Courses

The first digit of chemistry course numbers indicates course progression. Courses starting with 1 are prerequisite to those starting with 2. Those starting with 2 are prerequisite to those starting with 3, which are prerequisite to senior-level courses starting with 4. The College of Arts and Sciences recognizes Organic Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis, and Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry as “advanced courses,” corresponding to 3000-level courses in other departments.

The second digit of chemistry course numbers indicates subdiscipline: 1 for general and environmental, 2 for organic, 3 for physical, 4 for analytical, 5 for inorganic, 6 for biochemistry, 7 for narrow areas such as medicinal chemistry, 8 for application of chemistry in internships, 9 for research and special topics.

The fourth digit of chemistry course numbers differentiates lectures (0) from laboratories (4). Graduate courses starting with 8 end with 5 if cross-listed with a 3000-level lecture, 6 if cross-listed with a 4000-level lecture, or 9 if cross-listed with a laboratory.

Chemistry uses Natural Science course numbers for writing courses. All chemistry courses can be used to meet a UNO science distribution requirements. A few courses (e.g. 1010, 1014, 1140, 1144, 2210, 2214, 3030, 3650, 3654) cannot be used in a chemistry program. Chem majors who take one or more may be required to take more than 125 credit hours for graduation.

Undergraduate research in chemistry is highly recommended for chemistry majors and available to nonmajors. CHEM 4950 is typically taken once. Project work is continued as CHEM 4960. Instrumentation available in the department is excellent for these. See individual faculty about requirements for their projects, since some can be undertaken even as freshmen, while others will have advanced course prerequisites. All chemistry lecture courses can be taken for Honors credit. A limited research project is expected. Faculty may have other requirements.