The Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology is pleased to invite you to attend the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, Jean Wilson Day Lecture, and Celebration of Undergraduate Achievement which will be held in person on Friday, April 28, 2023, from 9:30 am – 1:00 pm in the New Chemistry Building on Busch Campus.
Please join us and share this invitation with others who might be interested!
The Undergraduate Research Symposium:
The Undergraduate Research Symposium is meant to emphasize and encourage significant research in chemistry by undergraduates at Rutgers University. The Poster Session at the symposium will provide a venue for our undergraduate researchers to showcase their work and present their insightful research to faculty and peers. The Poster Session also provides a forum for interdisciplinary exchange among students, faculty, and the community.
The Poster Session will be held from 9:30 am until 11:00 am on April 28 in the Atrium of the New Chemistry Building on Busch Campus.
Please mark your calendar and plan to attend the Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 28th, 2023.
Jean Wilson Day:
“This event is in loving memory of Jean Wilson, who received her Ph.D. from Rutgers in 1965, having done research on polyphosphates under the supervision of Professor Ulrich Strauss. That same year, she joined the staff of the School of Chemistry as instructor of general chemistry and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1968. She was an extremely enthusiastic teacher and cared deeply about her students; she taught with great enthusiasm and organized special classes for the slow learners. Jean was also profoundly concerned about environmental pollution and sparked an interest among her colleagues and students in seeking remedies. After her untimely death in 1971, the Department chose to honor Jean’s memory by establishing a lectureship designed to attract undergraduates. As an enduring tribute to her generous spirit, Dr. Jim Savage, along with fellow classmates from the Rutgers Class of 1971, formally announced the establishment of the Dr. Jean Wilson Day Memorial Scholarship on May 14, 2011.”
The annual Jean Day Lecture will start at 11:00 am and will feature a speaker and a topic aimed specifically at an undergraduate audience. The event will take place in CCB’s Auditorium (CCB 1303).
Jean Wilson Day Speaker - 2023:
Gordana Dukovic is a professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering and a fellow and associate director of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on structure, excited state properties, and light-driven chemistry of nanoscale materials. She is a graduate of Douglass College at Rutgers University. She received a PhD in chemistry from Columbia University and carried out postdoctoral research at the University of California Berkeley. She has received the NSF CAREER Award, and was named a Sloan Research Fellow, a Cottrell Scholar, a Beckman Young Investigator, and a Finalist for the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists.
Title: "Excited state properties and light-driven chemistry of semiconductor nanocrystals"
Abstract: Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals are remarkably versatile materials with highly tunable electronic structure, optical spectra, and surface properties. My research group works on the photophysics and photochemistry of nanoscale semiconductors with an emphasis on light-driven processes involved in multi-electron redox reactions relevant for renewable and sustainable chemical transformations. In this talk, I will focus on using nanocrystals to convert the energy of solar photons into new chemical bonds to create products such as solar fuels and organic compounds. The talk will combine multiple areas of chemistry including inorganic synthesis, time-resolved spectroscopy, kinetics, and enzyme catalysis.
Celebration of Undergraduate Achievement:
The Undergraduate Awards Ceremony and Senior Recognition which will be held from 12:20 – 1:00 pm provides the opportunity to recognize and applaud the outstanding academic achievements of our chemistry majors, as well as their dedicated service to both the department and the university.
This event will be held in CCB’s Auditorium (1303) and will be immediately followed by a lunch for all participants in the day’s events.
We look forward to seeing you there!
