REU Site: Chemistry and Biochemistry REU Site to Prepare Students for Graduate School and an Industrial Career

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award, with a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) component, provides ten REU and two RET participants with ten-weeks of research training and professional development. In this program, supported by the Division of Chemistry, REU and RET participants will conduct individual chemistry or biochemistry research projects using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques.

These chemistry and biochemistry research projects focus on critical problems related to chemical and biochemical industries. Planned professional development activities for REU and RET participants include visits to chemical and biochemical companies; workshops discussing current and grand challenges in industry and the most important skills to success in industry; and the creation of presentations for a national chemistry conference.

Inspiring the next generation of scientists, both REU and RET participants will work with the BYU summer chemistry and biochemistry camps for children and youth.

REU and RET participants at this site will conduct independent research on projects spanning chemistry and biochemistry, particularly on fundamental research projects with an industrial connection. Slated projects include the development of heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 removal, the design of miniaturized mass spectrometers and of micrometer microfluidic devices, organic synthesis endeavors toward targets with putative anticancer activity, and computational chemistry directed at the modeling and design of new catalysts.

Alongside the professional development activities, these projects, facilitated by BYU Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty, will provide participants with experiences in problem solving and scientific discovery, preparing them to earn advanced degrees and enter the industrial chemistry workforce. To increase the diversity of the STEM workforce, REU recruitment at this site will emphasize participation of students from two-year colleges and those from underrepresented minority groups.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.