Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy

The department covers three subject areas — Chemistry, Food Chemistry (Lebensmittelchemie), and Pharmacy — with programmes taught in German at Bachelor, Master, and doctoral level, plus a state-examination pathway for Pharmacy.

Chemistry programmes:
- Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
- Bachelor of Science in Food Chemistry
- Master of Science in Chemistry
- Master of Science in Food Chemistry
- Master of Science in Business Chemistry (Wirtschaftschemie)

Pharmacy programmes:
- Pharmacy (Staatsexamen — State Examination, prerequisite for pharmacist licensure)
- Master of Science in Drug Sciences (Arzneimittelwissenschaften)

Teacher-education programmes (Lehramt):
- Several Bachelor pathways for chemistry teaching at Gymnasium, vocational college (Berufskolleg), and comprehensive/secondary schools
- Master of Education programmes for the corresponding school types

The Master programmes in Chemistry, Food Chemistry, Business Chemistry, and Drug Sciences are strongly research-oriented, giving students early access to the department's active institute culture. The PharMSchool — a cross-disciplinary teaching project running through semesters 5–8 of the Pharmacy Staatsexamen — is a distinctive feature in which small student groups design and execute their own research projects, building scientific and professional competencies simultaneously.

The department is consistently recognised as one of Germany's leading institutions in third-party research funding acquisition — a direct indicator of scientific relevance and the quality of supervision doctoral and Master students receive.

• A full-semester mentoring programme for first-year Bachelor students is unique in its scope: beyond organisational guidance, it includes group activities and a dedicated "Meet the Prof." format allowing direct contact with researchers from the very first semester.
• The PharMSchool (semesters 5–8, Pharmacy Staatsexamen) is a nationally distinctive project-based learning format that trains interdisciplinary problem-solving alongside scientific skills.
• Prof. Armido Studer (Organisch-Chemisches Institut) was awarded the Leibniz Prize — Germany's highest research honour, worth €2.5 million — for his groundbreaking work in radical chemistry and photocatalytic water splitting, signalling the level of science students engage with here.
• The department's proximity to the MEET Battery Research Centre, the Helmholtz-Institut Münster, and the Cells in Motion Interfaculty Centre means practical exposure to frontier research in energy storage, imaging, and molecular medicine.
• Doctoral researchers benefit from stipend-awarding structured programmes — including BACCARA International Research School and IRTG 2027 Münster–Toronto — giving them international mobility and funded research platforms.

The department's research spans from analytical chemistry and catalysis to cell physiology and pharmaceutical technology, structured across 10 institutes within three teaching units. The interdisciplinary orientation is formalised through multiple DFG Collaborative Research Centres and affiliated centres:

Institutes:
- Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie (Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry)
- Institut für Biochemie (Biochemistry — including Prof. Peter 't Hart's group on RNA-protein interactions and ligands for RNA-binding proteins with therapeutic applications)
- Institut für Didaktik der Chemie (Chemistry Education)
- Organisch-Chemisches Institut (Organic Chemistry — home to Leibniz Prize-winner Prof. Armido Studer's radical chemistry research and Prof. Frank Glorius's catalysis group)
- Institut für Physikalische Chemie (Physical Chemistry)
- Institut für Lebensmittelchemie (Food Chemistry)
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Phytochemie
- Institut für Pharmazeutische und Medizinische Chemie (including Jun.-Prof. Marcel Bermúdez's award-winning computational medicinal chemistry on drug-target dynamics)
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Technologie und Biopharmazie
- Institut für betriebswirtschaftliches Management im FB 12

Key DFG-funded and affiliated research centres:
- SFB 858: Synergetic Effects in Chemistry — hosted directly within the department
- SFB 1450: inSight — multiscale imaging of organ-specific inflammation
- SFB 1459: Intelligent Matter — responsive to adaptive systems
- IRTG 2027: New Trends in Molecular Activation and Catalysis (Münster–Toronto bilateral)
- Cells in Motion Interfaculty Centre (Excellence Cluster)
- MEET: Münster Electrochemical Energy Technology — battery research centre co-hosted at the department
- CeNTech: Center for Nanotechnology
- EIMI: European Institute for Molecular Imaging
- FOKUS: Interdisciplinary Research Center for Cooperative Functional Systems
- Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN), CeNoS: Center for Nonlinear Science, CMTC: Center for Multiscale Theory and Computation

The international research school BACCARA and the Graduate School of Chemistry (GSC MS) provide structured doctoral training with stipends for outstanding applicants and platforms for international exchange.

All programmes at the department are currently taught in German, making a solid command of German (typically at least B2–C1 level) essential for undergraduate and Pharmacy Staatsexamen entry. The research-intensive Master programmes likewise operate in German, although research group work and publications frequently operate in English.

For doctoral researchers, the department offers genuinely international pathways: the IRTG 2027 Münster–Toronto bilateral programme funds doctoral researchers for research stays between WWU Münster and the University of Toronto, and BACCARA International Research School explicitly targets high-achieving applicants from Germany and abroad, awarding stipends and providing an international cohort environment. The Graduate School of Chemistry (GSC MS) operates under special regulations for structured doctoral study and offers additional mentoring and funding frameworks.

The department participates in Erasmus+ exchange and is embedded in the wider WWU international network. The student organisations Jungchemikerforum and JGBM Münster provide community for incoming students alongside the formal Fachschaft Chemie and Fachschaft Pharmazie student councils.

The Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy is concentrated on the natural sciences campus along Corrensstraße in Münster's west end, where the majority of its institutes, research centres, and laboratories are clustered within walking distance of one another — a layout that actively enables the cross-institute collaboration the department is known for.

Münster is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, approximately 80 km north of Dortmund and 60 km northeast of Düsseldorf. Münster/Osnabrück International Airport (FMO) is roughly 30 km away, and Münster's main train station (Münster Hauptbahnhof) connects directly to Dortmund (45 min), Cologne (1.5 hrs), and Amsterdam via intercity rail.

Key on-campus facilities directly relevant to chemistry and pharmacy students include the MEET Battery Research Centre (Corrensstraße 46), the Center for Nanotechnology (CeNTech) on Heisenbergstraße, the Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN), and the Zweigbibliothek Chemie & Pharmazie (Branch Library for Chemistry and Pharmacy). The Arzneipflanzengarten (medicinal plant garden) hosts regular public guided tours, serving as both a teaching resource and a connection point between pharmacy students and the broader community.

Graduates of the department's research-intensive Master and doctoral programmes are well-positioned for careers in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries — sectors where WWU Münster's reputation in organic synthesis, catalysis, and drug sciences carries direct employer recognition.

Typical sectors and roles include:
- Pharmaceutical and biotech industry: drug development, regulatory affairs, clinical research — particularly relevant for Pharmacy Staatsexamen and Master Arzneimittelwissenschaften graduates
- Chemical industry (synthesis, process chemistry, quality control): organic and analytical chemistry graduates move into companies spanning fine chemicals, agrochemicals, and materials
- Food safety and regulatory roles: Food Chemistry graduates qualify as state-certified food chemists (Lebensmittelchemiker) after a practical training period, entering public health authorities, testing laboratories, and the food industry
- Business and management in chemistry sectors: the Master Business Chemistry programme specifically prepares graduates for roles at the interface of chemistry R&D and corporate management, consulting, and business development
- Academic and public research: the structured doctoral programmes (BACCARA, IRTG 2027 Münster–Toronto, Graduate School of Chemistry) produce researchers who move into postdoctoral positions at leading institutions internationally
- Teaching: the Lehramt pathways prepare chemistry teachers for Gymnasium, vocational college, and comprehensive school levels in Germany

The department's top-tier DFG funding record and the profile of its faculty — including Leibniz Prize and Gauß-Medal holders — signal the level of scientific training that employers and research institutions associate with a Münster chemistry degree.