About the Program

The BS Chemistry Program of the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry is a 4-year undergraduate degree centered on the study of CHEMISTRY. The curriculum has been revised to be aligned to the K to 12 Basic Education Program and also conforms with the shift to learning competency-based standards/outcome-based education specified in CMO 46 s. 2012. It was also based on the American Chemical Society (ACS)-approved program and the Chemistry Eurobachelor program.

The curriculum complies with the minimum requirements for the program, i.e. the general education distribution requirements and the specific professional Chemistry courses which are designed to reinforce the competencies embedded in the CMO 47 program. This enables the BS Chemistry graduates to have multidisciplinary competencies. In this program, students are prepared for professional careers as CHEMISTS. BS CHEM graduates can take the Licensure Examination for Chemist in order to have the professional title R.Ch. or registered chemist.

In terms of passing rate in the professional licensure examinations, DoPAC’s recent achievement is the national RANKED No.1 in 2019 for the Chemical Technician Licensure Examinations as recognized by PRC.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of this program can be

• University/College Professors
• R&D Chemist 
• Research Chemist
• Production Chemist
• QA/QC Chemist
• Sales Chemist
• Technical Chemist
• Forensic Chemist
• Food Chemist
• Geochemist
• Pharmaceutical Chemist
• Material Chemist
• Consultant

Notable Alumni

The following Viscans who graduated in this program have made a name in their field:

• Edgardo E. Tulin, PhD - Class 1981 (BSA major Ag. Chem, ViSCA), MS in Biochemical Engineering, University College London (1984), PhD in Bioreaction Engineering, Nagoya, Japan (1993), JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at Iwate University, Japan, and University President, Visayas State University (2015-present)
• Fe C. Abogadie, PhD, RCh - Class 1983 (BSA major in Ag. Chem., ViSCA), MS Biochemistry (UP Manila), PhD Neuroscience (Northwestern University, USA), Postdoctoral fellow, Welcome Laboratory for Molecular Pharmacology (University College London; 1994-2007), Research Fellow: 2009-2012 (Melbourne University); RMIT University (2012-2017), Senior Animal Ethics Officer, The Florey Institute (2017-present), Melbourne, Australia
• Junie B. Billones, PhD, RCh – Class 1990 (BS Ag. Chem., VisCA), MS-PhD Chemistry at the University of the Philippines Diliman, worked as Professor/University Scientist 3 University of the Philippines Manila, Research engagements: Computer-Aided Drug Design, Big Data Mining, Material Science
• Rolly G. Fuentes, PhD, RCh – Class 2002 (BS Ag. Chem., LSU), MS Chemistry minor in Biochemistry (UPLB, 2008), PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences (Chiba University, 2014), currently Associate Professor and Vice-Chancellor for Research and Extension, University of the Philippines Visayas
• Marie Anne Eurie Forio, PhD, RCh – Class 2005 (BS Chemistry, VSU), MS-PhD Ghent University Belgium, a faculty of  Bioscience Engineering, Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Belgium, has 39 research publications with 366 citations and member of 7 research projects on water in Europe
• Rex L. Urbano- (BS Ag Chem, VisCA) now a Brigadier General in the Philippine National Police as Regional Director of RIAS 7.
• Ronald Dicdiquin, RCh – Class 2003 (BS Ag. Chem) passed the CLE 2004, worked as chemist in different industries here and abroad, currently in his 11th year as chemist at the Emirates Global Aluminium Industry, UAE. He has practically roamed around the world due to his 3-week-paid-leave twice a year as his benefits.