The University of Wisconsin–Madison Departments of Chemistry and Chemical and Biological Engineering, through support from the National Science Foundation, host an annual Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program focused on the Chemistry of Materials for Renewable Energy. Selected participants spend 10 weeks conducting virtual research on a renewable energy project in chemistry, chemical engineering, or biological engineering.
Summer 2021 Program Details
Dates: June 1 to August 7
Stipend: $2,000 plus housing and travel to
and from Madison
Apply online by Feb. 15
Eligibility
Eligible students are undergraduates who have
a strong desire to complete a Ph.D. and meet the
following criteria:
- Have completed their sophomore or junior
years of college. - Have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0
scale. - Is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
enrolled in an accredited college or university.
REU Program Highlights
- Weekly 12-hour commitment
- Group research project with other REU students.
- Multiple, faculty-led seminars each week on various Materials topics
- Professional Development program
- An end-of-summer virtual REU poster session in which students present their research results and conclusions
- Virtual social activities with students from other REU programs
- Students receive a stipend of $2,000
2021 Virtual Summer Research Program
Students will work collaboratively on a group research project. Projects will be available in each of the program topics. Current available group research projects include:
- Data and Machine Learning in Chemistry and Materials
- Energy Systems Modeling
- Molecular Simulation of Synthetic and Biological Soft Materials
- Catalysis for Plastic Recycling
Additional virtual group research projects will be added as identified. Admitted students will have the opportunity to rank available projects prior to the start of the summer program.
Research projects in the Department of Chemistry include:
- Molecular interfaces to nanoscale materials
- Charge-multiplying nanostructured interfaces
- Electrocatalytic interfaces to nanostructured materials
- Unconventional and abundant semiconductor nanomaterials for solar energy conversion
- Nanomaterials of semiconducting silicides for thermoelectric energy conversion
- Nanostructured Proton Conducting Membranes from Block Copolymers
- Theoretical modeling of new fuel cell membranes
- Metal-metal multiply bonded compounds in solar energy utilization
- Modeling the Interaction of Water with Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks
- Chemical Synthesis with Sunlight
- Surface-Tethered Metal Complexes for Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation
- New catalysts for energy research – Hydroformylation
Research projects in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering include:
- Pathways towards nanostructured materials for energy applications
- Templated Assembly of Anisometric Nanorods for Solar Energy Collection
- Heterogeneous catalysts for flow reactor processing of biodiesel
- Rheological properties of cellulosic biomass during processing
- Computational design of bacteria for biofuel production
- Metabolic Engineering for Biofuel Production
Program Contact:
Dr. Andrew Greenberg
Director REU in the Chemistry of Materials for Renewable Energy
1415 Engineering Drive
3035 Engineering Hall
Madison, WI 53706
aegreenb@engr.wisc.edu
(608) 890-1534
