The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has developed a new program to assist incoming freshman chemistry/biochemistry majors succeed at OU. It is designed to assist the student who wishes to seek a degree in one of our majors but may need a little additional assistance to reach their true potential.

Approximately 19-20 students will be invited to join the Chemistry Learning Community. These students will be selected through an application process. The selected consort will take a course each semester taught by faculty from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. This course will be a one- or two-credit hour class and will augment the first- and second-year chemistry curriculum.

Faculty teaching the additional courses will also serve in a mentoring role. This mentor is not intended to replace the formal advising by professional advisors in University College, rather offer more detailed information on courses, careers, and pitfalls the student might encounter.

The department will interface with various student service and support systems already in place on campus, including advising, career services, and financial aid in order to offer consistent information to the student regarding these services so important to a students success.

We know from our own personal experiences and from observing graduating class after class of undergraduates that students who participate in faculty-mentored undergraduate research are much more likely to have successful careers in a STEM field or in professional health related areas. Thus, we are committed to providing our students with these opportunities.

We have partnered with the Honors College to offer a Four Year Research Experience (FYRE). In Spring 2015 we had about 70 participants in this program with about half doing 10-12 hours per week of research in chemistry/biochemistry faculty labs. Many of these students continue with research in the following years. Participation in FYRE is not required to join a research team. Many students join a research lab during their sophomore or junior years and complete a senior thesis. Many of our undergraduate researchers receive undergraduate Research funding awards, present posters at the campus-wide Undergraduate Research Day each spring, travel to scientific conferences, and see their research work published.

Other organizations and programs chemistry majors may want to be a part of:

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Chemistry - University of Oklahoma