Demonstrating to Undergraduate Students

Demonstrating is seen as a core part of postgraduate education in the Chemistry department and can help to build your CV.

What is Demonstrating?

As a Demonstrator, you will lead practical sessions for undergraduates. Your role is to guide students, ensuring they understand the techniques used as well as follow protocol and safety guidelines.

Who does it involve?

Demonstrating is a compulsory part of 1st and 2nd year PhD in the Chemistry Department. We would also encourage MPhils to get involved, but as your time is shorter, this needs to first be discussed with your supervisor. Demonstrating is also open to 3rd/4th year postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

SynTech CDT students: Please note that demonstrating is optional for SynTech CDT students. Given the significant time commitment required for first year training, it’s entirely your responsibility to manage your time appropriately if you wish to demonstrate. Please bear in mind that CDT training takes priority over demonstrating and you are required to ensure that no clashes occur if you want to do it in your first year. 

Additionally, Department values the contribution involved in Demonstrating and demonstrators will therefore receive payments for their time.

What if I am not an experimentalist?

We would expect theory students to do the computational practicals (Part 1B/Part II), but anyone who has a Chemistry undergraduate degree and feels confident in the lab can opt to do Part IA instead.

What if I don’t know what to do and what training will I receive?

Demonstrators will be fully supported by staff members, and given clear instructions as well as guidelines for your practical. If there is anything at all you are concerned about, please let us know and further support will be provided. See below what specific support and training is available for each area.

Part IA 

All demonstrators will receive a comprehensive demonstrator handout, which details how to run each session and gives model write-up examples to assist with speedy marking. These documents can also be access on Moodle ahead of your demonstration session alongside demo videos of each experiment, students' handout. It is expected that you go through these documents and watch the demo videos ahead of your demonstration session starting. Additionally, during the first hour of each day of Part 1A demonstrations, the lab technician will run through the experiment in a live demo and prepare you for what to expect from the day of teaching undergraduates. 

Part IB and Part II 

Computational/ theory demonstrations - all the necessary procedural information is provided in the document 'Guide for Demonstrators' that is distributed and also available on Moodle for access. Specific instructions for each practical alongside the worked answers for the demonstrations are provided in the document. It is expected that all demonstrators have worked through the practical themselves ahead of the demonstration sessions. Staff are available to take any questions demonstrators have by either email or in a meeting. At the start of Michaelmas term, a short 30 minute session which covers a run through of the procedures already outlined in the document provided, is also provided 

Physical Labs - Demonstrators receive training for the practicals they are expected to run. The training sessions are repeated at the start of Lent term. Refresher sessions are also offered should there be a demand for it by demonstrators. Demonstrators are also provided with a document which includes all the relevant information required to support UG students with their practicals including breakdown  of how the practical is run, working solutions to help with theoretical aspects of the practical and what to expect in the following student write up of the practical. This document can also be access through Moodle. Additionally the lab technicians are on hand to support during demonstrations.

What else should I know?

Part IA

Forms to new starters will be sent before their arrival in the Department. 

The Part IA Practical Course has been designed to follow the first year lecture course:

• The four experiments involve mainly organic chemistry and applications of spectroscopy.
• Lent Term:  We normally lead with two organic experiments (weeks 1–4) and finish with two physical (weeks 5–8).
• Easter Term: We conclude with two short inorganic experiments (weeks 1–4), in recognition of the fact that time is at a premium in the run up to the undergraduate first year examinations.

Please note the following:

• The order of experiments may be subject to alteration, depending on the feedback from previous demonstrator cohorts.
• All demonstrators must attend technique demonstrations (given by Senior Laboratory Technician Yuko Kumeda), to ensure uniformity of the demonstrations.
• Demonstrators in this class work from 10.00am - 5.00pm, alternate weeks during term time, i.e. 10 sessions total per demonstrator, and one extra hour is paid for marking the scripts, i.e. payment for 8 hours total for each session.
• This class is normally entirely populated with the Michaelmas intake of PhD students.

Part IB

In Part IB, the organic experiments run every week during Michaelmas and the inorganic ones run during Lent. Demonstrators in this class work either:

a)  from 1.00 - 6.00pm, every week during term time, i.e. 8 sessions total per demonstrator, and two extra hours are paid for marking the scripts, i.e. payment for 7 hours total for each session. 

b) from 09.30 - 12.30pm in the characterisation technique slots - 2 per week, i.e. 16 sessions per term and a total of 6 hours per week with no associated marking.

Physical demonstrators are expected to be at the laboratory from 1.30-6.00pm and theoretical labs run through the Michaelmas and Lent terms from 1.45-5pm.

Part II

In Part II, the organic, inorganic and theory experiments run throughout the first two terms; there are no Physical labs.  Please note that for the organic and inorganic labs, demonstrators need to have currently (or at least recently) used synthetic laboratory skills in order to demonstrate effectively.

*Exceptions:

• For any session where a demonstrator needs to be replaced, usually due to illness or emergency, an enhanced payment of 1.5 x the usual rate will be offered.
• Situations where a demonstrator sorts out a swap well in advance of a conference or other planned event (it is expected that this will not be a last minute arrangement) will not be paid at this enhanced rate: they will be paid at the usual hourly rate.

How do I arrange my Demonstrating?

New Students starting in October 2025 - Please complete the form below by Wednesday 3^rd September, to help us schedule this year's Demonstrating. 

Demonstrating for Incoming students 25/26 (Incoming 1st years)