This course targets students who have weak or little background in high school chemistry but wish to pursue first-year university chemistry.

Overview

The course will focus on the fundamental principles of chemistry. Topics covered will include:

• atomic structure and periodicity
• chemical bonding
• nomenclature
• acids and bases
• oxidation and reduction
• the mole and stoichiometry
• equation writing
• simple organic compounds.

Students will also be able to develop some basic but essential laboratory skills.

The course consists of eight lectures, tutorials, and laboratory sessions. It will be held in February in the Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT. The course is not assessed by an examination, but successful completion of the course requires attendance at all lectures, tutorials, and laboratory sessions of the eight-day course.

For 2025 the start and finish dates are 29 January – 7th February (excluding the weekend). An email with administrative details will be sent to all Chemistry Bridging Course participants the week before the course starts.

Cancellations must be made in writing to the bridging course coordinator, Dr Mark Ellison, by Friday 24 January 2025. A refund of the course fee will be made. No refund will be made after this date.

Registration will close on 27 January 2025. If you need to register after this date, please get in touch with rsc.teaching@anu.edu.au.

Prerequisite

A full year of first-year chemistry at ANU is a prerequisite for all later-year chemistry courses and most biology majors, including the Medical Science degree.

The minimum requirement for enrolment in first-year chemistry at ANU is the completion of a major in chemistry in the ACT or Year 12 chemistry for other states and territories. Successful completion of the bridging course allows those students who have not met this requirement to still enrol in first-year chemistry.

As well as being a prerequisite for many second and third-year science courses first-year chemistry is also highly recommended for most other courses within the science degree.

One of the main reasons many students don’t want to continue with university chemistry is that they didn’t enjoy chemistry in high school or college. The bridging course at ANU allows chemistry to be taught in the university style (lectures, tutorials, and laboratory sessions), which many students find beneficial for teaching chemistry.

Structure

Our highly qualified lecturers will closely follow you through the exploration of chemistry theoretical principles. In the laboratory units, you will also have the opportunity to test those theories with real chemical experiments.

Bridging course schedule