REU Site: Sustainable Chemistry at Texas A&M University

这个本科生研究经验（REU）网站奖授予位于德克萨斯州大学城的德克萨斯a&m大学，支持在2019-2021年夏季对9名本科生进行10周的培训。该方案由化学司资助，让参与者参与以可持续化学为中心的研究，特别是关于防止污染和减少化学过程对人类健康和环境的负面影响的研究。为了加强专业发展，参与者每周参加一个可持续化学研讨会，由大学和工业专家介绍背景知识，以及他们项目的大背景。该计划还强调了科学传播的重要性。在本地电视制作人和学院科学传播经理的指导下，本科生制作并向公众传播可持续化学主题的视频。该网站利用德克萨斯农工大学在服务老学生和长期合作伙伴关系方面的机构优势，招募服务不足的老学生和代表性不足的少数民族学生，并为他们提供持续的指导，帮助他们继续从事科学事业。参与者将参与高质量的研究经验，解决可持续化学中有影响力的问题，例如开发更环保的溶剂和试剂；发展更有效的反应和工艺；以及可再生能源的开发。这些项目利用了该部门在可持续化学方面的专业知识及其强大的基础设施，包括x射线衍射、核磁共振波谱、质谱、材料表征和分子模拟设施。REU网站还为参与者提供了多个导师，包括机构内和机构外的导师，并且这些关系有意持续到夏季项目的正式持续时间之后。该项目为处于职业生涯早期阶段的学生提供研究生水平研究和持续指导的机会，同时寻求增加STEM学科合格学生的数量。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award to Texas A&M University, located in College Station, TX, supports the training of 9 undergraduate students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2019-2021. This program, funded by the Division of Chemistry, engages participants in research centered around sustainable chemistry, particularly on pollution prevention and reduction of the negative impacts of chemical processes on human health and the environment. To enhance professional development, participants take part in a weekly sustainable chemistry workshop with presentations from university and industrial experts who provide background knowledge, as well as the larger context for their projects. The program also emphasizes the importance of science communication. With coaching from local TV producers and the college science communication manager, the undergraduate students produce and disseminate videos on the theme of sustainable chemistry to the general public. The site leverages Texas A&M University's institutional strengths in serving veteran students and long-standing partnerships to recruit underserved student veterans and underrepresented minority students and provide them with continuing mentoring to help them continue in scientific careers.Participants take part in quality research experiences that address impactful problems in sustainable chemistry, such as the development of greener solvents and reagents; the development of more efficient reactions and processes; and the exploration of renewable energy resources. The projects utilize the department's expertise in sustainable chemistry and its strong infrastructure, including facilities for X-ray diffraction, NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, materials characterization, and molecular simulation. The REU Site also provides participants with multiple mentors, both at the intra- and extra-institutional level, and these relationships are intentionally sustained past the formal duration of the summer program. This program provides students at early career stages with opportunities for graduate level research and continued mentoring while seeking to increase the number of qualified students in the STEM disciplines.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.