Research

Students at SCSU have the opportunity to work alongside and learn from the full-time faculty in the chemistry department by being involved in research. Students that are involved in research will become skilled in advanced techniques that are not normally taught during other chemistry courses as well as have another chance to practice those already learned. Students that are involved in research will gain valuable skills that are highly coveted by graduate programs, medical programs, and employers such as being trained in current instrumentation used today in the field.

All research courses available in the department are 3 credits:

  • CHE 290
  • CHE 490
  • CHE 491
  • HON 494
  • HON 495
  • CHE 586
  • CHE 587
  • CHE 590
  • CHE 591

For each research course, students are expected to commit to working in the lab for an average of 9 hours per week during a 14 week semester (Fall and Spring). Students may register for research during the summer also by registering for a research course. Students registering for summer research are still required to complete the approximately 126 required hours of research in the lab. This amounts to about 25 hours per week during a 5 week summer semester. However, with prior arrangement with the research faculty advisor, the required hours can be completed outside of the normal summer session. On occasion, a faculty member that has acquired a research grant (internal or external) may recruit students as paid researchers without the need for the student to register for a research course.

Any student that would like to register for a research course should first meet with the appropriate faculty member. Please see a short description of the research interests of each full-time faculty member in the department. It is advisable that an appointment is made well in advance of the research. Before registering for any research course, a student must first receive faculty approval. Besides the minimum pre-requisites listed below for each research course, a faculty member may have additional requirements since each faculty member is limited to two students per semester and mentoring a research student does require a great deal of energy and time.
  
Please see the description of each research course in the department: