Welcome to the web pages of the annual Chemistry Boot Camp, run by the Universities of Manchester and Nottingham, as part of the National HE STEM Programme. The camp takes place in state of the art laboratories and IT clusters and this year you may choose to attend either at the University of Manchester from Tuesday 30 August to Monday 5 September 2011 inclusive or at the University of Nottingham from Monday 5 September to Friday 9 September 2011 inclusive. The course is designed for any student beginning a Chemistry degree at an English University in September 2011. Given the examination boards’ widely varying exposure of students to practical chemistry, the courses aim to teach up to one hundred and twenty students basic practical techniques in organic, inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry and the basics of writing good undergraduate laboratory reports – all within a friendly and encouraging environment. The courses are run by Dr Jonathan Agger and Prof Garry Procter at Manchester and by Dr June McCombie at Nottingham, along with a number of experienced postgraduate student demonstrators.