Scholarships & Awards
Visit the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Programs, 216 Archbold North, or go to their web site, financialaid.syr.edu/scholarships.htm, for more information about these and other opportunities.

The ACS Women Chemists Committee Travel Award, sponsored by Eli Lilly & Company, provides funding for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral women chemists to travel to scientific meetings to present the results of their research. Awards will be given with preference to the following order: (1) any applicant who will be making her first presentation (regardless of format) at a national or major meeting, and (2) graduate or postdoctoral applicants who have not presented at a national or major meeting since leaving undergraduate school. The deadline for meetings between July 1 and December 31, 2008 is February 15, 2008. For further information, as well as application materials, visit membership.acs.org/W/WCC.

The Dooley Ornstein Reisman, Robert Charles Ornstein, and Lt. Adolph Ornstein Scholarship annually recognizes outstanding students planning to pursue a career in medicine and research. Current sophomores and juniors enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences with a major of Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Biophysical Science or who are designated Pre-Med are eligible for this award. Students meeting the criteria may be invited to submit an essay if they are selected by their departmental representative. The application deadline is February 2008. To receive more information, contact Judy A. Bragg , Senior Administrator, College of Arts & Sciences, 329 Hall of Languages, 443-9396.

The Remembrance Scholarship, one of the highest awards a Syracuse University student can receive, is given to 35 seniors chosen for distinguished scholarship, citizenship, and service to the community. The scholarship was established by the University to honor and remember the 35 students tragically lost through an act of terrorism which resulted in the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. An application packet can be found at remembrance.syr.edu. The deadline for the receipt of applications is January 15, 2008.

A group of eight to twelve academically outstanding graduating seniors are designated each year as Syracuse University Scholars. Outstanding Arts & Sciences seniors (minimum 3.6 GPA) must be nominated to the Colleges selection committee by department chairpersons or program directors, or individuals designated by them. Individual students may ask their chairpersons to consider them for nomination. Application deadline is November 2007.

Syracuse University students interested in careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering are invited to apply for the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program. In order to be considered for an award, students must be nominated by Syracuse University. Potential candidates must submit a preliminary Goldwater Scholarship application and essay, along with a letter of recommendation from their research advisor. The scholarship award covers eligible expenses up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. Interested sophomores and juniors should contact: Prof. James T. Spencer, Director, Syracuse University Soling Program, 301 Tolley. Visit www.act.org/goldwater for more info. Application materials are due November 2, 2007.

In memory of the late Norma Slepecky, the Norma Slepecky Prize for Female Undergraduate Research, a $750 prize, will be awarded in the spring semester of each academic year to a female SU undergraduate student who is excited about her research and has mentors who advocate and supervise undergraduate research experiences. For more information, visit http://www.ecs.syr.edu/organizations/wise/wise.html (Women in Science and Engineering).

Headed for Graduate School
Are you wondering whether a graduate education is for you? If so, searching for a graduate school that is a perfect fit can be a daunting task, but there are several tools available to help you find the school that best fits your needs.

You can start by reading "Planning for Graduate Work in Chemistry: A Resource for Students Considering Advanced Study," a guide created by the American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training. It provides guidelines on how to select and apply to graduate schools, what to expect after being accepted, how to choose a research mentor, and information on financial support. You can view the guide online at www.chemistry.org.

Other Resources:

• US NEWS and World Report's "Best Graduate Schools"
• Attend the seminars offered through the Department of Chemistry to hear faculty from other schools speak.
• Talk to your professors and faculty who are doing research in the area(s) of study in which you are interested. Visit the department web site for a list of chemistry faculty and their research interests.
• Read about graduate research being done at other schools in the Directory of Graduate Research (DGR, the most comprehensive source of information on chemical research and researchers at universities in the U.S. and Canada). You can find a copy in the main office (1-014 CST), or visit dgr.rints.com for the most recent online edition.

Spring - Junior year: Talk with an advisor or current graduate students about graduate school opportunities and make a personal assessment about whether it's the right path for you. Also, take the GRE.

Fall - Senior year: Use online resources, e-mail, and advisors to find and apply the "rule of 3" to several program choices - that is find schools of interest with at least three professors each with whom you’d like to work. Make visits to schools, and start applying, making sure to follow guidelines so that your applications are complete. Take the GRE again if necessary.

Early Spring - Senior year: Follow up with schools you have applied to and make sure your applications are complete. Continue to visit schools if necessary. Start investigating financial support and choose a program in a timely manner.

Merck established The Merck Index Women in Chemistry Scholarships in 2007 to encourage women to pursue advanced degrees in synthetic organic or medicinal chemistry. Merck will present up to five annual scholarships of $5,000 each to outstanding women chemists who are beginning their first year of study in a chemistry Ph.D. program. See www.merckbooks.com/mindex or e-mail merck_index@merck.com for more information.

GEM is a program of the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. Through GEM, African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans compete for portable fellowships to be used for graduate study in an engineering or science discipline at a GEM member institution to which the fellow has been admitted. These fellowships provide a stipend of $10,000 a year to master’s students and $14,000 a year to doctoral students. For more information about the program and how to apply, visit www.gemfellowship.org.

Department of Chemistry Seminars
Did you know that every Tuesday of the semester there is a seminar or lecture by chemistry faculty visiting from other Universities or who work in industry? Students who are interested in going to graduate school would benefit from attending these seminars to meet faculty from other institutions (networking!) and to hear about current research. To find the seminar schedule, visit the department web site, chemistry.syr.edu.

Undergraduate Advising
Spring registration is from Wednesday, November 7 to Friday, December 14. It is essential that students make an appointment with their advisors before registration begins. Registration cannot occur until the hold is lifted.

Advisors
Chemistry:
Prof. Hudson - Rm. 3-014A, x5805, bshudson@syr.edu
Prof. Sponsler - Rm. 4-012, x4880, sponsler@syr.edu

Biochemistry:
Prof. Dabrowiak - Rm. 2-016D, x4601, jcdabrow@syr.edu

Schedule Adjustments
Fall 07:
Drop Procedure: Complete the Add/Drop form and obtain signatures from your instructor and department chairperson. If your home college is Arts & Sciences, bring the form to the Recorder's office (329 HL), then submit to the Registrar’s office (106 Steele Hall) by Tuesday, October 23.

Withdrawal Procedure:
After the academic drop deadline, students may withdraw from classes by filing a petition to withdraw. Classes from which students withdraw remain on the transcript record with the grading symbol WD. The WD does not calculate toward the grade point average.
1) Obtain a petition form from the home college dean's office. Complete the petition, indicating all relevant course information: course prefix, number, section, and title.
2) Obtain the required signatures (professor, chairperson, and home college dean).
3) Submit the form to the Registrar’s Office, 106 Steele Hall, by the withdrawal deadline, Friday, November 16.

Spring 08:
After the Add Deadline, Tuesday, January 22, adjustments may no longer be made through MySlice. The Add/Drop form is used to adjust course registration during this time. If you need to add a class after the Add Deadline, please contact the dean's office of your home school/college. Students may continue to drop regular semester courses through the academic drop deadline, Tuesday, March 18. Full tuition will be charged for courses, except for SUIP internships, dropped after Monday, February 4, the financial drop deadline.

Getting Involved with Research
The Chemistry Department offers many opportunities for undergraduates to get involved in research, be it through informal arrangement, for credit, or as part of one of our summer undergraduate research programs. Students at all levels of study are strongly encouraged to get involved, whether they are planning on a career in the sciences or just want to see what research is all about. Regardless of their ultimate career goal, this experience gives students the chance to explore their talents and inclinations for scientific inquiry as well as to get more in-depth exposure to the frontiers of chemistry, and to the culture of scientific research. Doing research can also help students gain admission to graduate or professional school and to compete favorably in the job market.

To find a research advisor, first look at the faculty pages on the departmental web site. Read the research descriptions, then contact those professors whose work you find interesting in order to explore the possibility of doing research in their group and to ask for more information on available research projects. Students can earn course credit for research during the academic year or summer by registering for CHE 450 (Research in Chemistry) or BCM 460 (Research in Biochemistry).

The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds a large number of research opportunities through its REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Sites program. Each student is associated with a specific research project, where he/she works closely with faculty and other researchers. An REU site may be at either a US or foreign location. Students must contact the individual sites for information and application materials. NSF does not have application materials and does not select student participants.

Additional research opportunities are available in the summer through the REU program here on campus, as well as through the iRES program where students do research abroad in Graz, Austria. These programs each run for 10-weeks, and student participants receive a stipend, rather than getting research credit. While most participants in these programs will come from other universities, Syracuse students are also encouraged to apply.

Links of Interest
• NSF-REU, Syracuse University
• NSF-iRES, University of Technology - Graz, Austria
• Directory of Active REU Sites

Research Spotlight
Earl "Fast Eddie" Goodwin is a junior dual chemistry and physics major working in Professor Chaiken's lab. His research initially involved using the chemometric technique partial least squares/principal component analysis (PLS/PCA) to analyze mixtures of metal ions using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy. He then went on to use PLS/PCA to study near infrared Raman/fluorescence spectra of human fingertip capillary beds with respect to unraveling the effect of microcirculation anomalies such as plasma skimming and the Faräeus and Faräeus-Linqvuist effects. Some of this work was published last year after being presented by Professor Chaiken at the Photonics West conference. This work continues as does more recent Raman studies of blood plasma in vitro using stable isotopes in collaboration with summer REU students Chris Arntsen (UCONN) and Kevin Craigo (U Northern Ohio) and our own Meghan Savino (SU BS '08). When not in the lab, Fast Eddie is a starting member of the Hammerheads, SU's rugby club, and also spends time pounding on his electric guitar.

Alpha Chi Sigma
Interested in science? Chemistry? Consider pledging Alpha Chi Sigma, the only Professional Chemistry Fraternity. The Pi Chapter at Syracuse University holds rush each Fall and Spring semester. Rushing is a great opportunity to meet plenty of new people that you may have a lot in common with. The chapter meets regularly to have dinner, game nights, and plenty of other fun activities. Alpha Chi Sigma is extremely diverse in terms of academic interests and hobbies. Although they are a Chemistry Fraternity, a lot of the members aren’t science majors. Whether you have a keen or general interest in chemistry, they invite you to join. For additional info, Spring Rush Dates, and to learn more, visit their web site: students.syr.edu/alphachisigma.

Looking for a chemistry tutor? E-mail sgkesar@syr.edu

Fall 07 - Important Dates & Deadlines
10/23: Academic Drop Deadline
11/07 - 12/14: Registration for Spring 08
11/16: Withdrawal deadline
11/21 - 11/25: Thanksgiving Break, no classes
12/07: Last Day of Classes
12/08, 12/09, 12/11, 12/13: Reading Days
12/10 - 12/14: Final Exams

Award Winners
Congratulations to the following undergraduate students who have been honored with department, university, and national awards.

David W. Taylor, Jr. has been awarded the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for 2007. David is a biochemistry major who does research with Prof. Bruce Hudson. Established to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering, the Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

Meredith Bowen, a dual chemistry and magazine journalism major, and Ariba Chowdhury, a dual biochemistry and bioengineering major, are among the 35 undergraduate students named 2007-08 Remembrance Scholars.

Suzanne Vroman, a sophomore majoring in biochemistry, had the privilege of working with Prof. Michael Katze at the University of Washington Dept. of Microbiology this past summer studying engineered forms of the influenza virus that contain one or more genes from the 1918 pandemic strain. The Katze group works with the Centers for Disease Control, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The collaborators are researching what caused the 1918 strain to be so deadly and how to deal with potential future outbreaks. Suzanne has been working on Streptomyces metallo-proteins in the Doyle group since September 2006.

Exceptional Performance in Honors Chemistry: Kin Yang and Stephanie Teale

Exceptional Performance in Analytical Chemistry: Rebecca Coutant

Exceptional Performance in Organic Chemistry - George Wiley Award: George Ling and Sean Sweeney

Exceptional Performance in Inorganic Chemistry: Chris Tarolli

Exceptional Performance in Physical Chemistry - Willem Prins Award: Sarina Clancy

Exceptional Performance in Biochemistry: Matthew Morrow

Exceptional Performance in Biochemistry Research - Birge Award: Elizabeth Blair

Overall Excellence in Chemistry: Chris Tarolli and Rebecca Coutant

Exceptional Performance in Undergraduate Research (Sponsored by Alpha Chi Sigma): Laura Furst and Mimi Mak

Outstanding Senior Chemistry Major: Eli Mekhlin