Undergraduate Summer Research in Chemistry at Michigan State University, "REU Site"

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This Chemistry Division award supports a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at Michigan State University, where a previous REU site was funded for 1998-2000. Michael Rathke is the site's Program Director. Thirty-eight faculty are available to serve as REU student mentors. Over the award period (2002-2004), ten students will be supported each summer in a ten-week program. The research focus will be synthesis, modeling and characterization of materials. The institution's DREW program will be used to assist in the recruitment of minority students. Activities include weekly brown bag luncheon meetings, weekly seminars, field trip to Dow Chemical, and participation in a regional REU mini-meeting poster session. Written feedback is provided at the end of the program from both the student participants and the research mentors. The students will be tracked for several years following the program with a series of questionnaires. The publications that result from REU participation are monitored.