REU Site: Discovery by Computation, Theory and Experiment

Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Professors Jeffrey Evanseck, Jeffry Madura, and colleagues of Duquesne University host an REU site supported by the REU Sites Program of the NSF Division of Chemistry. This site impacts the professional chemistry careers and education of undergraduates and faculty from institutions with limited research infrastructure as well as those from underrepresented populations. This is achieved through establishment of meaningful, year-round, and long-term research collaborations driven by the need for academic productivity and excellence in undergraduate training. The model builds research teams of student-faculty pairs recruited from Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), Historically Black Colleges (HBCs) and the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) institutions. These collaborators are integrated with extramurally funded research groups from Duquesne. The model is proven to perpetuate itself, where invested collaborations ultimately mature to independent funding. The broader impacts of this work include meaningful research experiences to attract and retain the nation's diverse student talent pool. This will have the consequence of enhancing and diversifying the U.S. workforce by adding experts in the fields of chemistry and biochemistry. This project focuses on strong financial and infrastructure support of research collaborations that invigorate faculty from PUIs, HBCs, and LSAMP institutions. These faculty in turn directly impact students and learning environments at their home institutions. REU students have novel chemical research experiences in exciting and broad scientific themes, such as nanotechnology, homeland security, pharmaceutical drug design, forensic sciences, and chemical biology. Each student works directly with two faculty mentors in the laboratory (from the home institution and Duquesne). Students also consult with a theoretical faculty liaison, since each REU project is supplemented by well-defined computational components to expand the students' experience. REU students receive explicit training to reinforce the scientific method, scientific writing and speaking, ethics, safety, and workshops on state-of-the-art instrumentation to complement their experimental research and build invaluable skill sets. Each student has the opportunity to present their research locally, regionally, and nationally to expand their professional exposure and networking to make more informed career decisions and best prepare for graduate school.