Chemistry 491-2: Research in Chemistry
Fall, 2015
As the title suggests, this is a research course. In this course, you will have a
chance to investigate a research question that is of mutual interest. This is original research; the answer is not known beforehand. This may seem a bit frightening, but should
also be exciting. This is what science is all about: exploring the universe about you and
trying to understand it. Questions will naturally arise – if you are curious, that is – and
there is a desire to answer them. As questions are answered and our understanding is expanded, new questions arise and we embark on a new project.
My research interests are in the area of theoretical chemistry. We know that matter is built up from molecules and it stands to reason that the behavior of matter should be
tied to the behavior of those molecules. Molecular behavior, in turn, is tied to the electronic structure of those molecules and much of my research has been in this area. Electronic structure research projects tend to fall into one of several types.
One type involves performing calculations on systems of interest with the goal of
explaining or predicting some experimental observations. These calculations use programs that are already available and performing them requires learning the mechanics
associated with running those programs. There is no shortage of interesting chemical
systems and my list seems to grow each year. Another type involves applying more fundamental concepts to the electronic structure of particular systems. This requires learning
some of the formal theory and the development of a computational algorithm. Most likely, these projects would involve some computer programming skills. A third type of project involves formal theory development. There are some projects associated with improving the techniques used to determine the electronic structure of a system. Such projects would be accessible to only the most advanced students.
I have done work in other areas of theoretical chemistry and have developed several associated research projects. Particular projects are in the area of polymer statistics,
the statistics of single-molecule detection, protein structure, and quasi-atom theory. Finally, I have some ideas associated with chemical education. These are exercises or
demonstrations that would be appropriate for a physical chemistry class.
I have a lot of ideas to go around and I have written up a long list of research projects. Your first task in this course is to look this list over and see which ones spark your
interest. We can then meet to discuss those projects and choose one to tackle. You are
not limited to these projects, however. I encourage you to think of projects of your own.
They can be extensions of what I have suggested or they may be completely independent.
We can discuss these ideas and come up with something that is of mutual interest.
Scientific research is grounded on curiosity. If you are not curious about a question, you will not be motivated to answer it. So, an important ingredient in this course is
curiosity on your part. It may not be a burning issue, but there has to be some desire to
answer the question. View it as a puzzle. You are exploring a question with the tools at
your disposal, trying to accumulate clues that will help you to come up with a solution.
Again, the answer is not known beforehand so solving the puzzle requires some exploration into uncharted territory.
This course can be taken for one, two, three, or four credits. For each credit, you
are expected to commit at least three hours per week for this course. In essence, each
credit corresponds to a morning or afternoon during the week. You are certainly welcome to work more than this and, if the project is going well, you may be inclined to do
just that. You should meet with me during the first week of classes (before would be
even better) to arrange scheduled times for this. At our initial meeting, we should also
discuss research interests and identify a specific project to work on. You should have
spoken with me before the semester begins, so you will have my list of proposed research
projects already. We should agree on a project by the end of the first week.
Typically, some background material will need to be learned. I will go over some
of that in a tutorial fashion, but I will also provide you with some material to study on
your own. You are expected to learn some things yourself, but I will naturally be available for questions. I want you to take ownership of the project and a first step is to learn
some of the background of the project.
I expect you to meet with me each week (or more often) to discuss what you have
learned and what you suggest for a next step. This is an important part of research.
There will be experiments that don’t work as expected (as well as those that do). It is
important to understand why they don’t work so we can design further experiments that
will be more productive.
I expect you to write up material on the research project at several stages. First, I
want you to write up a description of the research question and a proposed method for
answering it. This should be prepared after our first meeting (when we’ve agreed on a
project) and turned in during the second week. This could be a template for an Introduction to the final report. It is important for you to understand the theory and much of your
time the first week will involve studying, learning, and writing it up. It is important to
deal with this early on so that the bulk of the semester can be devoted to actual research.
I expect a final report at the end of the semester. This will be a complete report,
with an Introduction, Methods, Data, and Discussion sections. This will organize all that
you’ve done during the semester. You should make clear what questions were answered
and make suggestions for further work.
In addition, I will ask for progress reports. This will occur at several points during the semester. This will be for your benefit as well as mine. It helps to think about
what you have done so far and where you want to go. Stopping to write a progress report
helps you to do that.
Specific goals in this course are for you to be able to:

Explain fundamental chemistry concepts.

Communicate chemical knowledge.

Research a chemical problem or concept.

Design, execute, and interpret experiments to solve chemical problems.
I expect you to be familiar with the College’s and Department’s policy on academic integrity and to agree “to be honest and to uphold integrity” with respect to all
work in this course. Your research should be your own and any material that is not
should be duly acknowledged.
COURSE SYLLABUS STATEMENT ON DISABILITY
Elizabethtown College welcomes otherwise qualified students with disabilities to
participate in all of its courses, programs, services, and activities. If you have a documented disability and would like to request accommodations in order to access course
material, activities, or requirements, please contact the Director of Disability Services,
Lynne Davies, by phone (361-1227) or e-mail daviesl@etown.edu. If your documentation meets the college’s documentation guidelines, you will be given a letter from Disability Services for each of your professors. Students experiencing certain documented
temporary conditions, such as post-concussive symptoms, may also qualify for temporary
academic accommodations and adjustments. As early as possible in the semester, set up
an appointment to meet with me, the instructor, to discuss the academic adjustments
specified in your accommodations letter as they pertain to my class.