2023/2024 Academic Year

Fall 2023

CHEM 110H: Chemical Principles 1 Honors

This three-credit introductory chemistry course is targeted toward students who will make extensive use of chemistry in their intended studies and who arrive on campus with strong high school chemistry backgrounds. Most enrolled students will be in the Schreyer Honors College or intend to major in chemistry. This course is the first in a two-course sequence in general chemistry. Chemistry is the study of atoms and molecules, and so takes a molecular-scale view of the world. It impacts every area in our lives, from how our bodies work, to the environment we find ourselves in, to the materials we create for our clothes and phones. Understanding chemistry is critical to nearly every major in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and to issues in your research, career and the news of the day. Our goals for this course are for you to recognize that what happens at the molecular level profoundly affects our macroscopic world. By the end of CHEM 110, you will understand conceptually (1) how atoms combine to form molecules; (2) how molecules interact and react with each other; and (3) how the molecular-level structure affects the macroscopic properties and behaviors we observe daily.

Chem 500: Seminar in Chemistry

All chemistry graduate students are required to enroll for 1 credit of CHEM 500, Seminar in Chemistry, during each semester of their first and second years of residence. Successful completion of CHEM 500 meets the Graduate Council English competency requirements. CHEM 500 focuses on four thematic areas relevant to the development of professional chemists: (1) the scholarship of teaching, (2) scholarship and research integrity training (SARI), (3) the scholarship of written communication, and (4) the scholarship of oral communication.

Spring 2024

BMB 474: Analytical Biochemistry

This three-credit course deals with acquiring the laboratory skills required for success in experimental biophysics, biochemistry and molecular biology. It is particularly suited for students intending a career as a technician or research scientist in the areas of biochemistry, biotechnology, bioengineering, microbiology, or molecular biology. The course content focuses on the detection, purification and identification of biological macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. The material is divided into two equal parts. The first part includes the theory and practice of analytical biochemistry with emphasis on diffusion, gel permeation chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography, sedimentation velocity ultracentrifugation, sedimentation equilibrium ultracentrifugation, density gradient ultracentrifugation, agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing of proteins and nucleic acids.  The second part includes the theory and practice of biological spectroscopy with emphasis on visible, infrared, circular dichroism, optical rotary dispersion, resonance Raman, nuclear magnetic resonance and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins and nucleic acids. A final two lectures are devoted to the theory and practice of cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography of macromolecules. The lectures are designed to introduce a particular topic, to derive the relevant equations, to supplement the reading material with practical examples, and to clarify points in the assigned problem sets. Problem sets should be completed prior to the next period. The problem sets are not collected or graded; rather, the answers are posted on Canvas over the weekend. This method provides the ability to collaborate with others on solving problems and to self-check work. The midterm examination tests material in part of the course on analytical biochemistry and the final examination tests material in the part of the course on biological spectroscopy. The final examination is not cumulative. Each examination consists of variations of the problem sets along with material from the book and the lectures.