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Faculty of Science & Health

Chemistry with Artificial Intelligence

In this groundbreaking degree programme, one of the first of its kind, students will learn the skills needed from both a chemistry and a computing perspective, to allow them to harness the enormous potential of applying AI to chemistry.
To study Chemistry with Artificial Intelligence, you must join our Chemical Sciences General Entry programme (DC163) and choose this option at the end of Year 1.
Why is it exciting?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising how drugs and materials are discovered, developed and produced. For example, it is helping drug development scientists bring Covid-19 vaccines to market faster, by rapidly accelerating potential vaccine discoveries, identifying potential side effects, and making the production process faster. 

That’s not all. Globally, scientists are beginning to unlock the power of AI to help them find new medicines and sustainable materials. In fact, they are creating a new tomorrow. 

To study Chemistry with Artificial Intelligence, you must join our Chemical Sciences General Entry programme (DC163) and choose this option at the end of Year 1.

What will I study?

The BSc in Chemistry with Artificial Intelligence is run by the DCU School of Chemical Sciences in collaboration with the DCU School of Computing.

In years 1 and 2, you’ll study the fundamental basis of chemistry, and build on this to learn:

  • how medicines work
  • what causes climate change
  • how to drive reactions to go faster
  • how to determine the source of a water pollution event
  • and much more.

Our student-focused laboratory practical sessions are a combination of wet labs and virtual components. In these you’ll learn in small student groups, assisted by fully trained laboratory tutors and our award-winning technical team, getting hands-on experience on the instruments and techniques used in industry. The AI strand begins in Year 2, with modules in programming and machine learning throughout Years 2-4.

In third year you’ll get to work in industry as part of our industrial training programme (INTRA). In years 3 and 4, you’ll also study the skills and theory you need to apply AI to chemistry.  A major element of final year is the capstone research project, in which you get to pursue independent research in an area of applied chemistry.

AI is already at the heart of many transformational molecular discovery and technical applications, typically employing a combination of data analytics and machine learning. You’ll explore AI applications in chemistry using massive datasets, powerful computing architectures and advanced learning algorithms to develop your understanding of how to apply AI techniques and technologies in a modern chemistry setting.

Training for the future

The use of AI is only going to further increase in drugs and materials firms, and the programme has been designed to ensure graduate employability into the future. Industry partners will be actively involved throughout the four years, helping to develop the programme, deciding skill sets, suggesting software, providing assignments and offering assessments. 

Careers

Given the scale of the chemical pharmaceutical industry in Ireland and globally, chemistry graduates are always highly sought after. Those who choose to study chemistry with AI will find themselves in particularly high demand, given industry needs and a dearth of chemists with specialist AI know how. Graduates could opt to work for large multinational companies in the pharmaceutical or materials sectors, but could also choose to join a start-up that needs an AI specialist to help direct its activities or a small-to-medium-size company that needs desk chemists with an AI specialism.