Are you turned on by the notion of working side by side with professors on research in zeolites, helicenes, or Raman spectroscopy? If so, you might wish to read this article. The aforementioned are just a few of the "hot" areas of research being focused on in science departments at Columbia right now. Bright and ambitious undergraduates with particular interests in science have the opportunity to participate in such research during the summer through Columbia's NSF-REU program. Working side by side with eminent professors, post-doctorates, and graduate students, such undergraduates are sometimes able to take part in pioneering research in fields that interest them.
The NSF-REU program is one federally funded program designed to encourage undergraduate research in chemistry. Professor Leonard Fine, AKA head of the Columbia's undergraduate Chemistry Department, is the overseer of this particular program. Interested students from both Columbia and other colleges are eligible apply to the program and, if accepted, are individually paired with professors in the Chemistry department. For ten weeks during the summer, the student participates in research in the area that his or her professor is currently active in. For example, this past summer, Dan Lin and Louis Castellano (are they CC97 or what?) helped Professor Katz with research in organic chemistry in the area of helicenes.
What does chemistry research mean? At Columbia, chemistry research can be simplified into three areas: physical, inorganic, and organic. The organic and inorganic chemistry research teams are generally on quests to find ways of synthesizing useful compounds and maximizing their yields. In other words, they get to engage in play with shelves and shelves of weird chemicals. Physical chemists, on the other hand, focus on the measurement aspect of chemical reactions. Thus, in order to get data that is as accurate and insightful as possible, physical chemists are careful to employ highly sensitive instruments; often, the machines that are used cost more than the average science student will ever make in his or her life.
Opportunities such as the one offered by NSF-REU are often the first place where a student interested in science can meet people intimately involved with such research at its frontier. Anybody who might be interested in such research should not pass up the point of opportunity to further his or her knowledge of the subject. The typical student will never again be at such a close proximity to genuinely inceptive scientific research and dedicated researchers. The greatest incentive to doing science research is probably the exciting prospect of somehow being involved in a significant scientific discovery. However, even if the student doesn't find a cure for cancer, he or she is sure to gain a depth of knowledge, while actively applying science learned from the classroom; the learning experience is what makes science research such a rewarding experience.
Besides, can anyone think of a better way to pass a summer than in a lab running experiments? Many of Columbia's programs provide students with free on-campus housing, as well as a stipend. Students even get a couple of free lunches with the deal. The culmination of the package is a day-trip to an industrial laboratory, where students learn about and experience a professional researcher's environment firsthand. You also get to have your picture taken, learn to use a fire hose and stuff like that.