The Bridge to the Chemistry Doctorate Program at University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to increase the diversity and cultural awareness of the Department of Chemistry. This program allows students who are motivated to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering, but require additional coursework or research experience to become competitive applicants.
Why Gifts Matter
Wickens one of four UW-Madison researchers awarded prestigious Sloan Fellowships
Four University of Wisconsin–Madison professors, including Assistant Professor of Chemistry Zach Wickens, have been named to Sloan Research Fellowships — competitive, prestigious awards given to promising researchers in the early stages of their careers.
Lamont wins Taylor Teaching Award, 11 win Outstanding Chemistry TA Awards
The UW-Madison Department of Chemistry presented the James W. Taylor Teaching Award to Dr. Liana Lamont, who shared her instructional expertise and philosophy in a talk titled, “General Chemistry Curriculum Redesign – Successes and Challenges.”
Chemists discover new way to harness energy from ammonia
A research team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has identified a new way to convert ammonia to nitrogen gas through a process that could be a step toward ammonia replacing carbon-based fuels.
The discovery of this technique, which uses a metal catalyst and releases, rather than requires, energy, was reported Nov. 8 in Nature Chemistry and has received a provisional patent from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
New chemistry makes ‘magic’ drug improvements easier
In the last decade, scientists discovered a quirk of drug chemistry: If you add on a simple one-carbon building block to a drug, it can make the drug more potent, less toxic, or more stable.
Collaboration helps UW-Madison Chemists quickly evaluate technologies to clean the air
Individuals and businesses are scrambling to find new ways to protect themselves from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. With this interest, the effectiveness of new technologies that promise to improve indoor air quality has taken center stage. University of Wisconsin–Madison chemists have accepted the challenge of evaluating those technologies and the work is moving quickly, thanks to the lab’s partnership with HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) specialists at Johnson Controls.
Bertram and Bain Receive James W. Taylor Excellence Teaching Awards
The Department of Chemistry has chosen two recipients for the James W. Taylor Excellence Teaching Award – Professor Timothy Bertram and senior instructional technology specialist Dr. Rachel Bain. Like many events in the past year, the departmental gathering to present the award looked quite different. Rather than holding a large gathering on campus, the award ceremony was held over Zoom.
Chemistry students win numerous awards
It was a busy year for awards, despite the constraints of a pandemic. In May, the Department of Chemistry celebrated students, faculty and staff with an online awards and graduation event called Celebrating Student Success. Because of generous donors, the department was able to give almost $500,000 in student support. See the winners of department and other awards below.
Connecting Science and Society: Science is Fun
Our public engagement programs reach large audiences in person, on the radio, in print, via television, social media and the internet. The Science is Fun truck traveled to schools, libraries, farmers markets, public parks and other community centers.
Instructors, students find benefits in virtual learning
This year’s pandemic-induced online instruction did not stop students from enrolling in chemistry courses, but it did give instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) experience using a different instructional medium. “Teaching CHEM 344 online was definitely a unique experience,” said TA Maggie McEwan. “Teaching online requires a different set of skills compared to teaching in a classroom or lab, so I think I learned a lot this summer right along with the students.”