The UCD Organic Chemistry Summer School provides an opportunity for students from linked US universities to complete their Organic Chemistry requirements while spending 8 weeks of the summer period in Ireland at UCD School of Chemistry from mid-June to early August.
Classes are scheduled Monday to Friday and at weekends students may choose to travel around Ireland and/or Europe. Between the end of the the first module (OChem 1) and the start of the second module (OChem 2) there is a 4-day long weekend which enables students to take a longer trip (subject to visa requirements) and have a break between the modules. In 2024 students travelled at weekends to places such as diverse as Paris, County Cork, London, Amsterdam, Galway, Scotland and Croatia.
The UCD Organic Chemistry Summer School ran first in 2019 with students from University of California and in 2024 we were delighted to welcome students from four US Universities:
Students accepted on to the Organic Chemistry Summer School will be provided with:
- A confirmation of admission letter;
- Welcome and Orientation Events on arrival including a social reception, tours of campus and the school;
- A Welcome Pack including a laboratory manual, a reusable water bottle, a laboratory notebook;
- A lab coat (on loan for the duration of the summer school) and lab safety glasses;
- A dedicated school administrator for day-to-day advice and support (no appointment necessary) Monday to Friday;
- Support from the Programme Director and Deputy Programme Director & School Manager.
All aspects of the organic chemistry curriculum taught in the US are delivered via two four-week modules, each worth 7.5 ECTS. Students attend lectures, tutorials, problem-solving workshops and laboratory classes with homework, laboratory reports, laboratory performance and weekly tests combining with the written exam at the end of each module to give an overall result for each module. Students are mixed across their home universities in their allocation to labs and tutorials and these groups are changed up for the second module to encourage as much mixing as possible.
Feedback on homework and weekly tests is routinely provided as soon as possible to aid further learning. At the end of the Summer School each student’s grades are compiled and formally reviewed and overseen to ensure consistency of grading. Results are then issued to each student's home university and a transcript provided to each student.
Lab Classes: Students will be split into groups of 10-12 for lab classes with a dedicated demonstrator/ teaching assistant for each group. Senior demonstrators will be present to help coordinate lab class activities. Dedicated technical officers will prepare the lab facilities, equipment and chemicals for each class and will be available to deal with any equipment issues that arise. Faculty will visit lab classes to oversee activities. Before each lab class students are expected to prepare by familiarising themselves with the details of that experiment and any further directions provided. In lab classes each student works on their own conducting the experiment themselves using the glassware, chemicals and equipment provided with dedicated bench and fumehood space.
Tutorials: Students will be split into groups of 12-15 for tutorials with a dedicated tutor.
Faculty
As the largest School of Chemistry at university level in Ireland, our faculty (academic staff) are highly experienced in teaching chemistry at undergraduate, graduate taught and graduate research levels. They are all engaged in research and have strong records of publishing in high impact international journals. You can read more about all of our academic staff and those teaching on the Organic Chemistry Summer School (listed below) at https://www.ucd.ie/chem/about/ourstaff/academicstaff/
Associate Professor Marcus Baumann
Associate Professor Peter Byrne
Professor Serena Cussen
Associate Professor Paul Evans
Assistant Professor Charles C.J. Loh
Associate Professor Eoghan McGarrigle
Assistant Professor Aniello Palma
Accommodation
During the Organic Chemistry Summer School students live on campus in UCD student accommodation, just a 10 minute walk away from the O’Brien Centre for Science where the lectures, labs and classes take place. Each student will have their own single bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. Bedrooms are organised into apartments with shared kitchen and living spaces with various combinations of 4, 6 and 8 bedrooms.
Meal Plan
Students are provided with a Meal Plan that includes breakfast and lunch (Monday to Friday, except on bank holidays) at Pi Restaurant, which is also located in the O’Brien Centre for Science.
Excursions
The UCD School of Chemistry organises three-weekend day trips to various places in Ireland. In 2025, students will visit Glendalough Monastic Site and Visitor Centre, Kilkenny City & Medieval Mile Trail and Museum, and Belfast & Titanic Museum.
Check out what our past students have to say below:
- "One of the things I loved most about this program was the amount of help that was given. Each TA and professor really gave their time to help which I absolutely appreciated“
- “There were plenty of opportunities to explore Ireland and Europe during the weekends. I was fortunate enough to explore Galway, Cork, Dublin, London, and even Amsterdam!”
- “I highly recommend this program to future US students; I can’t praise enough how this experience has been. It knocked out one of the hardest classes for me AND was a vacation. It was the perfect environment to learn due to the size of the class and engaging learning.”
- “This was the greatest experience of my life, and I would absolutely recommend this to any student. The experience of learning from a prestigious university and amazing professors, while also exploring a new country and making so many new friends, it is absolutely worth it. The biggest challenge would just be learning all the material in such a short amount of time. But with enough focus, it is absolutely doable”
- “I absolutely would recommend. The academic benefits are innumerable, and the experience of being in Ireland is amazing. The structure of the program very well facilitates individuals exploring the country and other European countries on the weekend.”
- "I have loved studying OChem abroad here in Ireland (...) I really loved this program. I’ve grown close to everyone from my university that I’ve never met before and made more new friends from other schools as well. Connecting with other TAs and professors has been quite the motivation and I really loved it."
- "I had a really great summer and I am thankful to everyone in the School of Chemistry for making it happen."
- "I had an amazing experience!"
- "Honestly the classes are great, professors are great, and everything academically is structured in a healthy way. It allows the students to get out and explore the country while dealing with a particularly difficult subject (...)"
- "Everything worked well! Housekeeping was great and accommodations were nice"
- "I liked how nice the housing was it was definitely an upgrade from what I had in my home university. I really enjoyed having my own bedroom, bathroom and a nice common living space (...)"
- "I appreciate the cleaning service, and the individual rooms were nice and spacious (…)"
- "Catering was great, there are many options for lunch and they will not let you go hungry if something doesn’t work out for you"
- "I loved all the food options at UCD. The Pi restaurant had great food and I loved everything in the UCD village, especially Centra since it is cheap and convenient"
- "Food at Pi Restaurant was amazing. The staff were very open and receptive to feedback, went above and beyond to accommodate our needs"
