Program Overview
The Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech, in collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF), presents a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program titled Students Transforming Energy and Environmental Research (STEER). STEER will bring together undergraduate students with faculty and graduate student mentors to address the grand challenges associated with global warming and climate change. The broader environmental and economic impacts of next-generation energy solutions and mitigation of the impacts of global climate change are immense. STEER research will lead to advances in energy storage, energy-relevant catalysis, rare-earth element management, and green chemistry.
Students will conduct research with diverse investigators at the forefront of their fields, including batteries, solar fuels, water purification, mineral sequestration, catalysis, and sustainability. University partners and experts in scientific communication, leadership, DEIR (diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect), career development training, grantsmanship, and community outreach for REU student professional development will be utilized to enrich the students.
Students will come together with a breadth of cultural diversity due to a focus on underrepresented groups in science and engineering in partnership with HBCUs and MSIs, with an initial goal of 55% women, 35% minorities, and 35% students from non-Ph.D. granting institutions.
Program Objectives
- To position future scientists to lead innovation through strong disciplinary knowledge and hands-on experience in a field relevant to energy, environment, and sustainability.
- To develop the next generation of community-minded scientists with respect for the diverse lived experiences within our society and a commitment to educational outreach to the public.
- To support participants in their chosen career path through targeted advising and continued program alumni contact.
Research Areas
- Chemistry
- Energy Chemistry
- Environmental Chemistry
- Sustainability
Fields Explored
- Batteries
- Solar fuels
- Water purification
- Mineral sequestration
- Catalysis
- Sustainability (narrower focus)
Research Environment
Virginia Tech has maintained a long-standing commitment to undergraduate research, particularly in areas of interest to the National Science Foundation. In the College of Science, 45% of all undergraduates participate in a research experience. Virginia Tech is the top-research institution for chemistry in the state of Virginia, according to the U.S. News and World Report Global Chemistry rankings. The Department is top-50 amongst all Universities in research expenditures and averages 17 publications per year per faculty (from 2016-2020), with those publications gaining over 11,000 citations.
The Department features world-class facilities, including a magnet lab with five Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometers and an electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer, and a surface analysis center with an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. In addition, we are active partners in university-level shared equipment facilities, including the Materials Characterization Laboratory (powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, small angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray fluorescence), the Nanocharacterization and Fabrication Laboratory (scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy), and the Virginia Tech Mass Spec Incubator.
The Chemistry Department has a history of excellence in undergraduate research. Each semester 40-70 undergraduate students conduct research in the Chemistry Department for academic credit or on a volunteer basis. The Department holds a research symposium at the end of each academic semester, which has featured thirty-five undergraduates on average over the last five years. Our undergraduates go on to field-leading chemistry graduate programs (e.g., Harvard University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Stanford University; University of Texas, Austin) and industries (e.g., W.R. Grace, ExxonMobil, Eastman, PPG).