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Research Opportunities for Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Research in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry may be
carried out as part of one of the Undergraduate (BS) programs in
Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry,
or one of the Graduate (MS and PhD) programs in Chemistry,
Biochemistry and Pharmacognosy.
Students work in close collaboration with a faculty research advisor on a
research project in an area of interest to both student and faculty member.
The diverse Faculty Research
interests available at USP, present students with a wide variety of potential
research projects in all five of the major areas of chemistry, including
biochemistry, as well as many less familiar areas of chemistry, such as
computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and
proteomics.
Undergraduate Student Research Opportunities
Undergraduate students interested in doing research during their tenure
at USP may do so in one of two ways. They can enroll in a formal course,
i.e., Undergraduate Research (CH 450) or Directed Study (CH 480), which can be
used to satisfy one of the Chemistry or Biochemistry Elective BS degree
requirements, or funds may be available to pay for research activities through
a Department or faculty member's grant, or through the Federal or State Work
Study programs.
Regardless of the method of participation, students should view the current
Faculty Research interests
displayed on the Department Web Site, and meet with the faculty members whose
research areas are of most interest, in order to discuss the potential research
projects in more detail.
Once the student and faculty member have agreed on a project, the student must
complete an Undergraduate Research Application form available from the Department
Office.
The Department encourages all undergraduates to present their research
accomplishments at local and national professional meetings, as well as to
publish their results in appropriate scientific journals. Funds to support
student attendance at these meetings are normally available either from the
Office of the Dean of the Misher College of Arts and Sciences, or the DCB.
The titles of undergraduate research projects, and the names of the
research personnel, as well as the location of the meeting or journal citation
for recent Research Presentations and
Publications are available. Links to text and figures of some of the
presentations may also be available.
Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Undergraduates may continue to do research during the summer months at USP,
either by enrolling in CH 450 or CH 480 during the Summer I and/or Summer II
sessions, or if funds are available, through a faculty member's grant, or
through the Department's Summer Research Program.
In addition, many research opportunities are offered by Colleges and Universities
across the country. The NSF REU Summer Program is just one example. These summer
programs are normally focused on students that have completed their junior year,
but they will sometimes accept students in other years. Many opportunities
can be found via a "Google" search, by inserting the following search strategy
into the Google Search box:
"04+summer+research+chemistry+program+undergraduate"
To narrow down your search, replace "chemistry" with, e.g., "biochemistry" or
"natural products", or other specific areas of interest. The first two digits (04)
of the search profile refer to the year in which you are interested.
Undergraduate Research Awards
Generous donations from alumni and friends of the University have allowed us
to create several graduation awards for undergraduate research, including one
Reber Award for students in each of the Department majors, i.e.,
Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, as well
as the Gibbs' Award, which is given to a Department major whose research
project combines aspects of both Biology and Chemistry.
The winners of these awards are announced at a reception held by the
Dean of the Misher College of Arts & Sciences, as well as at graduation.
All students that complete an undergraduate research project and submit the
required application materials by the announced deadline are eligible for
consideration. Additional information about these
Research Awards, together with a
list of previous awardees is provided at this link.
Students interested in applying for these awards should contact the Department
Chair for additional information.
Graduate Research
Students in the Department's MS(thesis) or PhD
Graduate Programs in Chemistry,
Biochemistry or Pharmacognosy, are required to complete a thesis
based on a research project carried out in close collaboration with a regular
faculty member in the DCB, or a faculty member from another department
designated as a Research Professor in the DCB. All faculty who are eligible to
serve as advisors for graduate students must be a member of the Graduate
Faculty, appointed by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
Details of the selection of a research advisor and the research requirements
associated with obtaining a MS or PhD degree can be found at the Graduate
Program link above.
The current Faculty Research
interests are displayed on the Department Web Site, along with an indication of
the faculty member's area of specialty and their status as a member of the
Graduate Faculty.
Questions regarding the Graduate Program should review the information
available at the Graduate Program link above, or contact the Department's
Graduate Program Director James R. McKee.
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