Undergraduate Research
Take your learning beyond the books and gain invaluable hands-on education through service-learning courses.
Chemistry students are encouraged to explore faculty-mentored research, develop independent projects, and transform theory into discovery through immersive learning.
There are three ways to participate in research: Directed study (CHEM 392), undergraduate research (CHEM 492), or as a volunteer! You can find out more about each of the options and how to find opportunities below.
How to Find Opportunities
Connect with Faculty
First, you’ll need to think about the topics in chemistry that excite you the most and find a faculty member that might align with your interests. We have more than 15 research-active faculty here in the Department of Chemistry, and you can find more about who’s doing what research on our Faculty Labs page! If you’re unsure how to start the process, we recommend the following:
- Search for 2-3 VCU researchers whose research interests you.
- Familiarize yourself with their research.
- Contact them and request to meet to discuss doing research with them for credit (or volunteer). Make sure you provide several days and times in the next week or two that would work. Be sure to mention your interest and the strengths you could bring to the lab.
- Meet with the prospective faculty. Make sure you come prepared with some questions about their research.
Students may choose to step outside the Department of Chemistry and reach out to other departments doing valuable chemistry research here on the Monroe Park campus or the MCV campus. In the past, some of our students have done research with Chemical and Life Science Engineering, the School of Medicine, the VCU Center for Drug Discovery, and many more! You can also check out the UG Research Office at VCU and see what opportunities you might find there.
Chemistry also hosts weekly research events during the fall and spring semesters where different faculty, both from inside the department and from the MCV campus, present research to students interested in undergraduate research.
Register for Credit
Once you and the faculty you’ve chosen (research advisor) have sat down and agreed to have you be a part of their lab, you’ll need to establish how many credits you’d like to take, and submit paperwork to register for the course. You can take up to 4 credits of research per semester and have up to 8 credits of research count towards your chemistry degree. Research can also be used to fulfill your senior capstone lab requirement (for a minimum of two credits). For each credit of CHEM 392/492 that you take, you will be expected to spend three to five hours per week in the lab.
Consider the following course options:
- CHEM 392 - Directed Study is what students typically enroll in the first time they are conducting research in a lab. The course can be taken for 1-4 credits.
- CHEM 492 - Undergraduate Research is typically what students enroll in if they already have experience with that particular research lab. The course can be taken for 1-4 credits.
- Honors CHEM 492 - Undergraduate Research is exclusively offered to students in VCU’s Honors College. The course can be taken for 2-4 credits, and can be counted towards honors requirements.
The basic assessments are the same for all classes, however students enrolled in CHEM 492 are required to present a poster at the end of the semester at the Chemistry Undergraduate Research Symposium. Furthermore, students enrolled in the honors section of CHEM 492 are required to complete an expanded curriculum with an elevated scope of work.
Students need to complete two forms to register for the course they’re interested in.
- Student Project Proposal Form - to be filled out by the student
- Research Advisor Approval Form - to be filled out by the faculty (research advisor)
Once both forms have been received, the instructor of record for CHEM 392/492 will review and approve your research project, or let you know what you need to change to get approved. When you have been approved, you will receive an email from the Department of Chemistry letting you know that you have been provided an override, allowing you to enroll in CHEM 392/492. You must enroll in CHEM 392/492 by the last day of add/drop for the semester.
Volunteering in a Lab
Once your research advisor has agreed to have you be part of their lab, you may decide to volunteer in the lab instead of registering for credit. This is a great starting point if you’ve not been in a lab before or if you are unfamiliar with the faculty member’s research. This can also be used as a trial period before a faculty member brings you on board in their lab.
There are two forms volunteers must submit:
- VCU Volunteer Data Form - to be filled out by the student
- Workers Right to Know Statement - to be filled out by the student with the faculty member
Both of these forms can be found in the Department of Chemistry's main office at Oliver Hall Physical Science Wing, Room 3041. Once these forms have been submitted back to the department’s main office, they will be reviewed by administration. If you were not approved, the administration will reach out to you and your sponsoring faculty member.
More information can be found in the chemistry office.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can do research with anyone conducting research at VCU, as long as the research involves chemistry in some way.
Students enrolled are expected to do their own independent experiments in the laboratory and complete annotated bibliography, reflections, and a final written report on their research. Students are also required to attend a certain amount of advanced research seminars. All assignments are turned in via Canvas.
Yes, students must have credit in CHEM 102 and CHEZ 101 & 102. Additionally, students must be engaged in a real research project oriented towards discovering new knowledge. It is anticipated that you will spend some time preparing for or cleaning up after your research activities, but you shouldn’t exclusively be doing non-research related lab activities.
If you don't hear back within a week, resend your original email and say something like, "I imagine that you're very busy this time of year, so I'm resending my original email in case it escaped your notice." You get the idea, be polite but persistent. If they still never get back to you, reach out to your advisor, but you may need to consider a different research-active faculty member to do research with.