Chemistry Department
Summer Research in the Chemistry Department
Every year the Chemistry department supports many students on a variety of research projects. While most of the students work on campus we have an agreement with the University of Michigan where they will take one of our students every summer to perform research in Ann Arbor. We also have an ongoing relationship with Winterthur Museum where several students have spent time working on art conservation projects.
Students who perform research on campus during the summer typically work full time for eight weeks under the close supervision of a faculty member. The students receive a stipend for their work, a course unit toward graduation with the tuition waived, and housing is provided at no cost. While you won’t get rich, it is a good package, and more importantly the experience is extremely valuable no matter what your career goals are.
If you are interested in summer research, you should read the faculty research descriptions and then talk to the faculty whose research most interests you. A list of faculty who will be taking students usually comes out in December and then applications are typically due in the Department office in the latter part of January.
Ben Liebov is a rising senior who returned to the lab this summer after spending the recent semester in Spain. He is investigating molybdenum coordination compounds formed from a chiral C2-symmetric pyridine-based ligand.
Brendan Phelan is a rising Junior who likes to play the guitar. He is investigating molybdenum coordination compounds formed from a chiral C2-symmetric quinoline-based ligand.
Melissa Ugelow '12 and Sam Gottheim '11 are using a Nd:YAG laser to synthesize polyynes. Melissa is working to find a set of conditions that will produce only a single type of polyyne as opposed to the usual mixture that forms during the laser ablation process. Sam is trying to produce cyclic polyynes and evaluating his products with the scanning electron microscope. The goal of the research is to better understand the mechanism of formation of polyynes so that they can begin to be used in microelectronic applications, or as the building blocks for synthesizing other molecules.
Photos from Summer 2010