Graduate and undergraduate students and postdoctoral fellows collaborate with faculty and staff on research spanning all of the chemical sciences. We frequently collaborate across groups within the department, across campus, across states, and even across countries.
Scientists at UW-Madison benefit from the university’s rich history and tradition of scientific inquiry and exploration. Today, the Department of Chemistry serves as a major research hub on campus. The department’s annual research expenditures total more than $16 million and include grants from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy, as well as numerous other public and private programs. Please see the individual path links to learn more about our diverse research efforts. The links below highlight recent Chemistry Department activities.
Research News
Prof. Susanna Widicus Weaver brings a love of chemistry and expertise in astronomy
Vozza Professor of Chemistry Susanna Widicus Weaver arrived at UW–Madison in May to conduct research in prebiotic astrochemistry and on how life may form with the evolution of stars and planets. Weaver received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Illinois Wesleyan University (2000) and her Ph.D. in chemistry at California Institute of Technology (2005). She most recently was a professor of chemistry at Emory University.
ACS Organic Division launches new data site
The American Chemical Society Organic Division released a new resource for organic chemists: OrganicChemistryData.org The idea and majority of the current content (~1500 html pages + 650 PDF files) is from the late emeritus Prof. Hans J. Reich (see feature on page 34), a pioneer in distribution of educational content via the world wide web, who served his entire professional academic career at UW–Madison.
Collaboration goes viral tackling COVID-19
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a call to action for many within the scientific community. Long-time collaborators, Lloyd Smith, professor of chemistry, and Nathan Sherer, associate professor of molecular virology and oncology with the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research and Institute for Molecular Virology, set out, along with their students, to contribute to the global understanding of SARS-CoV-2 by adapting the Smith group’s Hybridization Purification of RNA-protein complexes followed by Mass Spectrometry (HyPR-MS) technology to the study of SARS-CoV-2.
Gellman lab works on ways to block SARS-CoV-2 from entering cells
Prof. Samuel Gellman and his group have been working on strategies to prevent infection by pathogenic viruses for several years. They are now using that work as a launching pad for research on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Atmospheric chemists join battle against COVID-19
When COVID-19 first hit, many people hastily adopted work-from-home protocols. Trips outside were limited to grocery runs; suddenly, fruits and vegetables became synonymous with ramen and ready-to-eat food choices. Social lives compressed to the six inches of mobile phone screens. Facetime Fridays with steaming cups of coffee, arguably with three too many shots of espresso, became routine. Today, even with the pandemic running rampant, things are very different. Slowly people are participating in more in-person activities; however, often without a complete understanding of the risks.
- More Research News posts