REU Site: A Summer Experience for Undergraduates Integrating Research, Education, and Career Development in an Interdisciplinary Environment

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

This award from the Division of Chemistry (CHE) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the University of Kansas (KU) for summers 2016-2018. Professor David R. Benson directs the ten week program, and Professor Joseph A. Heppert is the co-director. Ten students, recruited from primarily undergraduate institutions across the nation, select and participate in individual research projects led by faculty members in the Department of Chemistry at KU. The interdisciplinary research experience is complemented by a career enhancement program that includes professional development activities, a three session short course on green chemistry organized in cooperation with the KU Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis, and panel discussions and field trips that expose the participants to the variety of career options available to chemists. The program serves the broader chemical sciences community by mentoring and training students with otherwise limited opportunities for research experience, and by encouraging participation of women and members of traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences, including students with disabilities. Projects available to REU participants span the full range of research areas represented in the department. Examples include examination of electronic structure contributions to reactivity in biomimetic manganese complexes, investigations of structure and electronic properties of azulene-based materials, studies of neurotransmitter release dynamics in neurological disease, synthesis and characterization of soluble polymers with tunable properties, and ultra-fast laser studies of reaction dynamics of photochromic molecular switches. Participants benefit from the highly collaborative environment provided by the large KU chemical community, close interactions with faculty and graduate student (or postdoctoral) mentors, state-of-the-art facilities, and opportunities to communicate and disseminate their accomplishments in written and oral forms.