Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Chemistry at Iowa State University

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

This joint Chemistry Division and Materials Research Division award supports a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at the Iowa State University. Mark Gordon is the site's Program Director. James Evans, Bruce Harmon, Kai Ming Ho, and William Jenks are the Co-Directors. Seven faculty members from the Departments of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry will serve as REU student mentors. Over the award period (2002-2004), eight students will be supported each summer in a ten-week program. The recruitment focus will be directed towards regional undergraduate institutions and several HBCU universities where personal contacts exist. The research focus will be computational chemistry and physics with special emphasis on applications in materials science. The specific areas of research are quantum chemistry, surface dynamics, solid state properties and dynamics, and dynamics of biomolecules. Students will participate in a series of short (half-day) courses on high performance computing. Weekly meetings will be held, where students, during the later part of the summer, present their research. At the end of the summer students will present their research in a poster session. Part of the assessment of the program will be exit interviews with each of the students. All participants will be tracked until they complete their undergraduate educations.