REU Site: Sensing and Assembly Based on Non-covalent Interactions

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This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award to The University of Southern Mississippi, located in Hattiesburg, MS, supports the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2020-2022. In this program, supported by the Division of Chemistry in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), undergraduate participants pursue research projects in chemistry and biochemistry. Participants also take part in a professional development and ethics training program, with a focus on lab safety, oral communication, scientific writing, and preparation for graduate school or industrial careers. Through independent research projects, workshops, and panel discussions, the participants are prepared for advanced degrees and/or industrial careers in STEM. The students undertake individual projects encompassing all fields of chemistry and biochemistry with a common theme of utilizing non-covalent interactions. These projects include assembly of macromolecules and proteins, ultra-sensitive and quantitative detection, and asymmetric synthesis of bioactive molecules and their applications in biochemistry. To increase diversity in the STEM pipeline, this site recruits underrepresented student groups, women, and first-generation college students from historically black colleges and universities, women's universities, and community colleges in the state of Mississippi. This program provides intensive research and professional training to undergraduate students that do not have access to formal scientific research labs, increasing their retention in STEM career fields.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.