CURE Examples
Core Competencies Show all
Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
4 matchesNature of Research
Core CompetenciesResults 1 - 4 of 4 matches
Laser spectroscopy of atmospherically relevant molecules and clusters in helium nanodroplets
Paul Raston, James Madison University
Superfluid helium nanodroplets present an ideal medium for the study of chemical dynamics at the molecular level. Their low temperature, enormous heat conductivity, and weakly interacting nature allow for the investigation of various things, such as how molecular rotation is effected by a solvent, and how molecules interact with each other. These two topics will be addressed in the lab by (1) measuring the spectra of unexplored molecules in helium nanodroplets and determining their rotational constants; this data will then be used to test known models describing the interaction between the molecule and helium solvent, and (2) synthesizing and characterizing unexplored molecular clusters in an effort to better understand molecular solvation; students will solvate the "unexplored molecule" with an atmospherically relevant species (O2, N2, H2O), and investigate the resulting clusters with laser Stark spectroscopy.
Core Competencies: Using mathematics and computational thinking, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Analyzing and interpreting data, Developing and using models, Planning and carrying out investigations, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Nature of Research: Basic Research
State: Virginia
Target Audience: Upper Division, Non-major, Major
CURE Duration: A few class periods, Multiple terms
A short medicinal-chemistry inspired laboratory sequence aimed at understanding and controlling bacterial communication.
Laura Brown, Indiana University-Bloomington
Medicinal chemists are organic chemists (often employed by pharmaceutical companies) who synthesize and develop new organic molecules with favorable biological properties. As an illustrative example, penicillin was discovered in 1928 and developed into a drug in 1942. Resistance quickly arose and continues to be a problem, and penicillin is not effective against all types of bacteria. In the decades that followed, medicinal chemists synthesized a variety of molecules that were similar in structure to penicillin, but that either demonstrated enhanced antibiotic activity or did not exhibit the same resistance profile. A new approach to controlling the pathogenicity of bacteria is to simply "trick" the bacteria into remaining in their "normal" non-pathogenic state by controlling the ability of bacteria to communicate with one another by a mechanism termed "Quorum Sensing." Quorum sensing is a form of chemical communication by which bacteria sense each other's presence via concentration gradients of small molecules. I have a collaborator in the biology department who has developed a biochemical assay to identify inhibitors of this process, and the students who sign up for this course will synthesize a small library of molecules to test in this assay.
Core Competencies: Planning and carrying out investigations, Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Nature of Research: Basic Research
State: Indiana
Target Audience: Upper Division, Major
CURE Duration: A few class periods
The effects of grazing of water coliforms and antibiotic resistant microbes
Kristy Duran, Adams State University; Benita Brink, Adams State University
Core Competencies: Analyzing and interpreting data, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Nature of Research: Wet Lab/Bench Research, Basic Research
State: Colorado
Target Audience: Introductory, Major
CURE Duration: A few class periods
Polymer/Materials Structure-Property Relationship Investigations for General Chemistry Students
Zuleikha Kurji, Saint Marys College of California
Core Competencies: Analyzing and interpreting data, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Planning and carrying out investigations, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Nature of Research: Wet Lab/Bench Research, Applied Research
State: California
Target Audience: Introductory, Non-major, Major
CURE Duration: A few class periods, Half a term