Emeritus Faculty: Professors BENT, BUTERA, COETZEE, CRAIG, DOUGLAS, ELLISON, HOLLINGSWORTH, MILLER (University Professor), ROSENBERG (Dean Emeritus; Research Integrity Officer), WALLACE (Distinguished Service Professor), WOLKE; Associate Professors EPSTEIN, STRAUB

The department provides programs of graduate study leading to the MS and PhD degrees in Chemistry in the fields of analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry. Interdisciplinary research is also currently conducted in the areas of surface science, combinatorial chemistry, drug design, natural products synthesis, biosensors, materials research, laser spectroscopy, organometallic chemistry, and theoretical chemistry.

After taking an appraisal exam in each of the four areas of chemistry, each new student meets with the department's Graduate Student Advisement Committee for registration counseling. This meeting is to help with the student's orientation and to plan a first-year program. Similar meetings are held before each registration until the student passes the preliminary examination. At that time the staff member who supervises the student's research becomes his/her major advisor, and the remainder of the student's program is developed in consultation with the advisor. All of the advanced degree programs involve original research and course work. Other requirements include a comprehensive examination, a thesis, a seminar, and for the PhD candidate, a proposal. For the typical PhD candidate, this process takes four to five years.

Domestic applicants must submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores and Advanced Chemistry Test scores. International applicants must also submit TOEFL scores.

PhD Degree Preliminary Evaluation: The preliminary evaluation consists of an examination of the student's core course record. The student must achieve a quality point average of at least 3.00 in 12 credits of core courses selected from at least three of the four formal branches of chemistry.

Comprehensive Examination: The oral comprehensive examination is devoted to a discussion of the candidate's research field. The student is asked to report on his/her own work to date and on a future research plan; but beyond that, the student must be prepared to answer questions touching on the theoretical and practical aspects of the general field in which the research problem lies. The student is also expected to show a command of graduate course work related to the field of his/her research. The department's comprehensive examination satisfies the Faculty of Arts and Sciences requirements for an overview examination. With approval by the Department Chair and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, the student is formally admitted to candidacy for the PhD program.

Seminar: Each student in the doctoral program is required to present at least one seminar, which is open to the department. The seminar may be given at any time during the student's career and on any topic approved by his/her major advisor, including the results of doctoral research.

Proposal: After passage of the comprehensive examination, the student is expected to pursue the thesis problem. When substantial progress on this problem has been made, the student must present an original research proposal before a faculty committee. This proposal must not be closely related to the student's thesis problem.

Thesis and Final Examination: The PhD thesis is a report on an investigation under the supervision of a member of the faculty. It must represent an original contribution to knowledge and must relate what is found to what was known before. The candidate must defend his/her thesis in an oral examination before a doctoral committee consisting of the major advisor, at least two additional departmental Graduate Faculty members, and one Graduate Faculty member from another department within the University. With prior approval, a qualified faculty member from another institution may also be appointed. The final examination is open to all members of the Graduate Faculty.

Analytical Chemistry: Representative of current research activities in analytical chemistry are techniques in electroanalytical chemistry, photoelectrochemistry, in vivo electrochemistry, capillary electrophoresis, chemical state imaging, UV resonance Raman spectroscopy, and polymer analysis.

Inorganic Chemistry: In inorganic chemistry, studies are being conducted on organotransition metal complexes, redox reactions, complexes of biological interest, transition metal polymers, and optoelectronic materials. The program emphasis both synthesis and physical methods.

Organic Chemistry: Research in organic chemistry is extensive and includes the areas of reaction mechanisms, ion transport, total synthesis, molecular recognition, natural products synthesis, combinatorial chemistry, bio-organic chemistry, synthetic methodology, organometallics, enzyme mechanisms, and physical-organic chemistry.

Physical Chemistry: Research areas in physical chemistry include Raman, electronic, infrared and magnetic resonance spectroscopy; photoelectron spectroscopy; electron transmission spectroscopy; liquid state dynamics; chemistry of upper atmosphere processes; and molecular beam studies. The extensive research on electronic structure, reaction mechanisms, electron transfer theory, quantum mechanics, surface science and new material design. Research on computer applications to chemistry is under way in a variety of areas.