This award will support Dr. Jeanne E. Pemberton of the Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, who will organize and conduct a workshop entitled "The Concept of Creating Undergraduate Research Centers". Dr. Moses Lee of Furman University is co-PI of the project. The goal of the workshop is to assess the interest, merits, and feasibility of creating undergraduate research centers (URC) in chemistry. These centers are proposed to introduce first and second year students to a research experience. The workshop will be developed by a ten-person steering committee that will oversee all phases of planning, development and implementation of the workshop, and drafting a final report. The workshop will be attended by a diverse group of approximately 60 participants including academic and industrial administrators, representatives from national and industrial labs and funding agencies, and scientists and educators from community colleges through Ph.D. institutions. The workshop report will inform the URC planning process in the Division of Chemistry
