Studies & Degrees in Applied Chemistry

Choose where you would like to study Applied Chemistry:

Though not widely known as a field of study but, now, for sure the field of Applied Chemistry will gain ground as biofuel is being touted as the next big thing of the future. Yes, that’s right, at the forefront of biofuel development are leading chemists who likes to put into practical use their knowledge in covalence bonds and mastery of the elements to give the world’s future generations a better alternative when it comes to consuming fuels.

Applied Chemistry, basically, sprung forth from the field of Chemistry in the original sense which invariably does not discriminate if theory from application. It is just however that in recent times, that Applied Chemistry branched out as field of study as innovations for consumer products are becoming much more in-demand. Before, people were satisfied with germicidal soaps but now, even at the grocery stores, one can see that there are about just any kind of soap one can think of. There are soaps with glutathione, soaps with SPF for sun protection, soaps with aloe vera, soaps with glycerin, soaps with Vitamin A, and the list goes on. It is not just soap but the trend also applies to lotions, shampoos, perfumes, disinfectants, and anything that has chemicals in them. Of course, Applied Chemist are not limited to come up with new kinds of consumer products but Applied Chemistry are also in the forefront in coming up with new kinds of agricultural chemicals, new kinds of materials like environment friendly plastics and in the food and beverage industry as well. Agriculture, packaging and food and beverage are among the three biggest industries in about any country so opportunities for chemists who are more bent on pursuing the applied branch would have opportunities abound anywhere in the world.

Basically, the course, Applied Chemistry, is very much the same with the regular Chemistry course offered in college, meaning, they study the same concepts and chemical laws and they both know the chemical processes that takes place when hydrogen gets mixed with an inert gas and all but the major subjects are where they differ, more or less, as the applied course covers the synthesis, separation, and analysis of materials and methods of industrial manufacturing more thoroughly and also would have more laboratory time to conduct more experiments.

Choosing the right school is important if the chosen course is Applied Chemistry as compared to a regular chemistry course because each school would have different laboratory set up. Some would have more sophisticated laboratories and some would have more updated equipments and so it matters because that’s the bread and butter of applied chemists, the laboratory exposure. Modern laboratory equipments now comes with software and sometimes the knowledge alone of using a laboratory software can already land a job as knowing a software already speaks volumes.

One caveat about taking this course is that it would be geared towards consumerism as this is the branch of chemistry that takes advantage of its practical uses. So those pursuing this course for the science of it may become frustrated as more or less students or degree holders of Applied Chemistry would be limited to developing shampoos, soaps, deodorants and other consumer goods and may not get Nobel Prize nominations. But as mentioned earlier, Applied Chemists are among those in the forefront of biofuel development, which is a basic consumer product. Once developed fully might just bag that Nobel Prize award.