Terence Nile University of North Carolina Greensboro
This US-UK project provides 18 US undergraduate students (approximately 50% from under-represented groups) opportunities for training and research at the University of Bristol. The principal collaborators are Terence Nile at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro and Paul Pringle at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
The students participate in a seven-week training program prior to their international research experience. This training addresses theoretical and practical aspects of organometallic chemistry research, as well training on ethics, library use and laboratory safety. The students then spend eight weeks in the UK working in the laboratories of several researchers.
This project fulfills the program objectives of providing US students with a global perspective and access to unique facilities and expertise related to synthetic organometallic.
This grant provided the opportunity for a total of 23 undergraduate students from the greater Greensboro, NC area institutions the opportunity to undertake seven to eight weeks research at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom from 2011-2014. The grant ran for four years, with the fourth year being a result of a no-cost extension. Three of the participants were not funded by the grant, but were supported by funds from the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Office of International Programs, its Office of Undergraduate Research and its Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The intellectual merit of the program was demonstrated by presentations made by the students on their research both in the UK and the US. A total of 51 presentations were made by the students, including ten at the annual Southeastern Regional Meetings of the American Chemical Society. Two peer reviewed articles have been published, including one in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and another has been submitted. The broader impacts include the involvement of minority students (40%) and female students (50%) in research. The participation in the program was very successful in encouraging the participants to pursue post graduate programs with 84% either going on to postgraduate studies (68%) or intending to do so in the future (18%). Of those pursuing post graduate degrees 48% are enrolled in doctoral programs in chemistry and 18% are enrolled in professional programs. The students were involved in an invaluable international experience that broadened their outlooks and involved them in interactions with a diverse mix of international co-workers from many different countries.
