Courses Requirements

Chemistry Curriculum approved by the Academic Senate (2008)

The course requirements for the Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry offered by the University of Puerto Rico, Rí­o Piedras Campus are as follows:

Basic Courses (General Education): 43 credits
ARTE ####: 3 credits
CIBI/CIFI 4###: 6 credits
CISO 3121-3122: 6 credits
ESPA 3101-3102, 3103-3104 or 3111-3112: 6 credits
HUMA 3101-3102, 3013-3014, 3033, 3034, 3113-3114: 6 credits
INGL 3101-3102, 3103-3104 or 3111-3112: 6 credits
Literature (INGL and/or ESPA and/or HUMA): 6 credits
MATE 3151: 3 credits

College of Natural Sciences Courses: 23 credits
ESPA or INGL Writing Course (i.e. scientific writing): 3 credits
FISI 3011-3012 & FISI 3013-3014: 8 credits
BIOL 3101: 4 credits
MATE 3152: 4 credits
MATE 3163: 4 credits

Chemistry Department Courses: 46 credits
QUIM 3001-3002: 8 credits
QUIM 3451-3452: 8 credits
QUIM 3255: 4 credits
QUIM 4015: 4 credits
QUIM 4055: 3 credits
QUIM 4000: 3 credits
QUIM 4041-4042: 6 credits
QUIM 4043-4044: 4 credits
Guided Elective courses in Chemistry**: 6 credits
**Guided Elective courses must be in a single chemistry area (Analytical/Environmental, Organic, Physical, Inorganic, or Biochemistry). Some of the available elective courses in chemistry are:
-QUIM 4025 (Spectroscopy)
-QUIM 4035 (Organic Synthesis)
-QUIM 4865 (Biochemistry Laboratory)
-QUIM 4999 (Undergraduate Research) – Students may register for QUIM 4999 as many times as they wish but only four (4) credits count towards the Bachelor’s degree.
-QUIM 5995 (Special Topics in Chemistry) – Examples are Computational Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Forensic Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Nanotechnology, and Supramolecular Chemsitry

Free Electives: 18 credits
Free electives can be taken in any Faculty of the institution. Preparatory courses such as MATE 3001, MATE 3023, MATE 3024 or MATE 3018 are not accepted as elective courses.

The certification by the American Chemical Society requires that the student complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry that includes QUIM 4015, QUIM 4055, QUIM 4999 (4 credits) and one chemistry course elective. All the medullary courses (6000 level) offered by the Graduate Program might be taken by undergraduate students as long as the student fulfills all the prerequisites of each course. These credits may count towards the student’s graduate credits if the student hasn’t used them to fulfill the requisites of the Bachelor’s degree.

The Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Chemistry requires 130 credits with a minimum grade point average of 2.00 and a minimum of 40 credits in Chemistry with a grade point average of 2.00.

IMPORTANT:  Approval of QUIM 3001 and QUIM 3002 with A or B is required for the Bachelor Degree in Chemistry. Students who obtain C or worse in either QUIM 3001 and QUIM 3002, must re-take them before advancing to the next required courses.  In addition, all required Chemistry courses (QUIM####) and guided elective courses (QUIM 4### or QUIM 5###), must be approved with C or better grade to be elegible for the Bachelor Degree in Chemistry (except for General Chemistry which require a B or better grade).  Please notice: QUIM 4117 is not considered a guided elective course.  Guided elective courses are in-depth, advanced courses which requires either Organic Chemistry or Analytical Chemistry as prerequisites.