Undergraduate Overview

Chemistry 101 students.

Chemistry explores the composition and transformation of matter, a science that is central to energy production, health care and environmental protection. Our undergraduate students learn through hands-on or computational experiments in both classroom and laboratory settings.

Undergraduate Teaching Mission

The undergraduate teaching mission reaches a diverse population of undergraduate students with different requirements.

  • The core of the chemistry major consists of five key areas of chemistry: organic, inorganic, analytical, physical and biochemistry.
  • The core of the medicinal chemistry major emphasizes chemical principles applied to drug design and chemical biology.

Majors require strong lab skills and proficiency in the core areas in order to pursue advanced careers in the sciences. We determine quality in our undergraduate program based on post-graduate placement outcomes: employment, graduate or professional schools, as well as the success of our graduates in their post-graduate studies and independent careers.

Undergraduate chemistry majors in the lab.

Degree Options

Career Outlook

Majors often pursue graduate study or are employed as bench chemists in industry, hospitals and government labs. An increasingly popular career choice is secondary school teaching by completing a Minor in Teacher Education through the UB Teacher Education Institute.

About the Department

Contact Us

With questions about the undergraduate chemistry programs, please contact mashour@buffalo.edu.