Getting started in research

Getting Started

As a part of your undergraduate studies in chemistry and/or biochemistry at Monmouth College you will conduct "research," CHEM 430. Engaging in research will allow you the opportunity to apply knowledge gained through your coursework to a specific area of science that is of particular interest to you. At Monmouth, we promote "faculty-mentored research," which means that you will have a faculty advisor who will guide you in formulating your research project. Each faculty member in the chemistry department has a specific area of expertise and the first step in getting started in research is to talk to all of the chemistry faculty about their research activities and see which faculty member's research is aligned with your interests and career objectives. All chemistry faculty are open to the conversation at any time; stop by and chat.

Excerpt from American Chemical Society Guidelines 2015

Conducting undergraduate research with a faculty advisor allows the student to draw on faculty expertise and encourages a student-faculty mentor relationship. The research project should be envisioned as a component of a publication in a peer-reviewed journal. It should be well defined, stand a reasonable chance of completion in the available time, apply and develop an understanding of in-depth concepts, use a variety of instrumentation, promote awareness of advanced safety practices, and be grounded in the primary chemical literature.

Summary from above statement:

Your research project will...

1) ...be well defined,

2) ...stand a reasonable chance of completion in the available time,

3) ...apply and develop an understanding of in-depth concepts,

4) ...use a variety of instrumentation,

5) ...promote awareness of advanced safety practices, and

6) ...be grounded in the primary chemical literature.

CHEM 430

COORDINATOR/ADVISOR: One of the chemistry faculty members is assigned as the "research coordinator" and, in addition, you will have a research advisor/mentor. This means that there are 2 faculty members overseeing your research experience.

TIME EXPECTATIONS: Research students are expected to spend four hours per week in the laboratory per 0.25 credit hour of CHEM 430. The traditional enrollment is for 0.25 or 0.5 credit hours, which translates into 4 or 8 hours of lab time each week. As with any class, additional time is required outside of lab (for example, reading, writing reports, preparing for presentations, and designing experiments).

RESEARCH STUDENT INFORMATION (RSI): Each research student will complete a RSI document at the beginning of each semester to be turned into the research coordinator and your research advisor. This document will indicate when you will be conducting research and will also be used to schedule any supplemental meeting times. It is suggested that your scheduled research time overlap with times your research advisor is also available. The form is available here.

PROPOSED PROJECT DESCRIPTION (PPD): Each research student will complete a PPD document, to be turned in to both your advisor and CHEM 430 coordinator and preferably posted on this wiki (no need to provide hard copy if posted here). The document should be completed after consultation, and in conjunction with, your research advisor. The form represents an agreement between the research student and faculty advisor regarding the scope and nature of the project. The PPD document will contain the following information: student’s name, advisor/co-advisor’s name, project title, project description (small paragraph), general instrumentation needs, at least two starting references generally provided by the research advisor. See course syllabus for all details.

LAB NOTEBOOKS: Lab notebooks will be provided by the Department and will remain the possession of the Department (copies can be made). All laboratory work will be documented in these lab notebooks. If the experiment or lab activity is not documented in your lab notebook you never did the experiment. You are encouraged to print out spectra, chromatograms, or other similar electronic data in hard copy and organized in a 3-ring binder. Your research advisor may have some specific lab notebook guidelines. Student progress will be evaluated based on the contents of your lab notebook and 3-ring binder.

PRESENTATIONS: Information gather through research activities will be disseminated in 3 ways: 1) written reports (see below), 2) Science Seminar presentation(s), and 3) Science poster session. Research students are strongly encouraged to present information gathered through their research activities in Science Seminar (Chem 350). At least one Science Seminar must present original data collected during Chem 430 research. There may be other informal opportunities to present at group meetings setup by your research adviser. All research students are encouraged to present their research at the year-end science poster session; graduating students are required. All students are strongly encouraged to present at off-campus meetings (national/regional/local meetings. Funds are available for off-campus presentations.

WRITTEN REPORTS: Research students are expected to write a report and submit it to the research coordinator by the last day of regular classes. A suggested template can be found here. These reports are intended to summarize the data collected over the course of the semester. Since this research course requires you to enroll in at least two semesters of research, two reports will be generated. The first semester report should be considered a work in progress, where as the final report should be a more comprehensive summary of your research project. These reports are necessary since several researchers may work on each project. The report will be organized so that it is clear what material is new and what material is review. When available, research students will be provided with an electronic copy of the latest report on their project. The research student is expected to update and improve the introduction, background, and literature sections with each report. Results that challenge earlier conclusions will be justified in a discussion section. Reports will be submitted in both electronic and hard copy to the Faculty Research Advisor AND Research Coordinator.

LITERATURE: Research students are expected to read/organize literature relevant to their research topic. This literature should contribute to the accumulation of literature for the research group as a whole. Students unfamiliar with literature searching and full text retrieval can attend a 'library day' presentation (to be announced).

Kieft Summer Research

Coming soon...