Checking out films in the lab

Chemistry is a broadly based technical field that is the central science for many disciplines. Within the field of chemistry, there is substantial overlap with biology, biochemistry, pharmacy, forensics, medicine, materials science, computer science, engineering, physics, and more. As a well-trained, chemistry graduate from UVM, you will be prepared to excel in any technical area. Through our curriculum, you will also develop skills for original thinking, problem solving, and confidence, which will prepare you for any career path.

A degree in chemistry at UVM serves as a passport to a high paying career that can take you wherever you want to go. 

  • Combining Chemistry & Public Health

    Lyndelle LeBruin is a UVM Master's in chemistry graduate and now project manager at the Laboratory for Clinical Biochemistry Research (LCBR). At the LCBR, Lyndelle and her colleagues focus on understanding risk factors for heart disease, stroke, venous thrombosis, obesity, diabetes, aging, and frailty using a wide variety of assays in population and family-based research settings. Lyndelle reflects on what is most rewarding about her work: "I know that every skill that I learn, and every task that I do, plays an integral role in improving the health of the United States, and by extension global public health."

  •  
  • 1 of 3
  • >>

B.A. in Chemistry

A B.A. in chemistry is a valuable tool for those interested in obtaining jobs in and out of the chemistry field. Job opportunities in technical writing, patent law, small business, technical based product sales, high technology manufacturing, government, medicine, and pharmacy are likely for B.A. chemists. A B.A. in chemistry allows simultaneous pursuit of other undergraduate areas, including premedical training, environmental studies, business, computer science, and bioformatics, so the number of possible career paths is endless.

B.S. in Chemistry

The B.S. requires more coursework in chemistry than the B.A. program, so it opens up greater career opportunities in the mainstream of chemical manufacturing and chemical research. High-paying jobs are available in the petroleum and pharmaceutical industries, food chemistry, commodity chemicals, custom synthesis, environmental chemistry, polymers & plastics, materials sciences. Several chemically based companies are operative in the local area, which allows for the possibility of summer employment, internships, and personal connections for obtaining long term employment after graduation. The B.S. degree is the traditional training for students preparing to obtain a PhD in chemistry.

What's Next?

 

Connor Payne, a chemistry major in the Honors College, will go straight into a Ph.D. program at Harvard in the fall of 2017 in chemical biology. 

 

Amanda Graves graduated from UVM's chemistry graduate program and now works at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida.

 

Stephen Van Wyck turned down other top schools to start his Ph.D at Stanford University in the fall of 2017.