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Undergraduate

The Department of Chemistry combines excellent teaching with unique opportunities for research and community engagement to prepare undergraduates for future success.

Undergraduate student in the lab

Supporting Success

Chemistry is a diverse and growing field that is full of academic and career opportunities. Our department is a place where the best and brightest minds come together to learn, building the foundation for bright futures.

Our two degree programs offer flexibility in choosing the appropriate academic path to fulfill your interests and career goals. Our B.S. program is certified by the American Chemical Society and trains you for entry in the chemical workforce or graduate school in the chemical sciences. Our B.A. program is built around the core subdisciplines of chemistry with the addition of elective coursework in a chosen field. This program is designed to train you for a career outside of traditional laboratory work. And excellent students looking for a challenging curriculum can enroll in our Chemistry Honors Program.

In addition to our major programs, we provide general education instruction to more than 7,000 undergraduates across the university each year. Our faculty are committed to providing excellent instruction to students of all backgrounds and academic interests, and our tutorial center is staffed with knowledgeable student tutors who want to help their peers succeed.

Hands-On Learning

In our department, research is not just for graduate students. We encourage all undergraduates to apply their knowledge and develop their laboratory skills by joining a research group or completing a summer research program. Being at a large university means a wealth of opportunities — you can choose to participate in research opportunities offered through our department or to partner with researchers in other colleges and departments around campus on interdisciplinary projects.

Our undergraduate researchers work alongside our expert faculty and top-notch graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, making big discoveries that affect us all. They leave our department with real-world skills and understanding that prepare them to shape the future of chemistry.

Student Spotlight: Olivia Dioli

In this Student Spotlight, senior Olivia Dioli talks about her interest in regenerative medicine, especially that of repairing or re-growing cells, tissues and organs for disease treatment; her experience as an undergraduate researcher and her love of going to the gym to clear her head – and ice cream!

Olivia Dioli is wearing a grey sweater with a lovely smile on her face