An RSEC at the University of Minnesota

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

The Chemistry Department of Minnesota University (MU) is supported by the Chemistry Division, and the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities under the "Research Sites for Educators in Chemistry" (RSEC) program. Dr. Jeffrey Roberts is the Principal Investigator. The Minnesota RSEC program will be oriented around four interdisciplinary areas: chemical biology, computational chemistry, environmental chemistry, and materials chemistry. The RSEC will support a broad range of collective modes, from standard sabbatical visits, to distance-collaborations with faculty and undergraduates from nearby colleges, to group visits involving three or more faculty from a single department. An Executive Committee consisting of Two University of Minnesota chemistry professors and two professors from undergraduate institutions will assist Dr.Roberts. Plans are for the RSEC leadership team to recruit a group of approximately 20 undergraduate chemistry departments as RSEC participants. The program will draw from institutions in the upper Midwest. The assessment and evaluation of the program will be facilitated by an Advisory Committee of five faculty form both UM and small-school departments. Research Sites for Educators in Chemistry bring together the faculty of participating two-year colleges, baccalaureate colleges, and master's universities with faculty at research universities within a geographic region, to enhance the research and educational opportunities at all participants. Academic and research institutions provide abundant opportunities where individuals may concurrently assume responsibilities as researchers, educators, and students, and where all can engage in joint efforts that infuse education with the excitement of discovery and enrich research through the diversity of learning perspectives. RSECs such as this one at the University of Minnesota provide mechanisms for disseminating the knowledge, skill, practices and ethics of research to a broader community, including those from underrepresented groups; assist in developing viable, sustainable research programs at participating institutions; and involve faculty and students at the participating institutions with a broader cross-section of faculty and students.