NASA-Supported Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships

Please see link below:


https://intern.nasa.gov/

REU: University of Tennessee

REU Gerstner Sloan-Kettering-NYC--Application Deadline Feb. 1st

The Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, sponsors a ten-week research program for outstanding undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing a career in the biomedical sciences.

Visit http://www.sloankettering.edu/summer-undergraduate-research-program

Undergraduate Research Fair, sponsored by Pi Tau Sigma, Nov. 12, 2013

This semester on Tuesday, November 12th from 10 am to 12 pm in the Student Center Ballroom, Georgia Tech is proud to be hosting its first semi-annual Undergraduate Research Fair, sponsored by Pi Tau Sigma, the Mechanical Engineering Honors Society on campus. The goal of this event is to simplify the process of finding and hiring high quality undergraduate research students for your labs, and will resemble a career fair. Our vision is to offer a single-point of interaction for undergraduate students, and professors or graduate student mentors, to discuss research opportunities and assess fit for a particular project or lab. We hope that this event will serve to increase the number of qualified undergraduate research students applying to your labs and to improve the efficiency of interviewing and hiring these students. We invite professors and/or graduate student mentors from all COE labs to attend.

Representatives from each lab will be set up with a table, and provided with complimentary snacks and refreshments. Undergraduate students will be required to bring a current copy of their resume for admission, and will be able to visit booths that they are interested in to discuss the previous and future research projects that each lab is involved with. Professors or graduate student mentors can take this opportunity to review the student’s resume, ask them questions about their skill sets, and if the match seems promising, can exchange contact information, or, if desired, set up a secondary interview with the professor or lab group in the coming weeks. Each participating lab group will select a one-hour time slot during which they plan to attend the fair. Lab representatives are encouraged to bring posters of your previous research in order to give the students a visual example of your work’s results and impact.

To ensure that the students are adequately prepared for the event, Pi Tau Sigma will be hosting two information sessions the week prior to the Undergraduate Research Fair, to work on resume preparation and provide general information regarding the research areas of those labs registered to attend the Fair.

Below is a link to an RSVP form for the event.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1w5eukSdg2OsItXqy_3tjVv3ZxjChjvBswfxb5jbBY7A/viewform

Please pick a time slot that you would like to attend, enter your lab name, and submit a one to two sentence summary of the broader impact of your lab’s research. The RSVP deadline is November 9th.

We hope to see you there!

Best Regards,

Dr. Caroline Genzale
Assistant Professor, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
caroline.genzale@me.gatech.edu

Emily Simonds

Research Chair, Pi Tau Sigma, 

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate

esimonds3@gatech.edu

UG researchers - SURC adbstracts due November 1.

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee Knoxville will be hosting the 46th ACS Southeast Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) on Jan. 30 and 31, 2014. Abstracts are due by Nov. 1^st, 2013. Please encourage your chemistry undergraduate students to attend and present their research.

A tentative conference program is attached.  Students will have the opportunity to give an oral presentation or present a poster, tour the department, and attend a Keynote Lecture and Awards Banquette.  A total of $2,500 monetary awards will be given to best presentation(s) and poster(s) in each area of chemistry. Graduate recruiting booths will be available all day on Friday Jan. 31^st. 

With generous support from our sponsors, we are able to reduce the conference registration to $10/student and $0 for minority students. We are also providing up to $200/person travel support for first 10 minority students who submit their abstracts.

Additional information regarding registration, accommodations, and abstract submission is available at SURC website.

If you have additional questions, please contact SURC coordinator Rachel Rui.

Tentative Meeting Schedule

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014

• 5:00 - 6:30 Registration (University Center, 213, Ballroom)
• 6:30 - Welcome Reception (University Center, 213, Ballroom)

Friday, Jan. 31, 2014

• 7:30 - 8:00 Breakfast & Registration & Poster Set Up (University Center, 213, Ballroom)
• 8:00 - 3:00 Graduate School Fair (University Center, 213, Ballroom)
• 8:00 - 09:30 Oral Presentations (University Center, 241, Auditorium)
• 9:30 - 10:00 Break, Poster Set Up (University Center, 213, Ballroom)
• 10:00 -11:30 Morning Poster Presentations (University Center, 213, Ballroom)
• 11:30 - 1:00 Lunch, Afternoon Poster Set Up (Students on their own)
• 1:00 - 2:30 Afternoon Poster Presentations (University Center, 213, Ballroom)
• 2:30 - 4:00 Oral presentations (University Center, 241, Auditorium)
• 4:00 - 5:30 Department Tours
• 6:00 - 8:00 Awards Banquet & Speaker (University Center, 213, Ballroom)

Considering Graduate School?

Dear Chem and Biochem majors,

If you are considering going on to graduate School, you should take a look at this guide produced by the American Chemical Society.

http://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/students/graduate/planning-for-graduate-work-in-chemistry.pdf

If you have some interest, I encourage you to engage in undergraduate research at an early stage in your time at GT.  This will help you decide if graduate school is a good choice for you and also help ensure that your applictaion is competitive. Good graduate schools look for students with considerable prior research experience and ideally publications/presentations that have come out of their research, as this best indicator of a good outcome in graduate school. As experimental research is not quick, it is important to start relatively early in your time as an undergraduate.

Nationally only ~65% of students entering chemistry PhD programs leave with a PhD.  The most common reason for a student to leave graduate school without an advanced degree is that the reality of graduate school is different from the student's expectations. If you have spent a significant amount of time doing undergraduate research at GT, you will already have a good picture of what life in a high quality graduate program is like.

Best wishes, Angus Wilkinson

--

Angus P. Wilkinson

Professor and Associate Chair, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (Courtesy)

Georgia Institute of Technology

901 Atlantic Dr.

Atlanta, GA 30332-0400

Petit Scholars-Application Deadline Sept. 20th

Petit Undergraduate Research Scholars Application Deadline is September 20th We need your best undergraduates to apply & we need graduate students to submit projects for them to work on! The Petit Undergraduate Research Scholars program is a competitive scholarship program that provides an opportunity for an undergraduate to do research in your lab for full year, under the mentorship of a graduate student.  Read more.

TIMELINE FOR UNDERGRADUATE & GRADUATE  MENTORS Undergraduate applications open from August 19th - September 20th   Graduate students & postdocs submit project proposals from September 23rd - October 21st Selected scholars conduct interviews with prospective mentors to be matched with research project/lab by November 8th   Program runs from January of 2014 through December 2014 Accepting undergraduate applications beginning August 19th! COMPETITIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR TOP STUDENTS Elite undergraduates gain hands-on research experience working alongside top researchers Scholars conduct an independent research project of their choosing Essential mentoring experience for graduate students & postdocs supported with travel and M&S funding

Sigma Xi Grants & Research/Poster Presentation

STUDENT RESEARCH GRANTS

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society is now accepting student grant applications through the Grant-in-Aid of Research Program.  Applications are accepted in all fields of science and engineering.  The application deadline is October 15, 2013 for awards to be disbursed in January 2014. 

Additional information at:  http://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/giar

Email questions to giar@sigmaxi.org

CALL FOR STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to share their research through poster presentations at the Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and International Research Conference on November 8th and 9th in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.  Abstracts accepted in all fields of science and engineering with awards given for outstanding presentations.  A full announcement is included below.

Additional information at: http://www.sigmaxi.org/meetings/annual/src.shtml

Email questions to meeting@sigmaxi.org

National Role Model Conference-Call for Researchers

2014 Organic Chemistry Competition: Call for Partipants

REU Program in Aquatic Chemical Ecology

Univ. of Nebraska REU Program

The program offers students an excellent opportunity to hone research skills and to experience life as a graduate student. Students will enhance their academic resume, work closely with faculty and peers, and have fun with social and professional development activities, all while receiving numerous benefits. Students historically underrepresented in graduate education are especially encouraged to apply. Due to funding restrictions, participation is limited to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

All programs for 2013 are listed here and include projects in Applied Mathematics, Bioenergy Systems, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Nanomaterials and Nanoscience, Optics and Laser Physics, Redox Biology, and Virology.

Our online application makes it easy for students to apply. Priority review of applications begins Friday, February 1 and all applications are due by Friday, February 15.

Study Abroad - Aachen Germany

RWTH Aachen (Germany)  has a good undergraduate research program for international students, the details of which can be found here:

http://137.226.107.16/aw/cms/home/Zielgruppen/zukunftskonzept/massnahme_3/projekt_urop/urop_international/~srs/info_fuer_studierende/?lang=en

GT Urban Honey Bee Project

The Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project needs you!

The Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project is a new interdisciplinary undergraduate education and research initiative.  We are currently seeking students interested in honey bees to start a student group that will help with hive maintenance, designing experiments, collecting data, and helping with outreach activities.   For more information visit bees.gatech.edu . If you are interested, please email jennifer.leavey@cos.gatech.edu

2013 NINN REU Program

The 2013 National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network REU Program online application is now available at http://www.reu.nnin.org/and the full information for the program itself is at http://www.nnin.org/nnin_2013reu.html.

Research Option Info Session-Thursday, Nov. 1st

The Office of Undergraduate Research is hosting a Research Option information session on Thursday, November 1  in the Student Center, Room 320.  This a great way to learn about research opportunities both domestic and abroad! 

Herty Medalist Undergraduate Research Symposium (HMURS) - 9/14/2012

The Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society will conduct the annual Herty Medalist Undergraduate Research Symposium (HMURS) on Friday Sept 14^th at Morehouse College. 

More details on the attached flyer. Prizes awarded!

Registration through-

http://www.morehouse.edu/facstaff/blawrenc/hmurs/register.html

Research Position-Bommarius Group

Research Positions for Undergraduates, Fall term 2012

The Bommarius lab seeks undergraduate students interested in challenging research!

The Bommarius laboratory (ChBE, CHEM, Bioengineering) specializes in biocatalysis, green

chemistry, protein stability, and biochemical engineering. We seek self-motivated, hard-working

student researchers interested to continue for a doctoral degree, preferentially a PhD, after

college, to work on cutting-edge research problems and to learn new skills.

Eligibility:

i) graduation date (B.S.) between 05/13 and 05/15 in BIOL, BMED, CEE, ChBE, or CHEM

ii) GPA at Georgia Tech > 3.30, preferably > 3.5

iii) basic laboratory skills, enthusiasm, self-motivation, flexibility, independence

iv) start in Fall 2012 for credit, continuation during 2013 possible and expected

Interested?: Please email resume (incl. i) major, ii) GPA, and iii) expected graduation date) to

mentor and to Prof. Andreas S. Bommarius (andreas.bommarius@chbe.gatech.edu).

Interviews with mentor: any time; feedback: less than 1 day later; decision asap after

agreement among student, mentor, and faculty advisor

We have a position available on the following projects:

1. Deep eutectic solvents for the pretreatment of cellulose

Cellulose is the most abundant biomaterial known and is considered a key target for replacement of fossil

fuels. Due to its partially crystalline nature, cellulose is not soluble in water or most organic liquids.

Eutectic mixtures of salts sometimes melt below room temperature. We will investigate the solubility and

structure (crystallinity) of cellulose in such liquids.

The student will learn to compose and identify a eutectic medium, measure and interpret

crystallinity of cellulose, and to employ cellulose and lignocellulosic materials. Key experiments will

involve testing renewable materials as components of the eutectic system, testing cellulose crystallinity

via X-ray diffractometry, and measuring hydrolysis to oligosaccharides. The work will require some

knowledge of physical chemistry.

Mentors: Yuzhi Kang (ykang41@gatech.edu) and Dr. Min Jeong Sohn (msohn8@mail.gatech.edu)

2. Kinetics of enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis

Lignocellulosics are of great significance as biofuel feedstock due to their abundance and low cost. The

purpose of this research is to evaluate the effects of steam explosion and the feasibility of utilizing steamexploded

agricultural residues as fuel feedstock. The research focuses on the hydrolyzability, reactivity,

and kinetic study of lignocellulosic biomass such as steam-exploded bagasse and wheat straw.

The student will learn techniques of protein purification and handling, of measuring and

interpreting adsorption and enzyme kinetic data, and of employing lignocellulosic materials. Key

experiments will involve measuring adsorption of cellulase on cellulose surfaces and exploring and

confirming enzymatic activity. The work will require knowledge of organic chemistry and kinetics.

Mentor: Yuzhi Kang (ykang41@gatech.edu)

3. Redesign of formate dehydrogenase via protein engineering

Formate dehydrogenase (FDH) catalyzes the oxidation of formate, an inexpensive reductant (“H2 +

CO2”), to CO2 under concomitant oxidation of a biological cofactor, NADH or NADPH. FDH is

extremely useful in complementing other dehydrogenases that catalyze the synthesis of active

pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

We have started to design a totally novel FDH from scratch that incorporates all knowledge about

enhancing activity and stability accumulated over many years. We have found that our newly designed

protein shows activity but now need much further characterization work.

The student will learn protein expression and purification techniques along with assays to explore

and confirm enzymatic activity using state-of-the-art technologies in protein engineering such as Akta

explorer for protein purification, gas chromatography, circular dichroism, and mutational library

construction. The work will require knowledge of organic chemistry, biochemistry, and kinetics.

Mentors: Dr. Bettina Bommarius (bettina.bommarius@chbe.gatech.edu) and Samantha Au

(sau3@gatech.edu)

4. Prebiotic sugar synthesis: carbene-catalyzed formaldehyde condensation to dihydroxyacetone

Formaldehyde is a simple single carbon molecule and both an important building block for the

chemical industry as well as the most likely prebiotic precursor of sugars. The purpose of this research is

to test multiple carbene precursor catalysts for their ability to convert formaldehyde to the triose sugar

dihydroxyacetone. Dihydroxyacetone will then be used as a reagent for further bond-forming reactions.

The student’s research project will focus on optimizing conversion and selectivity using temperature

and concentration as the major variables studied. Some background in synthesis would be helpful.

Chemical purification techniques such as crystallization and extraction will be learned as well as

identification using HPLC-MS and NMR.

Mentor: Ryan Clairmont (ryan.clairmont@gatech.edu)

Fall 2012 PURA deadline May 18, 2012

Please encourage and remind your students that Friday, May 18^h  is the deadline to apply for the Fall 2012 President’s Undergraduate Research Award (PURA).   Application is available on-line.  To apply, students can visit http://www.undergradresearch.gatech.edu/funding/pura/.

Thanks,

Fadrika

Fadrika Prather
Marketing and Event Coordinator
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0940
Clough Undergraduate LearningCommons, Ste. 205
Phone:404-385-7436
Fax: 404-385-8366

Undergraduate Research Position

Undergraduate Researcher Position in the Reynolds research group

Summer and Fall 2012

The Reynolds research group is looking to hire an undergraduate researcher for their electrochemistry/spectroscopy laboratory to work over the Summer and Fall semesters, at a minimum.  This position would be involved in the conjugated polymer electrochemistry research projects within the group that cover polymer electrochromics.  Experiments would involve applied electrochemistry, spectroscopy, polymer film processing, morphology characterization, and inert atmosphere glovebox use.  Please contact Dr. Aubrey Dyer (aubrey.dyer@chemistry.gatech.edu) for more information.