A Message from The JMU Chemistry
REU Site Director
Welcome to the web site that describes the summer research program
in chemistry of James Madison University (JMU). This year (2008) marks the sixteenth
summer of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded chemistry
research site and the eighteenth year of an organized formal
summer research program at our school since the late 1980s. Our department has always encouraged
undergraduate research as an important part of the development of
many of our chemistry majors. In the
days before a formal summer research program, most projects were
done during the academic year and JMU chemistry students (and
faculty) were encouraged to spend summer elsewhere working in
research university labs, government labs, etc. By the late 1980s, the size of our faculty had
increased and there was substantial success in obtaining external
grants. In addition, the department
had acquired significant instrumentation and many novel experiments
could now be done here. At about the
same time, the NSF was taking a careful look at the state of
science in the nation. It was becoming obvious that both the
percentage and numbers of students majoring in science and
engineering was shrinking. It was
anticipated that in the early decades of the twenty-first century
the United States would have to import skilled scientists in order
to satisfy the needs of government, academia, and industry as older
scientists retired. It was feared
that this could put the country at a disadvantage in the world
economy. The NSF thus created the
Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site grant
awards as a tool to retain and attract undergraduates into
science. In our early years we
operated a summer research program with support from alumnae
contributions and other sources of support. But with the advent of the REU program we
sought grant support from the NSF to extend these
opportunities.
Each year a limited number of NSF-REU site grants are awarded on a
highly competitive basis. There are
about 50-60 chemistry sites nationally in any given year
(NSF-REU web page http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/reu/),
with most awards made to departments of major Ph.D. granting
universities. JMU is one of a small
number of terminal bachelor's degree schools (in chemistry) that
have been successful in gaining REU grant support. Although models differ from school to school,
most programs are similar to ours in that they involve about 8-12
junior or sophomore level students who spend ten weeks in the
summer working in labs mentored by a faculty member. The students receive a stipend to offset the
wages they may have gained by summer employment and at JMU we
provide free housing for those who want it. In such a close relationship, the
students gain considerable skills and knowledge and often they
choose to go on to graduate study after graduation. Many also follow up with publication of their
work and presentations at scientific conferences.
In the early years of REU funding, our department focused on
attracting students (and some faculty) from smaller colleges and
universities in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country. As an integral part of the REU site, we were
particularly interested in extending opportunities for good
students from the smaller schools where there was little
opportunity for conducting research.
The close community of undergraduates mentored by faculty was
particularly appealing for some students that were better served by
a small, close knit community rather than the larger groups found
at some Ph.D. schools. In our
current funding, we remain committed to this mission yet have also
expanded to include students from other areas of the country and
participation of deaf students. In the late 1990s Dr. MacDonald, the
co-PI of the REU site, included a deaf scientist in her research
group. As a direct result of her
continued efforts in working with the deaf and hard of hearing, our
NSF-REU site now includes deaf participants as an integral part of
the program. Our main objective in
this is to aid in the career development of all students both deaf
and hearing. But also, we wish to
address the national need to make science more accessible. Thus each summer our group includes some
deaf undergraduate students, hearing students, student
interpreters, interpreter mentors, professional interpreters and
faculty. We also will include some
deaf high school students and teachers of the deaf in future summer
programs. To extend the REU
"critical mass", students employed on other research grants are
included with the REU group in day-to-day activities. In total, we will have about three dozen people
working together in the chemistry REU community in the upcoming
summer.
James Madison University is a pleasant place during the summer
months. The 16,000 students that
attend during the school year are mostly gone for the summer. The summer school enrollment here is
small, so the REU program is the chief focus of chemistry
department activity from June through August. The faculty are dedicated and enthusiastic
about this program. In addition to
the chemistry site, we have three other REU sites that operate
simultaneously at JMU materials science, math and biology - and a
separate similar program in environmental biology. All these sites work together and we have some
common external speaker seminars and other interactions such as
social events and symposia. All in
all, we work hard but also share some fun times too! The general observation of the program director
has been that the REU has been a career and life changing
experience for most student participants.
Thank you for visiting the JMU chemistry REU web site. We hope that you will consider sending us an
application (regular mail only). Information on faculty
research interests, instrumentation and other details may be found
elsewhere on this web page or from the homepage for the department
(http://www.jmu.edu/chemistry/).
Dan Downey
Principle Investigator / Program
Director
James Madison University Chemistry
REU
