REU Site: A Community College Based REU in the Wyoming Region

位于怀俄明州拉勒米的怀俄明大学(UW)获得了本科生研究体验(REU)站点奖，从2021年到2023年，每年夏天都会有七名社区学院(CC)学生和两名社区学院教授来到怀俄明大学。这项计划由化学部和既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)联合支持，将允许学生和教职员工在从能源、材料到生物相关主题的项目上为化学研究做出贡献。每名学生将与一名参与的教师导师密切合作，这名导师是根据他们的研究成就和与本科生研究人员的成功指导记录而精心挑选的。这一实践研究体验还包括各种活动(研讨会、关于伦理和写作的小型课程以及与能源相关的实地考察)，以教育和培训学生未来的科学家职业生涯。怀俄明州的高等教育系统由一所4年制/研究生水平的大学和7所社区学院组成。这个REU网站强调为来自地区CCS的学生和教职员工提供服务，以积极影响怀俄明州和周边州的学生和科学。这项计划将吸引一年级和二年级的本科生，他们正处于大学生涯的早期，并使他们接触到研究生水平的化学研究。提供的项目范围广泛，包括基于纳米颗粒的催化剂的合成和表征；选择性光化学修饰蛋白质；以及分子氢量子晶体的化学。在后一个方案中，值得注意的是，由于各种量子力学效应，如单个H分子的大幅度平移零点运动以及正核和准核自旋流形的存在，低温固体分子氢是一个独特的凝聚相环境。在液氦温度下，这种晶体内会发生各种非经典动力学。这些研究经验将提供对化学研究的更深入的看法，以及对化学科学潜在就业机会的看法。该项目的学生还将有机会获得职业发展，包括道德培训、科学交流以及准备简历和研究生申请材料。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 the University of Wyoming (UW), located in Laramie WY, will bring seven community college (CC) students and two CC professors to UW each summer from 2021 to 2023. This program, jointly supported by the Division of Chemistry and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), will allow students and faculty to contribute to chemistry research on projects ranging from energy, to materials, to bio-related topics. Each student will work closely with one of the participating faculty mentors who have been carefully selected for their research accomplishments and successful mentoring records with undergraduate researchers. This hands-on research experience also includes a variety of activities (seminars, mini-courses on ethics and writing, and energy-related field trips) to educate and train students for their future careers as scientists.The higher education system in Wyoming is comprised of a single 4-year/graduate level university along with seven community colleges. This REU site emphasizes serving students and faculty from regional CCs to positively impact students and science in WY and surrounding states. This program will engage first and second-year undergraduates, who are early in their college career, and expose them to graduate level chemistry research. The wide range of projects offered includes the synthesis and characterization of nanoparticule-based catalysts; site-selective photochemical protein modification; and the chemistry of molecular hydrogen quantum crystals. On this latter project, it is worthy of note that cryogenic solid molecular hydrogen is a unique condensed phase environment due to a variety of quantum mechanical effects such as large amplitude translational zero point motion of the individual H molecules and the presence of ortho and para nuclear spin manifolds. A variety of non-classical dynamics occur within such crystals at liquid helium temperatures. These research experiences will provide a more in-depth view of chemistry research and of perspective on potential job opportunities in the chemical sciences. The students in this program will also have opportunities for professional development including training in ethics, scientific communication, and preparation of resumes and graduate school application materials.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.