REU Site: Collaborative Chemistry Research at the University of Memphis

University Of Memphis, Memphis TN

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Memphis Chemistry REU site, Collaborative Research in Chemistry, will provide a ten-week intensive research experience for eight undergraduate students each summer. The research projects focus on collaborative research in chemistry, involving the synthesis and characterization of materials. The focus on collaborative research builds on existing collaborations between departmental faculty members, as well as with other institutions and industrial collaborators. This focus will provide students with a realistic picture of the growing reality of scientific partnerships, rather than individual efforts. Participant recruiting efforts will focus on the state of Tennessee and directly neighboring states due to a scarcity of chemistry REU sites in this area, as well as prior experience indicating that over 50% of our previous participants derive from this region. An important addition to our current recruiting plan is a partnership with chemistry faculty at regional historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) who will nominate minority students who may not have previous exposure to research careers in an effort to provide valuable research experience opportunities to this underserved population. The main focus of the program is a ten-week intensive research experience complemented with social activities, industrial site visits, and weekly one-hour sessions devoted to research support skills, such as literature searching, critical reading of the scientific literature, writing, scientific ethics, and presentation skills. The intellectual merits of the program include contributions to diverse sub-disciplines of chemistry. REU participants will synthesize materials with various properties and potential applications. Results from the proposed projects will be disseminated through publications and presentations. Travel funds for REU participants will promote presentations at national and regional meetings during the year following their research experience. This REU site will broadly impact training in chemistry, participation of underrepresented minorities in chemical research, and will promote partnerships between the University of Memphis and regional HBCU institutions.