Research

The Chemistry Department’s 37 tenure track faculty members conduct research in all areas of modern chemistry. Research funding at the Department has exceeded $11 million the last two academic years. The National Institutes of Health granted to the University $4 million for construction of the David M. Grant NMR Center, a state-of-the-art NMR facility, recently completed between the two wings of the Henry Eyring chemistry building. In 2005 (the last year for which data is available) the Department ranked 27th nationally in chemistry research spending, 16th nationally in the percentage of funding from federal sources, 18th nationally in the average annual increase in chemistry research funding in the period 1995-2005, and 15th nationally in federal research dollars/faculty member (11th among state institutions). The Department was ranked 1st among the peer institutions in federal funding per faculty member.

In terms of research productivity, the Department of Chemistry ranked 5th among state universities in the number of publications per faculty member, 13th among the institutions with more federal funding and 2nd to University of Virginia among peer institutions in 2006.

Other key strengths of the Department are its true interdisciplinary nature and its collegiality. Two-thirds of our faculty belong to more than one division, and joint research projects are common. Inter- and intra-divisional cooperation and collaboration are the norm, not the exception, and divisions work together to develop strategies to enhance such interaction and to conduct the business of the department for the benefit of all. Graduate students are admitted to the department, not to a specific division, and after admission it is possible for students to switch divisions or even research directors.