Our subjectsChemical engineering degrees
What is chemical engineering?
Chemical engineering involves turning raw materials into useful, everyday products. Chemical engineers work out the processes involved in making these products and help manage the world's resources, protect the environment and ensure health and safety standards are met.
Why study chemical engineering?
Chemical engineers play a vital role in finding solutions to 21st-century challenges, such as providing people with clean water, medicines, food and fuel.
By studying chemical engineering you’ll have a range of employment opportunities. Many graduates work in the energy, water, food and pharmaceutical sectors, but the transferable skills you’ll learn throughout the degree means chemical engineers are sought after beyond the engineering field.
If you like chemistry and maths, enjoy problem-solving and teamwork, and want to apply science in a practical way, then Chemical Engineering could be the course for you.
Why Strathclyde?
Our Department of Chemical & Process Engineering has a highly-valued reputation in industry for the quality of its:
- graduates
- teaching excellence
- leading research activities
- accredited distance learning programme
The department has an extensive scholarships programme, providing financial support, work experience and industry networking opportunities.
The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow is an award-winning academic institution - the only to have won Times Higher Education University of the Year award twice!
Salary guide
Potential salaries for chemical engineers could be the following*:
- according to a recent salary survey by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), new graduates earn a median salary of around £28,600
- the median salary for chemical engineers under 25 in the early stage of their careers is about £30,000, rising to a median salary of £54,000 for more experienced engineers
- salaries for chartered chemical engineers can be significantly higher. For example, the median salary for chartered engineers with a bachelor's degree is around £78,500. Work in certain industries, for example the finance, insurance and risk sector, or oil and contracting, can attract higher salaries
*Information taken from Prospects (last accessed 27 June 2022) and intended only as a guide.
Sophie's story
I think that's the exciting part of being an engineer... you'll hopefully be part of a process that will create something that will help the future.
Sophie, Chemical Engineering (MEng) student