Graduate students in the organic chemistry path participate in one of the strongest organic programs in the world. As a graduate student in organic chemistry, you will learn:
- the latest theoretical treatments of organic reactions;
- the development of synthetic expertise;
- the ability to analyze critically physical organic and reaction mechanism problems; and
- the art of structure elucidation.
The organic chemistry path at UW-Madison includes a large selection of top research groups. Organic chemistry graduate students may study areas such as synthetic, mechanistic, bioorganic, organometallic, combinatorial, materials, catalytic, structural, and computational chemistry. The degree of interaction and collaboration among research groups is one distinguishing feature of the research environment at UW-Madison. The department also offers excellent instrumental and computational support and training for your research.
New students with strong science backgrounds can finish all course requirements during the first academic year. As few as six courses can satisfy all requirements. The details of a student’s program depend on research area and career plans and are arranged through discussions with the student’s adviser.
UW-Madison is among the largest and most respected sources of organic chemists for academic and industrial positions. Most major college chemistry departments have organic faculty members who have studied at UW-Madison, and dozens of companies visit campus each year to recruit chemistry graduate students.
Organic Chemistry Resources
View Professor Emeritus Hans Reich’s organic chemistry resources pertaining to chemical reactions, chemical data, NMR spectroscopy, organometallic topics, nomenclature, organic compounds, and techniques.
Contacts:
Organic Chemistry Path Co-chairs
Jennifer Schomaker / Dan Weix
Graduate Program Director
Francisca Jofre
Our Graduate Programs
Organic Chemistry Programs
Organic Faculty
Helen Blackwell
Position title: Norman C. Craig Professor of Chemistry
Email:
blackwell
AJ Boydston
Position title: Professor of Chemistry, Yamamoto Family Professor, Affiliate in MSE and CBE
Email:
aboydston
Julian Cooper
Position title: Assistant Professor
Email:
jccooper5
On July 1, 2024, Julian Cooper joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor to research and unlock new modes of chemical reactivity in materials. Cooper earned a Bachelor of Science…
Dawei Feng
Position title: Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemistry
Email:
dfeng23
Samuel H. Gellman
Position title: Irving Shain Chair of Chemistry, Professor of Chemistry, Vilas Research Professor, Ralph F. Hirschmann Professor of Chemistry
Email:
gellman
Jennifer Golden
Position title: Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry
Email:
jennifer.golden
Padma Gopalan
Position title: Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemistry
Email:
pgopalan
Ive Hermans
Position title: John and Dorothy Vozza Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Email:
hermans
David Lynn
Position title: Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Chemistry
Email:
dlynn
Sandro Mecozzi
Position title: Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry
Email:
sandro.mecozzi
Monica Neugebauer
Position title: Assistant Professor
Email:
meneugebauer
Bio: Neugebauer, Monica E.
Jennifer Schomaker
Position title: Edward and Nancy Fody Professor of Chemistry
Email:
schomakerj
Shannon Stahl
Position title: Professor of Chemistry, Steenbock Professor of Chemical Sciences
Email:
stahl
Weiping Tang
Position title: Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry
Email:
wtang
Daniel Weix
Position title: Wayland E. Noland Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
Email:
dweix
Tehshik P. Yoon
Position title: Professor of Chemistry, Associate Chair for the Graduate Program, Director of Graduate Studies
Email:
tyoon
Organic Labs
Berry Group
The Berry Group focuses on coordination chemistry which is the synthesis, structures, spectroscopy, and electronic structure of new types of transition metal complexes.
Blackwell Group
The Blackwell Group is focused on the development of chemical strategies to manipulate bacterial cell-cell communication processes.
Boydston Group
The Boydston Group studies functional materials at multiple length scales.
Buller Group
The Buller Group research is focussed on how to engineer new biocatalytic reactions and do so with a broad substrate scope, a major challenge in enzymology.
Cavagnero Group
The Cavagnero Group focuses on understanding the early stages of protein folding and aggregation in the cell, with emphasis on the role of the ribosome, molecular chaperones and prions.
Cooper Group
The Cooper Group combines the tools of chemistry, materials science, and mechanics to develop new ways to make materials and alter their capabilities.
Gellman Group
The Gellman Group is focused on the design, synthesis and evaluation of new types of biopolymer-like molecules that display stable conformations and useful functions ("foldamers").
Martell Group
The Martell Group develops catalysts that merge the benefits of enzymes and synthetic chemistry, with applications spanning sustainable synthesis, chemical biology, and plastic recycling.
McMahon/Woods Research Group
The McMahon/Woods research program explores fundamental aspects of organic chemistry with the goal of understanding the chemistry that occurs in harsh reaction conditions.
Schomaker Group
The Schomaker Group specializes in synthetic organic chemistry.
Stahl Group
The Stahl Group's research focuses on the field of catalysis and draws upon and impacts several areas of chemistry.
Stowe Group
The Stowe Group focuses on understanding how chemistry learning environments could and should engage all learners in authentic, meaningful scientific work.
Todd Group
The Todd Lab's interest lies in investigating the origins of life on Earth and understanding the implications for the possibility of life on other planets.
Wang Group
The Wang Group research centers around protein folding and function, and how problems in this area can cause disease, inparticular neurodegenerative disorders.
Weix Group
The Weix research program is focused on the development of conceptually new catalytic methods for organic synthesis.
Wickens Group
The primary focus of the Wickens Group is the discovery of new catalytic principles that can be leveraged to precisely control chemical reactivity.
Yoon Group
The central goal of research in the Yoon Group is to develop strategies for the controlled synthesis of complex organic molecules.
Feng Group (Affiliate)
The Feng Group focuses on the development of novel solid electrolytes and cathode materials for high-power and high-energy-density electrochemical energy storage devices.
Golden Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Golden research labs are heavily steeped in synthetic organic medicinal chemistry.
Gopalan Group (Affiliate)
The Gopalan Group focusses on using the tools of organic chemistry to design new polymeric materials.
Lynn Group (Affiliate)
Lynn Group research is focused broadly on the design and synthesis of functional organic materials and the fabrication and physical characterization of polymers, macromolecular assemblies, nanoscale materials, and surfaces/interfaces.
Mecozzi Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Mecozzi Lab research efforts focus on fundamental studies of non-covalent interactions and the application of the resulting findings to biochemical and biomedical problems.
Neugebauer Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Neugebauer Lab is interested in the discovery, characterization, and evolution of enzymes for biocatalysis and chemical biology.
Tang Laboratory (Affiliate)
The Tang Lab focuses on drug discovery, an interdisciplinary field that involves a broad range of skill sets.