A little bit of alchemy in store for the Chemistry Department

Epigram 14 February 2005 (Issue 168)
http://www.epigram.org.uk/view.php?id=424

The Departments of Medical Sciences and Chemistry are to receive a massive funding boost of £21 million, it was announced last week.

The news follows a decision by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to award a joint £9m to the departments, which will be backed by a further £12m from the University itself.

New Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) will be established with the money. Future medical students could be taught using state-of-the-art computerised mannequin patients, while chemistry students can look forward to using professional-standard laboratory facilities.

Jienchi Dorward, a third year medical student, said: "This is fantastic news for future students. The new funding will boost Bristol's reputation as a great place to study medicine."

The new medical CETL will be called the AIMS centre (Applied and Integrated Medical Sciences), while the new chemistry CETL is to be called Bristol Chemlabs.

"These are exciting times for chemistry at Bristol," said Professor Orpen, head of the chemistry department. "Thanks to HEFCE and the University, we will have world-class facilities for students to learn practical chemistry - matching the outstanding research labs we now have in place."

It seems that the divide between universities is growing. Exeter, King's College and Swansea have all closed their chemistry departments, causing hundreds of redundancies and leaving students unsure how best to complete their studies. Some Exeter students are expected to continue their chemistry degrees at Bristol and the department has held an open day on the 10th February for Exeter students. Some Exeter students were forced to return from their third year industry placements to attend.

For students at Bristol, however, the new money will result in improved teaching and learning facilities, cementing the University's reputation as one of the top places in the UK to study science and medical subjects.