educational experience: it’s where tradition meets innovation and community meets academic excellence. As a graduate student, you will be welcomed into a close-knit community that features regular one-on-one work with faculty and advisors, a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to studies, and a rich cultural atmosphere in which to live and learn. Trent Chemistry faculty members conduct research on a wide range of subjects. Projects are often interdisciplinary, focusing on materials, modelling, bioscience, and environmental impact.

Information on graduate research funding opportunities

Get Involved

CHUGS

Each year the Chemistry Undergraduate Society (CHUGS) hosts events for students, which in the past have included movie nights, paintball trips, demonstrations and BBQs.  Furthermore, we offer first year chemistry help sessions and a Trent chemistry logo design contest that is then used on the department’s clothing items that are sold by CHUGS. CHUGS uses myLearningSystem for information updates, meeting times, events, etc.  If you do not have access to the MLS page or have any general questions or concerns regarding CHUGS, send an email to chugs@trentu.ca. Check out the CHUGS Facebook page and CHUGS Twitter feed.

The Stairs Lecture in Chemistry

The biennial lecture series enables Trent to invite a distinguished scientist to speak on their research and to showcase the field of Chemistry.

• 2019: Dr. Gillian Goward, Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology at McMaster University - CANCELLED
• 2017: Dr. Phili Jessop, Research Chair of Green Chemistry, Department of Chemistry at Queen's University, Technical director at GreenCentre Canada - Can chemistry be green?
• 2016: Dr. Feiyue Wang, Lead Scientist, Sea-ice Environmental Research Facility, University of Manitoba - Chemical contamination in the Artctic under a changing climate
• 2014: Dr. Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine - Air pollution, acid rain, and climate change
• 2012: Dr. Elizabeth Edwards, Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto – Nature to the Rescue: New Discoveries in Detoxifying Groundwater Contamination
• 2010: Dr. John C. Vederas, Canada Research Chair in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, University of Alberta – Drugs from Bugs and Other Natural Sources

Joint Chemistry/Physics and Astronomy Seminar Program

Seminars alternate between Chemistry and Physics throughout the academic year and are presented by guest speakers from other institutions as well as by Trent Faculty.

​Wednesdays from 11:00 am to 11:50 am in the ENW 115

Dr. Raymond March Visiting Scientist

Lecture - Wednesday, November 7, 2018, 11:00 am SC 115 - Professor Hind A. Al-Abadleh, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Wilfrid Laurier University - Surface and Bulk Chemistry of Environmentally-Relevant Multicomponent Systems