Department of Chemistry
http://www.utdallas.edu/dept/chemistry/
Robert A. Welch Chair in
Chemistry; Professor of Chemistry: Ray H. Baughman
Robert
A. Welch Chair in Chemistry; Professor of Chemistry: Dennis W. Smith
Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Chair
in Systems Biology; Professor of Chemistry: A. Dean Sherry
Professors: Kenneth J. Balkus, Jr.,
Rockford K. Draper (Biology), John P. Ferraris, Bruce E. Gnade (Electrical Engineering), Inga H.
Musselman
Associate Professors: Michael C. Biewer, Gregg R. Dieckmann, Jinming Gao (UT Southwestern), Warren J. Goux, Paul Pantano, John W. Sibert
Assistant Professors: Jung-Mo Ahn, Mihaela C. Stefan, Steven O. Nielsen, Jie Zheng
Affiliated Professors: Lee A. Bulla
(Biology), Anvar A. Zakhidov (Physics)
Research Professors: Garry E.
Kiefer, Duck Joo
Yang
Emeritus Professors: Richard A.
Caldwell
Senior Lecturers: Sergio Cortes, Sandhya R. Gavva, Claudia Taenzler
The
Ph.D. program is designed to produce graduates with a focus on innovation and
problem solving in interdisciplinary cutting edge research
areas such as current materials, nanotechnology, biotechnology and polymer chemistry. These graduates, with
their broad course background, research skills, and practical attitudes should
find ready employment in industry or academic positions. A spectrum of courses
provides the student with a broad knowledge of chemistry.
The
Master of Science program offers students the opportunity to prepare for
positions in industry, for further training in related scientific fields, or
for further training in chemistry.
The
department has the equipment and facilities necessary for routine use by its
faculty and students in teaching and research. Larger items include: 270 MHz
(2), 400 MHz, and 500 MHz multi-nuclear FT-NMR spectrometers; a powder x-ray diffractometer;
assorted spectrophotometers utilizing fluorescence, phosphorescence and
absorption; three peptide synthesizers; gel
permeation chromatographs; workstations with molecular modeling software; and
scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopes. Chemistry also participates in
the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech
Institute, which houses
instrumentation for modern materials science research. Facilities external to
chemistry, but readily available to its use, include a library, the computer
center, the cleanroom, and
well-equipped machine and electronics shops.
Admission
Requirements
The University’s general admission
requirements are discussed here.
Undergraduate
preparation equivalent to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemistry is
required. The Chemistry program has no other requirements above the general
admission requirements beginning on page 24. However, admission is competitive
and is decided case by case on the basis of the quality of previous relevant
academic work, GRE scores, letters of reference, the student's statement of
academic interests and, for foreign students, evidence of fluency in English.
Foreign students with TOEFL scores less than 600 (paper test), 250 (computer
test), or 100 (internet test) are admitted only in special circumstances.
The University´s general degree requirements
are discussed here.
Graduate
students in chemistry are expected to demonstrate fundamental knowledge of
lecture and laboratory skills by completing the following courses with a grade
of B or better.
CHEM 5314 Advanced Physical Chemistry
CHEM 5331 Advanced Organic Chemistry I
CHEM 5341 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry I
CHEM 5355 Analytical Techniques I
A minimum of 30 total graduate semester hours
is required.
The M.S. degree can be pursued on a full- or part-time basis.
The
remaining requirements beyond the 12-hour core listed above may be satisfied in
one of the two ways listed below.
1.
Presentation and defense of a written master's thesis. The student must
complete, as a minimum, 15 credit hours of research or other graduate electives
plus CHEM 8398. A Supervising Committee will be appointed to guide the
student's thesis work and to assess the completed thesis.
2.
Completion of an approved internship in an industrial or governmental
laboratory. The student must complete, as a minimum, 18 credit hours of
research, chemistry internship or other graduate electives.
Three
of the graduate semester hours beyond the core may be fulfilled by taking an
approved graduate elective course.
A
Supervising Committee must approve an internship in advance. The final written
report must be defended before this committee and filed in the Chemistry
department office.
Normally pursued by
full-time students enrolled in a minimum of 9 credit hours of approved graduate
level courses per semester.
In
addition to the 12-semester hour core course requirements listed above,
students seeking the Ph.D. degree must take two upper level elective courses
that are approved by the student's faculty research advisor and the Chemistry Graduate
Advisor. Ph.D. students are expected to complete these six required courses
within the first two years of their enrollment. CHEM 8399 is also required as
part of the preparation of the dissertation. Additional courses may be required
by the student's Supervisory Committee.
Well-prepared
students may request substitution of portions of the course requirements from
the Committee on Graduate Studies in Chemistry. At least three organized
courses must be taken at the University of Texas at Dallas. The opportunity
exists to take elective courses during their second and subsequent years.
Qualifying Examination: Original Research Proposal
All Ph.D. students must
take the qualifying examination. In the second year, students seeking the Ph.D.
degree are required to write, present, and defend an original research
proposal. In addition to providing valuable experience to the student, this
exam is used to assess the student's originality and skills in organizing an
effective approach to solving a novel problem. The results of this examination
will be one criterion upon which admission to doctoral candidacy will be judged.
Students
have the option of completing a thesis Master's degree as part of their
doctoral candidacy preparation, unless this requirement has been satisfied at
the time of admission. The doctoral research project may be conducted in the
same laboratory as the Master's degree research or, in order to gain a broader
research experience, in another laboratory. A manuscript embodying a substantial
portion of the Ph.D. dissertation research accomplished by the student must be
submitted to a suitable professional refereed journal prior to the public
seminar and dissertation defense. A public seminar, successful defense of the
dissertation, and its acceptance by the Supervising Committee and the Graduate
Dean conclude the requirements for the Ph.D.
Representative Research Areas
Within
the Chemistry program, opportunities exist for course work and/or research in
nanotechnology, biochemistry/biotechnology, organic, inorganic, materials,
analytical, and physical chemistry. The opportunity to take course work in
several of the other university programs allows the student to prepare for
interdisciplinary work. Specific topics within these broad research areas
include nanoscience
(carbon nanotubes, sensors,
actuators, nanoscale devices,
synthesis of nanoporous
materials); organic solid-state and polymer chemistry (energy storage, electrochromism,
light-emitting polymers, solar cells, membrane separations); inorganic
solid-state (zeolites, membranes,
laser ablation, sensors, fuel cells, electrospinning);
biological NMR (structural biology, using NMR active tracers to follow
metabolism in cells, isolated tissues and in vivo); supramolecular chemistry (design of
novel host-guest systems; biologically responsive MRI agents, design, synthesis
and study of macrocyclic
receptors with applications in catalysis, materials science, and medicine);
scanning probe microscopy (instrument development, image contrast, application
to polymer microstructure); bioanalytical
and bionano chemistry,
synthetic chemistry (macrocycles,
metalloprotein
function); biochemistry/enzymology (study of
oxidative stress; oxidative metabolism of signaling molecules; molecular
modeling; and catalysis).
Last Updated: September
15, 2011
