Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Diploma

Estimated tuition (including optional internship)

Effective from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021.

$9,429 (domestic)

$35,450 (international)

Scholarships, bursaries and awards

There are many financial resources to tap into while you are at college to help with your education and living costs. Apply for scholarships & awards that are specifically given to program students, as well as awards specific to the School of Arts and Science.

You may also want to visit Financial Aid & Awards for more information about funding.

Access dedicated labs for program students

The department houses a number of dedicated labs where students gain experience in the analysis of organics, inorganics, and biomolecules. Students will receive training in lab safety, good lab practices, and lab technique. In addition, the tools or instruments chemists and biochemists use for analysis are a big part of their training. Students receive hands on training pertaining to the operation and use of lab instruments.

Instrumentation Lab

• Two Atomic Absorption Spectrometers (flame and graphite furnace atomizer) for the analysis of metals
• Gas Chromatograph (dual column with flame ionization and conductivity detector) for the analysis of volatile organics such as components in biodiesel and simple hydrocarbons.
• Two Agilent Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometers (GC/MS) for analysis of organic compounds at low concentrations such as parts-per-billion (ppb). Example compounds include pesticides in fruits and vegetables or PAH’s in water and sediment. Automated online extraction instrumentation such as solid phase micro-extraction is in use in 2nd year courses and in applied research projects.
• High Pressure Liquid Chromatograph with UV/Vis and Fluorescence detectors with data acquisition software for quantitative analysis of chemicals such as Bisphenol A
• UV/Vis scanning Spectrophotometers, IR Spectrophotometers, & Polarimeters for structural analysis of organic compounds
• Ion selective electrodes (e.g. Calcium, Fluoride, and Lead) are used in water quality testing etc.

Wet Chemistry Labs

• Analytical top loading balances and pH meters
• Standard volumetric and general laboratory glassware
• Extensive glassware used for organic and inorganic synthesis
• Solid phase extraction equipment and rotary evaporators are sometimes used to prepare samples for analysis

Biotechnology, Immunology, Biochemistry Lab

• Equipment for the biochemical analyses of cells and metabolites including blood glucose and cholesterol.
• Equipment and facilities for gene cloning and other recombinant DNA technologies
• Biosafety hoods and incubators for bacterial culture and tissue culture
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) thermocyclers for amplification of cloned genes and human DNA including qPCR instrumentation for the quantitation of gene copy number and gene expression levels.
• ELISA plate reader & other immunological assay equipment for the identification and quantification of antibodies or pathogenic bacteria
• Western blotting apparatus for identification of vaccine components
• Microfuge & high-speed refrigerated centrifuges for cell, DNA, RNA and protein isolation
• Gel-permeation, ion-exchange & affinity column chromatography for protein or DNA purification
• SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) equipment for the identification and characterization of proteins
• Agarose gel electrophoresis equipment for gene analyses
• Imaging analysis equipment and computer facilities for structure/function analyses of DNA, RNA and protein

• Related links

• Biology subject page
• Chemistry subject page
• University Transfer
• School of Arts & Science