Gettysburg College students learn chemistry by doing chemistry. Hands-on experience is our focus, from beginning lab sessions to senior capstone projects.

The department emphasizes collaborative research with faculty members, frequently leading to publications in scholarly journals and presentations at scientific meetings.

Students receive academic credit for such research projects, which culminate in an oral presentation and a written thesis. Students are encouraged to present their results at local and national scientific meetings, for which they gain preparatory experience by presenting at twice-monthly department seminars and an annual regional meeting of the Intercollegiate Student Chemists. See student posters

Stipends for summer research are available from the endowed Albaugh Fund or through external research grants. In past summers as many as fourteen students have stayed on campus and worked on summer research projects in the Chemistry Department. Group photos 

Faculty members' research specialties include:

Synthesis and characterization of functionalized clathrochelate complexes

Secondary metabolic pathways and biologically active metabolites

Synthesis of organic ligands and their incorporation into self-assembled molecular squares

Resonance Raman spectroscopy of small free radicals

Synthesis of complex organic molecules and applications of transition metal catalysts to organic synthesis.  

Biophysical characterization of structure, ordering, and activity in cell membrane models

Nanoparticle synthesis and processing, chemical modifications of nanostructured and planar surfaces