REU Site: Chemistry Function, Application, Structure and Theory (FAST): Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Chemistry and Biochemistry

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This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award to Georgia Institute of Technology, located in Atlanta, GA, supports the training of 10 undergraduate students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2020-2022. This program, funded by the Division of Chemistry engages participants in chemistry research related to Function, Application, Structure, and Theory (FAST). Each undergraduate participant works with an individual faculty member who has an active research group in a thematic area of interest. Other components of the program include team-building activities, regular group meetings, a seminar/workshop series, research symposia, an emphasis on developing a professional social media presence, and field trips to industrial and/or government laboratories. These activities serve to acquaint participants with a broad array of projects, provide them with the opportunity to enhance their presentation skills, and provide a perspective on chemical research in a scholarly, entrepreneurial, economic, and ethical framework. Ultimately, this site promotes the growth of a diverse, well-trained chemistry workforce.The research projects available for participants span the chemical sciences space. Some of the projects include the study of mechanisms of heme trafficking and signaling, click chemistry in the development of functional materials, electronic structure theory, and mass spectrometry-based protein analysis. The non-research activities provide participants with professional development and training on a variety of topics, including ethics, presentation skills, and research frontiers. This site emphasizes recruitment of students from underrepresented groups in chemistry and provides them with the skills and motivation to embark upon careers in sciences.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.