This award from the Division of Chemistry (CHE) supports a previously funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at the University of Connecticut (UConn) for the summers of 2008-2010. This REU site will be managed by Christian Brueckner with assistance from Mark Peczuh, both from the Department of Chemistry at UConn. This REU site will bring eight students to campus for a ten-week period each summer to conduct cutting edge research in chemistry. An additional 1-2 students each summer will be supported with institutional funds. Faculty mentors with active research labs in the areas of organic, inorganic, analytical, physical, biological, and polymer chemistry will be available to the REU students. A partnership with Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), a primarily undergraduate institution where research opportunities in chemistry are limited, will be developed and each summer, two positions will be held for two students at CCSU. Research projects for these students will be designed so that they can be continued at CCSU once the summer research program at UConn has ended. As a new program for this funding cycle, a faculty member at CCSU, Guy Crundwell, will introduce small molecule single crystal CCD X-ray diffraction. Various other seminars will introduce the students to topics such as safe practices in the laboratories, how to present research results effectively, ethical issues in science, careers in chemistry, and scientific writing. Another highlight of the ancillary program is a guided tour of Pfizer Central Research Laboratories, a regional industrial research facility. The UConn REU program will culminate in oral presentations and a poster symposium shared among all of UConn's REU programs.
The economic success of the US rests on a well-educated workforce. However, especially in the STEM fields (the science, technology, engineering and mathematics), not enough domestic students decide to pursue a PhD degree to satisfy the needs of the economy. This has many reasons. One aspect is that many students, particularly from smaller, PhD-granting institutions do not get exposed to what it means to pursue a PhD or do not exactly know what earning a PhD entails, or what a PhD chemist does (other than teaching)? A good fraction of the current student population, particularly from racial minorities, are going to become first generation college graduates. They have no family history to show them the path to take to become a PhD chemist, not is the culture of science embedded in their general life experience. Thus, many minorities are also underrepresented in the sciences. If this human capital could be mobilized, the US society at large would be better off. Participating first hand in PhD-level research projects has been shown to be most effective to entice students to seek postgraduate degrees in the sciences. Hence, our program invited a total of 46 motivated sophomore and junior chemistry undergraduates from primarily non-Ph.D. granting institutions in the summers 2008-2011 to participate in graduate level research projects of their choice. Women and minorities were particularly encouraged to apply. Multi-pronged recruitment strategies were pursued to target these groups, including direct contacts to women-only colleges and HBCUs. The process is highly selective. In some years, out of 300+ applications, we chose only ~12 participants, whereby coming from a 4-year college and the stated interest in graduate level research were key selection criteria. A unique thrust of our program is our connection to frequently non-traditional undergraduates from nearby Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). The projects they pursue at UConn are often continued at CCSU. Inversely, a one-day, hands-on workshop on single crystal X-ray crystallography was held at CCSU. This short course introduces an intellectually challenging technical component that involved the entire cohort and that provided the students with a good visual and conceptual idea about this technique that is instrumental to all fields of chemistry. The broader impact of the partnership with CCSU is the invigoration of the undergraduate research activities at this four-year college. The REU participants received room and partial board at a modern dormitory for the duration of the 10 week program. All their travel costs were covered and a stipend was provided. The REU students are paired with faculty as their research mentors. Throughout the summer they interacted extensively with their mentors and senior graduate students assigned to assist in their training. While the core aim of this program is to introduce the students to the full breadth of research-related activities, a number of ancillary professional development offerings and social events round out the experience. Up to eight seminars introduced the students to topics such as safe practices in the laboratories, how to present research results effectively, ethical issues in science, careers in chemistry, and a scientific writing exercise. All REU activities are aimed at providing the participants with a foundation for making informed choices about future careers in chemistry. The participants will also establish networks with peers from a range of disciplines and experiences. Exposure of students that had previously no or limited research experiences to a stimulating graduate-level research program became co-authors of scientific papers or presented their work at scientific conferences. The totality of the REU experiences encouraged many to pursue a career in the sciences. In fact, most participants moved on to earn PhD degrees. Several of our REU participants from former programs are now professors in chemistry, helping to educate a new generation of scientists.
