Investigations in Catalysis
REU Research Programs with Brandeis Faculty
Students selected for the program will receive:
- a stipend of $4,000
- housing on the Brandeis Campus
- travel support for non-Brandeis students.
The Program
Chemistry curricula and departments are commonly segregated into the divisions of organic, physical, inorganic and biochemistry, among others, yet the principles of catalysis are integral to each of these subdisciplines. Moreover, the merging of these subfields is an established fact, and catalysis constitutes one of the most important examples of this coming together: many of the most widely used catalysts in organic chemistry are metal complexes; organic ligands control the reactivity of inorganic systems; single molecule spectroscopy allows one to grasp how biological processes are accelerated; and the application of biocatalysts is a growing field as many industries strive for more environment-friendly processes. The great advances in chemistry are now at the interfaces between the traditional subdisciplines, where scientists apply the lessons of enzyme catalysis to organic reactions, use the organization of crystals to direct reactivity, and apply the principles of evolution to the discovery of novel catalysts. Brandeis’s research strength in catalysis and related areas makes this theme an ideal choice for an REU program.
Once students are chosen and assigned to research projects, each mentor will correspond with the student, so that the training will begin well before the formal start of the program. The mentor will provide a description of the project, introductory reading materials and, if appropriate, a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow contact.
The REU program will operate for ten weeks. We will begin with an orientation program that will provide information about the Brandeis campus, Waltham and the Boston area as well as chemical and radiation safety seminars and a tour of the campus and the science complex. Staff from the Gerstenzang Science Library will provide an introduction to the use of the scientific literature and to the facilities available at Brandeis. The students and mentors will attend an introductory lunch.
Students will be asked to prepare progress reports during the course of the program. They will discuss these reports with their mentors and, if appropriate, rewrite the report based on feedback from the mentor. Students will participate in weekly meetings of each of their own research groups as well as meetings of the REU program. These opportunities for presenting their own work both orally and in writing, receiving criticism in a supportive environment, and hearing, evaluating and critiquing the work of others will enable students to develop a growing sense of independence and confidence. At the end of the program, students will prepare a formal written report in the style of a journal article describing their research. Previous experience suggests that a number of these reports will ultimately form the basis for a journal publication.
The Program will conclude with a symposium, where each student will give a brief talk describing his or her work to the Chemistry community, followed by a farewell reception for students, mentors and co-workers.
The Program is a full-time obligation, and students should not plan to enroll in courses or hold other jobs during this period.
Weekly get-togethers
There will be weekly seminars on a variety of topics, includiing faculty research, presentations by scientists in fields such as patent law, journalism and industrial chemistry, and advising sessions on how to apply to graduate school and how to give a research presentation.
Several sessions, coordinated by the Brandeis Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, will address issues of ethics in science.
Living arrangements and social/cultural activities
To foster community building, REU students will be housed in a single dormitory. Living quarters are generally organized into suites containing 4 students with common cooking and eating areas, and we will try to mix Brandeis and non-Brandeis students within each unit. Group outings will be organized to take advantage of the vibrant historical, cultural and outdoors activities in the Boston area and to further develop collegial relationships. Examples of possible outings include: whale watching, a Boston Red Sox game, canoeing on the Charles River, a tour of Boston in an amphibious vehicle, a visit to the New England Aquarium, a concert at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Research Facilities
The science complex at Brandeis, which consists of eleven interconnected buildings, houses a powerful array of modern equipment. At the center of the complex lies the Gerstenzang Science Library, which has outstanding paper and electronic collections and an able staff of librarians who provide training to students in on-line services and modern library methodology. In addition to the instruments located in the labs of the individual research mentors, departmental and university facilities that will be available to REU participants include:
- Microscopy – our NINDS Core Facility contains a confocal microscope; a combined confocal/multiphoton microscope set up for electrophysiology; a time-lapse imaging setup with inverted microscope, cooled CCD camera and filters for imaging fluorescent proteins over time. Four electron microscopes (Morgani FEI, two 120 keV for moderate to high resolution cryomicroscopy and a new 300 keV field emission gun microscope with energy filter for high resolution and tomography (all in Basic Medical Sciences Center).
- NMR – 400, 500, 600 (with cryoprobe) MHz instruments (Varian, located in Chemistry and Biochemistry) and Bruker 800 mHz with cryoprobe located in its own building adjacent to the science quad.
- Microfluidics fabrication facility – wet bench, spinner, stepper,/aligner, polymer degasser/mixer, oven, digital hotplates, oxygen plasma.
- Light scattering – ALV apparatus for dynamic light scattering to determine diffusion constants of proteins and static light scattering to measure index of refraction increments for molecular weight determinations. Spectrometer can access scattering angles from 20 to 150o and has a temperature range of 5-50 oC.
- X-ray – For macromolecular studies the facilities include three area detectors: two R-axis image plate area detectors, a CCD-based detector mounted on two Rigaku RU200 rotating anode generators and an Oxford Diffraction Xcalibur PX Ultra CCD diffractometer. The small-molecule facility includes a Nonius CAD-4 serial diffractometer and a new Bruker Apex II CCD diffractometer dedicated to small-molecule structure determination to be installed in March.
- Mass spectrometry – Bruker Q-FTMS-2 apex-Qe 9.4T Fourier transform mass spec with dual MALDI and ESI ion sources. EXIGENT 2-D high pressure liquid chromatograph online with mass spec. Bruker Microflex LRF20 MALDI-TOF mass spec. Proteineer spotting robot for LC-MALDI, associated hardware and software for data storage and analysis.