REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Chemistry & Biochemistry

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

The REU program in the Department of Chemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology will bring 10 students to campus for ten weeks each summer to participate in a diverse array of projects in analytical, biological, inorganic, organic, physical, and polymer chemistry. A primary focus of the proposed NSF REU program is to target the enrollment of substantial numbers of women and underrepresented minority students and to provide them with skills and motivation to embark on graduate studies in the sciences. Each participant will work with an individual faculty member who has an active research group in an area of interest to the student. Other components of the program include team-building activities, regular group meetings, a seminar/workshop series (topics include ethics, presentation skills, graduate opportunities, and research frontiers), research symposia, and field trips to industrial and/or government laboratories. These serve to acquaint participants with a broad array of projects, provide them with the opportunity to enhance their presentation skills, and provide a perspective of chemical research in a scholarly, entrepreneurial, economic, and ethical framework. The program includes extensive joint activities with other summer research programs on campus. It is expected that the REU program will continue to attract the high level of participation of underrepresented groups similar to the most recent programs that included 54% women, 55% underrepresented minorities with most participants (84%) coming from schools that lacked a Ph.D. program in chemistry. This goal will be facilitated by both existing and new outreach activities with Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and other Principally Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), and a new partnership with a local two-year college.