Program access information

Objectives

The impact of chemistry on the daily life of the citizen is extraordinary. For decades, chemical processes have been carried out without considering their impact on the environment and on the health of citizens. According to the American Chemical Society’s code of conduct: “Chemists must understand and anticipate the environmental consequences of their work. Chemists have a responsibility to prevent pollution and to protect the environment.” To assume this responsibility, the inter-university PhD in Sustainable Chemistry has been implemented, which involves training students in the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances (in accordance with the principles of sustainable chemistry).

Entry Profile

Training complements

The Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program, after studying the curriculum of the doctoral candidate, will decide whether it is appropriate for him/her to take complementary training courses. Where appropriate, it will define the list of subjects to be taken from the University’s postgraduate academic offer, considering the specific training required by the doctoral candidate for the proper development of his or her research work.

Thus, for graduates, engineers or graduates who access the program in possession of a master’s degree in Sustainable Chemistry or similar, no additional training will be required.

In the case of access through another degree, the Academic Committee of the Doctoral Program will evaluate your previous training and will require the necessary complementary training according to the following table (up to a maximum of 20 ECTS credits depending on the master’s degrees taken)

• Access without having taken any credit or previous experience directly or indirectly related to sustainable chemistry (20 ECTS credits).
• Access with credits or previous experience indirectly related to sustainable chemistry (up to 15 ECTS credits).
• Access with credits or previous experience directly related to sustainable chemistry (up to 10 ECTS credits).

Basic Concepts of Sustainable Chemistry (3 credits):

• Chemistry, environment and sustainability
• Principles of green chemistry and green engineering
• Atomic economy.
• Metrics
• Development of green reactions/processes
• Development of safer chemicals
• Life Cycle Assessment; LCA a tool for sustainable development

Industrial Applications of Sustainable Chemistry (3 credits):

• Chemistry, industry and environment
• History and development of green chemistry. Examples of industrial applications of green chemistry
• Design of safer chemicals. Toxicological (ECO) profiles
• Safer solvents: design principles, formulations and processes, selection criteria
• Liquid biofuels: the case of biodiesel. Importance in Spain and Europe, quality specifications, industrial process and its limitations. Stability and additives. The future of biofuels. Learning outcomes

Renewable Raw Materials (3 credits):

• Concept of renewable materials. Biomass
• Chemical products from renewable sources. Biorefineries
• Energy from renewable raw materials
• Economics of renewable materials
• Evaluation of biomass as a raw material
• Learning outcomes

Benign Solvents (3 credits):

• Definition of solvents and their characteristics (cohesive pressure, Hildreband solubility parameters, dielectric constant, refractive index, etc.).
• Characteristics and use of benign solvents such as water, ionic liquids, supercritical fluids, fluorinated solvents, etc. in chemical processes.

Homogeneous Catalysis (3 credits), (Basic Concepts of Catalysis):

• Homogeneous catalysis: organocatalysis
• Asymmetric catalysis
• Acid-base catalysis
• Cycloadditions catalyzed by chiral Lewis acids
• Hydrogenation; hydroformylation
• Epoxidation; cyclopropanation; aziridination
• Reactions with Pd
• Sequential transformations
• Transformation of light into chemical energy: catalytic processes
• Positive photocatalysis

Transversal Training Complements (6 credits):

• This course, being a complementary training, is made up of different activities: face-to-face classes, attendance to seminars and conferences, work completion, personalized tutoring and workshop.
  Depending on the student’s training deficiencies, he/she may be required to participate in the above-mentioned activities to complete his/her training.
  Learning outcomes. To acquire basic complementary knowledge in sustainable chemistry, both theoretical and experimental, that will allow him/her to study and follow the doctorate.

Evaluation:

• 40% Written tests
• 10% Class participation
• 50% Jobs

Profile of graduates

The graduate of the PhD Program in Sustainable Chemistry has a deep and integrative knowledge of the scientific and technological bases of the most recent advances in his field. In addition, they have tools that allow them to propose and implement solutions to problems related to their discipline, being able to replace polluting production processes (waste generating, energy consuming or hazardous) and/or design new more benign processes. The graduate is capable of directing projects to integrate one or several tools of Sustainable Chemistry in a productive process. They are capable of transforming research results into systems transferable to research laboratories and/or to the industrial and business sector using the tools of sustainable chemistry. In addition, he/she can work in teams in a disciplined manner to solve diverse scientific problems. And can participate, encourage and promote the diffusion and dissemination of knowledge in the area of Sustainable Chemistry.

The Master’s Degree in Sustainable Chemistry and the Master’s Degree in Occupational Risks are considered as a direct access route to this Program.

When a student has taken a Master’s degree in a related subject (Chemistry, Pharmacy, Engineering, etc.) and has taken a minimum number of credits related to Sustainable Q., the Academic Committee may approve direct access to this doctorate. If appropriate, the Academic Committee may define, after studying their programs, a list of Masters that allow direct access to the doctorate:

Curriculum evaluation: 30%.

Undergraduate or bachelor’s degree academic transcript: 40%.

Master’s academic record: 20%.

Possibility of interview 10%.

In this sense, priority will be given to those who have completed a master’s degree in sustainable chemistry and to applicants who, coming from other degrees, can prove experience or additional training in fields related to the program’s subject matter.

In accordance with Royal Decree 1892/2008, of November 14, 2008, which regulates the conditions for access to official undergraduate university education and admission procedures to Spanish public universities, 5 percent of the available places will be reserved for students with a recognized degree of disability equal to or greater than 33 percent, as well as for those students with permanent special educational needs associated with personal circumstances of disability, who during their previous schooling have required resources and support for their full educational normalization.

The Academic Coordination Commission will be responsible for approving the joint admission criteria, proposing the modification of the program, evaluating and assuring its quality, establishing the teaching plan and all other matters deemed necessary. This Commission will be made up of representatives of the signatory parties and its composition is also specified in Annex II of the inter-university agreement.

Basics

• Systematic understanding of a field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to that field.
• Ability to conceive, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial process of research or creation.
• Ability to contribute to the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge through original research.
• Ability to critically analyze, evaluate and synthesize new and complex ideas.
• Ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community and with society in general about their fields of knowledge in the modes and languages commonly used in their international scientific community.
• Ability to promote, in academic and professional contexts, scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural progress within a knowledge-based society.

Personal skills and abilities

• To develop in contexts where there is little specific information.
• Find the key questions to be answered to solve a complex problem.
• Design, create, develop and undertake novel and innovative projects in their field of knowledge.
• Work both in a team and autonomously in an international or multidisciplinary context.
• Integrate knowledge, deal with complexity and make judgments with limited information.
• Intellectual criticism and defense of solutions.