DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
Undergraduate Research at Roosevelt University
The NSF-STEP funded Summer Undergraduate Research Experience provides
‘hands on’ research experience for students in the STEM disciplines from Roosevelt
University in areas of biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and mathematics. The
projects vary based on participating faculty interests.
Eligibility criteria, the student must be:
• US citizen or national permanent resident
• Current Roosevelt University undergraduate student
 Able to demonstrate academic potential at the time of application by having a
minimum 2.5 GPA (preference will be given to students with GPA above 3.0)
• Committed to participate in summer research activities as outlined by
individual research faculty
Amount to be awarded:
$10/hr for up to 17hrs/wk for 10-12 weeks in the
summer (up to 180 hrs total)
For questions regarding the program, please email
Dr. Susan Weiner at sweiner02@roosevelt.edu
Please submit completed applications by email, or return printed
applications to Dr. Susan Weiner’s mailbox in WB 816C
Deadline: April 13, 2015
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
STEP Undergraduate Summer Research Application
Name:
Date:
Student ID#:
Email address:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Home Phone:
Gender:
Cell Phone:
Male
Female
Disability Status:
Hearing
Citizenship:
Ethnicity:
Visual
Mobility/Orthopedic
Learning Disability
Other
None
US Citizen
Permanent Resident: #A‐
Preferred location of research:
Chicago Campus
Schaumburg Campus
Off Campus
Are you available to do research during normal business hours [9am‐5pm]?
Yes
No
If no, what time are you available to complete research?
**Note that actual work hours will be established by the research faculty**
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
Number of hours per week available for on campus research:
Dates available to complete research:
Have you previously worked for Roosevelt University during the 2014‐2015 school year?
Yes
No
If yes, did you work as either a lab assistant or science/math tutors?
Yes
No
**Note the stipends will cover a maximum of 17 hrs/wk of paid research**
Academic Information
Are you a Roosevelt University Honors Scholar:
Yes
No
Major:
Actuarial Science
Biology
Allied Health
Chemistry
Biochemistry
Mathematics
Current Academic Classification:
Freshman
Cumulative GPA:
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Expected Date of Graduation:
Research Interests
Do you have any prior research experience?
If yes, please describe:
Yes
No
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
Using the letter associated with the research descriptions (see below), please rank your
summer research interests. Providing all three choices will increase your likelihood of being
matched with a project:
1st choice:
2nd choice:
3rd choice:
Please write one short paragraph describing why you are interested in each of the particular
research projects that you chose as your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices. Also state what you hope to learn
from the research opportunity.
Printed Name:
Date:
Signature:
Email this form to Dr. Susan Weiner, sweiner02@roosevelt.edu. Your subject header should be STEP
Application. Alternatively, deliver a printed copy to Dr. Weiner’s mailbox in WB 816C. We hope to
notify recipients of summer research awards by the end of April. You may be asked to interview
with one of the research faculty prior to any final placements and awards.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
Summer 2015 Undergraduate Research Opportunities at Roosevelt University
A. Susan Weiner: Pollinator Diversity in Restored Prairie
will be collecting pollinators from three sites: the prairie reconstruction at the Schaumburg
campus, the prairie reconstruction at Elgin Community College, and the Spring Valley
Preserve. Students will also be involved in identifying the pollinators collected from those sites.
Identification will take place at the Chicago laboratory space. With four students, one will focus
on identification at the Chicago campus. The plan is for this to be an ongoing comparative
project over the next few years, including after the installation of beehives at the Schaumburg
campus.
Number of Positions: up to 4
Location: Schaumburg, with one possible Chicago student
Requirements: Willingness to work outside, physical ability to be walking and on their feet for 6
hours a day, willingness to work with stinging insects.
Dates: 5/25-7/31
B. Susan Weiner: Energetic cost of moving ant colonies
The project goal is to measure energy use in ant colonies at rest and while moving between
nest sites. This would help us understand the cost of disturbance to ant colonies. The student
involved would maintain ant colonies and conduct experiments involving causing the colonies
to move and recording their CO2 production using monitoring equipment. At the end, they
would be involved in analyzing the data to convert it to colony level energy use.
Number of Positions: 1
Location: Chicago
Requirements: Biol 201 and/or Biol 122, willingness to work with ants
Dates: 5/25-7/31
C. Brent Barker: Towards a quantum description of central nuclear collisions
Most nuclear collision simulations are semi-classical. We develop a more fully quantal
approach. The fully quantal model is too computationally demanding, so approximations must
be used. The student will apply physical intuition and numerical techniques to test methods of
reducing the computational cost while retaining the key physical dynamics. In practice, this
involves designing, building, and troubleshooting computer simulations.
Number of Positions: 1
Location: Chicago
Requirements: Required: Intro Physics 1.
Recommended: Linux, computer programming, upper-level physics or physical chemistry
Dates: The project is ongoing and can be conducted remotely. Start date is May 12. End date
is August 14. PI will be out of town 6/4-7, 6/22-28, 7/26-7/30 and will communicate
electronically those dates.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
D. Brent Barker Correlating student backgrounds with learning gains for more effective
comparisons
Comparing learning gains between different offerings of the same course is helpful for studying
effectiveness of instruction. In small classes, fluctuations in student background can introduce
confounding variables and make direct comparison difficult. In the present work, we correlate
student backgrounds with learning gains on conceptual inventories in introductory physics and
show a method for accounting for differences in student backgrounds. The student will be
calculating these correlations and developing and comparing methods of weighting scores to
account for differing backgrounds. We will have results to be presented at an annual
conference at the end of July.
Number of Positions: 1
Location: Chicago
Requirements: Required: Research on human subjects training (or willing to be trained)
Recommended: Computer programming (R), statistics, education research
Dates: May 13 to August 14, very flexible, since this is theoretical and computational work.
Expect a sprint during the two weeks leading up to the conference, July 13 to 24. PI will be on
vacation 6/23-30, but generally contactable electronically.
E. Neil Voss Protein Structure Research
I have several projects on-going this summer and it would be great to have a student involved
in all of them. (1) Bacteriophage purification. Phage are viruses that target bacteria, and are by
far the most numerous biological entities present on the planet. The goal of this project is to
isolate a novel bacteriophage and prepare it for eventual electron microscope imaging and 3D
reconstruction. Students will help prepare agar plates, culture bacteria, and record
characteristics of isolated phage. (2) 3D printing protein structures. There are more than
100,000 atomic structures of proteins. Many students struggle with understanding their 3D
structure. We want to download the structure from the internet and convert them for use in a 3D
printer. Then 3D print out the protein structures into physical models. See also,
http://www.thingiverse.com/vosslab/designs (3) Portable electron microscopy software. In order
to solve the structure of the bacteriophage, we use a series of complex software packages. The
goal is to create a portable virtual machine image that can be quickly installed and used on a
laptop.
Number of Positions: 1
Location: Work will take place at the Schaumburg campus with occasional travel to
Northwestern University in Evanston.
Requirements: 1. At least some science course lab experience (BIOL 121 or CHEM 201 or
higher) -- ideally familiar with the concepts of aseptic technique 2. Ability to install unfamiliar
software programs -- ideally familiar with the linux command line 3. Availability, in order to have
a successful project you need to put in the hours. Must attend weekly group meetings
Dates: Most of the summer, May 18 - Aug 7.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
F. Oluseye Kenny Onajole Synthesis, Characterization and biological evaluation of novel
coumarin derivatives as potential antimicrobial agent
1. The synthesis of a novel coumarin analogs. This synthesis involves an amide bond formation
via coupling of a carboxylic acid with varieties of cyclic amine, followed by a purification process
using normal phase column chromatography (using silica gel). The purity of this compound
would be further confirmed using analytical HPLC or LC (on a C-18 column). Preparative HPLC
purification technique would be employed to purify highly polar compounds.
2. The second part of this project would involve the biological screening of this compound
against laboratory strains of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. This screening would
be done in house.
Number of Positions: up to 2
Location: Chicago
Requirements: The candidate/s must have a GPA > 3.0, with at least one semester of Organic
Chemistry with a letter grade “B” or better. Experience in organic synthesis and working with
microorganisms (bacteria) is preferred.
Dates: 5/18/2015 - 8/7/2015
G. Sergiy Rosokha Halogen bonding between organic electrophiles with neutral and anionic
nucleophiles
Student will carry out UV-Vis spectrophotometric measurements of halogen-bonded complex
formation, prepare solid-state complexes for FT-IR studies and crystallize single crystals for Xray structural measurements.
Number of Positions: 1
Location: Schaumburg
Requirements: Organic Chemistry 1 with a "B+" or better is required
Dates: May 15 - July 25
H. Joshua Telser Synthesis, characterization, and computational studies of transition metal
complexes.
This is a project involving the synthesis of simple complexes of the transition metals, which
contain unpaired electrons. The complexes will be prepared and studied at the Schaumburg
Campus using IR and UV-Vis spectroscopies and by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)
spectroscopy at Northwestern University. Computational software will be used to understand
the electronic structure of these compounds.
Number of Positions: 1
Location: Schaumburg
Requirements: CHEM 201 and 202; CHEM 211 helpful
Dates: Approximately from May 18th to August 3rd.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
I. Kristen Leckrone Projects in Environmental & Analytical Chemistry
Several possible projects are available in environmental and analytical chemistry, depending on
student location and interest. (1) Use of pollinators and/or air particulate sampling for biomonitoring of metals in Chicago neighborhoods, (2) Fluorescence spectroscopy of artificial
sweeteners in consumer products and environmental samples, (3) Extraction, GC/FID and
GC/MS analysis of drugs of abuse from currency, or (4) GC/FID and GC/MS applications in
pharmaceutical chemistry (joint with Dr. Moji Adeyeye). Project (1) is appropriate for a student
located at the Chicago campus. Project (2) is appropriate for a student at the Schaumburg
campus. Projects 3 and 4 could be done partially in Chicago, but would require additional work
at the Schaumburg campus. All projects will begin with review of the literature, experimental
design, sampling, sample preparation and analysis, data evaluation, and oral or poster
presentation of final results.
Number of Positions: up to 2
Location: Chicago
Requirements: Completion of General Chemistry is required. Completion of statistics,
analytical chemistry and/or instrumental analysis is helpful.
Dates: May 17 - July 31