This Chemistry Division award supports a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at Columbia University for the summers of 2005-2007. The program director is Leonard Fine. Ten students, recruited from other institutions, will participate in a ten-week program. The interests and experience of the student are matched with the research groups in the department. Before the first day, there are exchanges of information and literature. The selected undergraduates fully participate in the research process in the laboratory, at group meetings and in discussion groups, in seminars and at colloquia; they give oral presentations, produce progress reports and contribute to the writing of papers; and they interact on a regular basis with fellow students in other research groups. In addition, there is a field trip to a comprehensive industrial research laboratory and a joint colloquium with scientists from a National Laboratory. There are career development discussions to assist in the graduate school selection and application processes, and a workshop on professional resume writing. Workshops on women in science and the ethical conduct of research introduce these important professional issues. A professionally developed evaluation and assessment plan will aid in determining the value of the program, how well it is meeting its objectives, and the institutional and individual impacts. The solicitation plan focuses on maximizing appeal and access to women, historically under-represented minorities, and undergraduates from four-year colleges seeking the research university experience. Publication and presentation of results are encouraged.
