REU Site: Puerto Rico-Chemical Learning Integrated in Materials and Biomolecular applications (PR-CLIMB)

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This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award to the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras campus, located in San Juan, PR, supports the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2024-2026. In this program, funded by the Division of Chemistry and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), students will participate in research areas focused on materials chemistry and biochemistry. Participants will be recruited from high school students en route to college and two-year colleges and universities with bachelor’s programs in chemistry-related majors. Established at the minority serving institution, this REU site will seek to enrich a diverse set of students with an immersive experience that will foster myriad of professional development skills. Furthermore, overreaching broader goals are to establish socially conscious scientists who will work to resolve community-based problems, build a future STEM workforce, and establish a network of STEM professional collaborators. The REU site will focus on students underrepresented in chemistry and/or those who do not have opportunities for research at their home institution. Participants will be engaged in interdisciplinary research that focuses on materials and biochemistry, with projects including drug design/delivery, medical devices, energy storage, green chemistry, water purification, and pollution metabolomics. Advanced undergraduate students and postdoctoral researchers will serve as co-mentors to provide additional training support. Workshops will be used to train participants in practical laboratory techniques that can be directly applied to their research. The program will include seminar series, group meetings, and industry tours and will incorporate core training in experimental design, critical thinking, effective science communication and dissemination of work. Participants will additionally be presented with insights into applying to graduate schools and fellowships, as well as pursuing different STEM career paths.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.