Chemistry

The Chemistry Department takes great pride in its undergraduate research program. Our students, whether in the B.S. Chemistry or Biochemistry degree program, are offered the opportunity to engage in a faculty-supervised research project. Working closely with a faculty mentor, students experience first-hand how scientific research, whether applied or fundamental, is carried out in the laboratory. In recognition of its strength in undergraduate research, the Chemistry Department was awarded a $746,000 grant from the Research Corporation and the Murdock Charitable Trust in June 2000. The goal of this six-year development project is to make the department one of the most research-rich undergraduate chemistry programs in the nation.
Faculty-supervised undergraduate student projects typically extend over a full academic year. Students often write research proposals that are submitted to WWU and national programs that fund student research. Students are required to prepare written reports and to give oral or poster presentations at the annual department research colloquium held during Scholars Week. When significant results are obtained, students often present their work at regional and national meetings of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Undergraduate student contributions to a chemistry faculty member's research program are often of such significance that the students are co-authors on articles published in prominent, peer-reviewed scientific journals. Undergraduate students in the department have received national attention, including two who recently received prestigious fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Ford Foundation. In February 2003, the Chemistry and Biology Departments were awarded a highly competitive Beckman Scholars Program Grant that will provide five $17,600 scholarships for students in the two departments who are actively engaged in undergraduate research.