Chemical Physics
Explore the building blocks of our existence and their governing principles, studying topics from atomic and molecular science to materials science and nanoscience.
Global reputation
Chemistry at Bristol ranks in the UK top ten (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026) and both our Chemistry and Physics research are in the UK top five (THE analysis of REF 2021).
First-class facilities
Access industry-standard equipment, state-of-the-art teaching labs, high-performance computing and digital laboratory support.
Welcoming community
Join societies for chemical physics (Duality), chemistry (Fusion), and physics (Chaos - named the country's best society in the National Societies Awards, 2019).
Chemical Physics courses for 2027
Chemical Physics at Bristol
Chemical physics is the study of matter, covering fundamental and applied science. You'll study topics at the interface between chemistry and physics, taught jointly by two internationally renowned schools with state-of-the-art facilities for teaching and cutting-edge research.
You'll apply your growing knowledge to real-world challenges, getting hands-on experience in solving problems and benefiting from the unique perspective offered by integrating these two subjects.
Innovative teaching methods and resources inform our courses, including bespoke online laboratory support.
All Chemical Physics courses are accredited by both the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Chemical physics has given me a broad and versatile understanding of the fundamentals of chemistry and physics, where I have been able explore exactly what I found interesting. Lecturers have been engaging and always willing to provide academic support.
Alice
MSci Chemical Physics
Career prospects
Chemical physics graduates are highly sought after. Our graduates have excellent knowledge and superb practical and problem-solving skills.
Many of our graduates apply their transferable skills in areas such as finance, materials science, manufacturing and computer programming, with recent employers including National Grid and PwC. Others go on to careers in research using their subject-specific knowledge and skills in a variety of scientific environments.
Choose our course with industrial experience to spend your third year working in a paid position in an industrial or commercial environment. Recent partners have included AkzoNobel, Pfizer, Renishaw, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, and companies in the US.
Course structures
The structure of the first year is the same for all our chemical physics degree courses, with units in chemistry, physics and maths. During your first year, it is possible to transfer between different chemical physics courses.
In subsequent years, you will study units that allow you to build on your fundamental knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of applications in chemical physics.
The aspects of both chemistry and physics that are not relevant to chemical physics are gradually phased out after the first year, so you will no longer take courses such as organic synthetic chemistry, nuclear physics and electronics. Instead, you will take units on nanophysics, quantum mechanics, structure and bonding of molecules, kinetics, thermodynamics, semiconductors and superconductors.
The final year of all our courses includes a project in which you will work with a member of academic staff and their research team on a current scientific problem. You will have access to labs containing advanced research equipment. Some students have had their work published in internationally renowned journals.
