Chemical Engineering

• The Chemical Engineering programme in Groningen is unique due to the close connection with the Chemistry programme. The first year of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry is common and you can switch between the two in the entire first year.

• Our students help in developing sustainable chemical products and processes through collaboration, especially during the BSc research projects, with a large variety of companies. Their contribution is often crucial in solving relevant industrial and societal problems.

• Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Groningen are the home of 2016 Nobel Prize winner Ben Feringa, who has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on a light-driven rotary molecular motor.

The first part of Year 1 is designed to give you a broad introduction to the three Chemistry specializations and the Chemical Engineering programme. The first year of both programmes is identical so you can switch degree after your first year. You will follow classes such as Inorganic Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Physical Chemistry and Transport Phenomena, alongside laboratory practicals.

Further on in the Chemical Engineering programme you will do course units like Single-Phase Reactors, Macromolecular Chemistry and Separation Processes. You will complete your Bachelor's degree programme with a research project in Year 3.

Exchange: All our science and engineering programmes offer study abroad possibilities at a number of partner institutions. Our partners include top-100 universities in Europe (for example in Germany, UK, and Sweden) and in the USA, China, South-East Asia, and South America. Our exchange programmes have a typical duration of one semester and count toward your final degree.

After the three-year Bachelor's programme, you will be able to continue your study with our attractive Master's degree programme, but you will also have the option to look immediately for a job. As a graduate in the bachelor chemical engineer, you are qualified for a range of attractive positions, mainly in the business sector: for example, Chemical Engineers can find employment in advisory, control, R&D and management positions.

You may be involved in setting up a new factory, optimising existing processes or developing new products and materials.

The Engineering and Technology institute Groningen (ENTEG) is most relevant for research during and after the bachelor’s programme. ENTEG is closely connected with the programme and the majority of the lectures are given by professors and lecturers from different research groups within ENTEG.

Examples of some research groups within ENTEG:

• Green Chemical Reaction Engineering (GCRE) is mostly concerned with process development, catalysis, renewable materials, chemical recycling, highly efficient microreactors, and process intensification.
• Product Technology (PT) focuses on polymer products, biobased polymers, polymer processing, electrochemistry, renewable hydrogen, 3D-printing with new materials, and supercritical CO₂.
• Bioproduct Engineering (BE) is more concerned with the biological side of chemical engineering. Among other things, this research group focuses on bacterial degradation of plastic waste, food technology and enzyme development.
• Products and Processes for Biotechnology in the Biobased Economy (BBE) is focusing on the transition from a fossil-based economy towards an economy using biomass as a primary source: from ‘fossil based’ to ‘bio based’.

Other research institutes that are connected to the programme are:

The Stratingh Institute for Chemistry (Stratingh). This institute is concerned with research and teaching in molecular and supramolecular chemistry. Core activities in the chemical sciences such as bio-organic chemistry, organic chemistry, molecular inorganic chemistry and molecular materials chemistry are embedded in the institute.

The Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (ZIAM). This institute is involved with symbiotic studies of functional materials involving researchers from physics, chemistry and biology. It is concerned with research at the molecular scale.

The Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen (ESRIG). Within this institute, the mission of performing energy and sustainability research is executed in a balanced way, with both an experimental part (laboratory and field experiments), and a part with model studies and studies into societal interaction with scientific knowledge.