IRES: U.S.-Hungarian Research on Harvesting Light Energy for Redox Chemistry and Biosensors

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This U.S.-Hungarian International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) project supports undergraduate students' research visits to Budapest, Hungary, for an immersive collaboration with Hungarian mentors and students. With overall direction by the Principal Investigator, Dr. Timothy Peelen of Lebanon Valley College, twelve U.S. students from the mid-Atlantic region, work in laboratories at Eötvös Loránd University guided by two lead Hungarian mentors, Drs. Zoltán Novák and Péter Kele. Prior to departure, all students prepare for their eight week research experience abroad during a two week orientation at Lebanon Valley College to learn about Hungarian culture and language, and for instruction in concepts and techniques related to fundamental applications of light energy, spanning organometallic and bioorthogonal chemistry. In Budapest, students work in the Novák and Kele laboratories on a cluster of activities centered around the theme of applications of light energy. While designed around this unifying theme, specific projects allow participants to pursue individual interests in the areas of inorganic, organic, photophysical, and biological chemistry. Each of the IRES undergraduate participants also gains experience with the application of chemical tools that can be used to manipulate the photophysical properties of metal complexes and fluorogenic probes for applications in photoredox catalysis and bioorthogonal chemistry, respectively.Overall, IRES activities at Eötvös Loránd University offer a valuable early immersive research experience that will prepare the undergraduate researchers to engage productively with international colleagues as they pursue their future careers. The P.I. will reach out to serve different underrepresented groups, including a commitment to select equal numbers of male and female participants while striving to include underrepresented minorities and students with disabilities. Participation in a rigorous research project as an undergraduate has been linked to important gains such as thinking and working like a scientist and clarification of career or graduate school plans. As a capstone experience for the program, IRES students will be strongly encouraged to participate in the Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciencesheld each October at Unniversity of Maryland, Baltimore Campus.