Gustavus Adolphus College recently received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will help enrich the curriculum in the College’s Chemistry Department, specifically for first and second year students. Chemistry professors Scott Bur and Brandy Russell were the faculty representatives who applied for the grant.
“As part of our strategic planning, we want to shift the curriculum in our department in the first two years such that it enables students to gain hands-on experience with a variety of research-grade tools,” Bur said. “Through this award, students will begin to learn what particular research instruments do, what their limitations are, and what kinds of research questions they can help answer.”
Central to the award is the acquisition of a new 400 megahertz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer that first-year students will find easy to use. The award will also allow for the development of tools to assess when students are ready for a successful independent research experience.
“This award will help establish the Gustavus chemistry program as a uniquely instrument-rich program that will prepare students for careers as chemists and health professionals and to be scientifically literate citizens,” Bur said.
This grant from the NSF is the latest in a long line of instrumentation grants that the College has received in the past five years to help bolster programs at the College in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines. You can read about previous instrumentation grants here, here, here, and here.
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