At the end of these first three years, the Part I written examinations are taken. In your fourth year you carry out research in a subject and with a supervisor of your choice, and at the end of that year you submit a thesis describing your work. The quality of the thesis is then assessed, and you discuss its contents with the examiners, a process that constitutes Part II of the final examination. Your performance in Part I and Part II together decide the class of degree that you will obtain. The work is usually entirely novel, makes a worthwhile contribution to scientific knowledge, and often leads to publication in a scientific journal.
Chemists attend about ten lectures a week.
These last for 50 minutes each, and take place in one of the Chemistry Departments or in the University Museum. They are attended by all the Chemists from all the Colleges. Some lecturers hand out problem sheets, which you are expected to work through in your own time. You will also have roughly one tutorial and one class a week in Christ Church, covering in rotation the various branches of chemistry. These tutorials last for one hour each.