Coursework

One of the educational challenges of an international graduate training venture like an IMPRS is offering each student an individually tailored programme of graduate courses. Our firm goal in creating IMPRS-CPQM is to do so, optimising each programme for the student’s background, expertise and research projects.  With this in mind, we offer two ‘core’ courses, one of which will be compulsory for each student, but give them their individually tailored programme via access to a wide range of other graduate courses offered by the graduate schools with which IMPRS is a formal collaborator.   

Our core courses will be:   

a)  Introduction to Interacting Electron Physics in Solids which will concentrate on modern condensed matter physics, and be designed to familiarise masters-level chemists with the key concepts in the field, described with as little use of formal mathematics as possible.  

b)  Introduction to Solid State Chemistry which will start with various methods of synthesising inorganic materials, followed by an introduction to the basic principles of the structures of crystalline materials including the classic archetypes and the intriguing fields between them.  

To supplement the core courses we will offer choice from a large number of graduate-level courses, taught by experts in Germany and Scotland. Each student will be expected to take at least three elective courses during their PhD, tailored to suit their background and the needs of their research project.  

Recommended elective courses will include:

  • Superconductivity
  • Magnetism
  • Solid-State Spectroscopy
  • Quantum Field Theory
  • Quantum Phase Transitions
  • Surface Properties
  • Topology and Probes of Condensed Matter
  • Principles of Phase Formation and Phase Transitions
  • Structure Determination with X-Ray Diffraction Methods
  • Symmetry in Molecules and Crystals
  • Crystal Chemistry
  • Inorganic Materials
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