USRA Projects

Dr. Vahid Adibnia - Adibnia Lab Website
adibnia@dal.ca
Assistant Professor of Chemistry – Cross-appointed from Biomedical Engineering and Dentistry

Winter 2024 internship positions (6 hrs/week minimum, starting January) are also available on these projects (and other projects) for students who would like to start working on their projects earlier than this summer. Contact Dr. Adibnia for more information.

Project 1. Biosourced injectable lubricating hydrogels for treatment of osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive musculoskeletal disorder and is the most dominant cause of adult disability in the world. Currently, 1 in 5 Canadians is diagnosed with OA and this number is expected to increase by 50% by year 2040, if no action is taken to prevent the current trend. In addition to experiencing pain and reduced mobility, OA patients are twice more likely to develop mental health problems and be out of the workforce. Therefore, developing new treatments that can delay cartilage degradation in OA patients is of significant importance for Canadians.

In this project, we design and synthesize lubricating hydrogels from biosourced polymers that can protect cartilage against frictional wear in biologically relevant conditions using well-established cartilage degradation models. Results of this project will improve our understanding about the process of biolubrication in human joints.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Chemical modification, characterization and purification of biosourced polymers. Various polymer crosslinking approaches. Analyzing mechanical properties of biomaterials. Quantifying interactions of hydrogels with biological samples such as cartilage and cells. Collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

Project 2. Biosourced antifouling coatings for the marine industry
Marine biofouling, the process by which marine organisms attach to underwater structures, represents a major economic burden for maritime industries. Biofouling also has detrimental consequences on port and fishery infrastructures for example, by severely clogging circulation piping. Strategies to prevent biofouling are thus a key challenge.

In this project, we take inspiration from nature in designing efficient antifouling active molecules and macromolecules that can be added to currently available coatings in order to significantly improve their efficacy.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Chemical modification, characterization and purification of small antifouling molecules. Surface coating and testing antifouling performance at the nanoscale using precise techniques such as QCM-D, SFA, etc. Integration of antifouling coatings with currently available marine coatings (in collaboration with an industrial partner). Collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

Project 3. Biosourced and bioactive nanofibers for tissue engineering
Biological tissues are predominantly anisotropic structures made of macromolecular fibers. Replicating the structure of these tissues in the laboratory using biosourced and bioactive polymers is a valuable attempt for creating soft materials with applications in dentistry, 3D printing and microfluidics.

In this project, primarily using a high throughput centrifugal spinning approach for producing nanofibers, we design and test innovative nanofibers that show strong cell attachment and cell guidance, tunable surface chemistry, and physiologically relevant mechanical properties.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Chemical modification, characterization and purification of biosourced polymers as building blocks of nanofibers. Nanofiber fabrication using various techniques including electrospinning, centrifugal spinning and contact drawing. Nanomaterials imaging and characterization. Cell-materials interactions. Collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

Dr. Heather Andreas  -  Andreas Lab Website
heather.andreas@dal.ca
Associate Professor of Chemistry

Increasing Charge Storage on Carbon Supercapacitors
Supercapacitors are environmentally friendly energy storage devices that can store the energy produced by solar panels and windmills. This project will explore chemical and electrochemical methods of increasing the amount of energy that can be stored on carbon electrodes in aqueous solutions. These systems will also be characterized by spectroscopy and microscopy.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
electrochemical methods, including supercapacitor/battery testing procedures; spectroscopic analysis of carbon surface functionalities (UV-Vis, Raman and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy); wet chemical methods of changing the surface functionalities on carbon; a range of surface characterization techniques, including surface area measurements, and surface imaging techniques.

Dr. Alex Baker  -  Baker Research Groupe Website
alexander.baker@dal.ca
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Synthesis & Study of Inhibitors Targeting Enzymes of Therapeutic Interest
We are pursuing the synthesis of specific compounds for use in several enzymology projects: (i) transition state analogues for insertion into enzyme active sites to probe the role of binding determinants in catalysis; (ii) amino acid analogues as inhibitors of racemases; and (iii) purine analogues as enzyme-specific labels.  The interaction of these novel compounds with specific enzymes will be studied using a variety of assay techniques.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Organic synthesis and protein chemistry, physical organic chemistry laboratory techniques, enzyme kinetics, molecular biology & microbiology techniques, methods of protein purification and characterization, and spectroscopy (NMR, CD, UV)

Dr. Stephen Bearne  -  Bearne Lab Website
sbearne@dal.ca
Professor - Cross-appointed from Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Site-specific Functionalization of Surface Adhesive Proteins with Click Chemistry and Enzymatic Transformations
Many naturally produced proteins contain modifications that are introduced after translation. These proteins are often produced at low concentrations making studying them in this context challenging. The blue mussel foot protein has exceptional adhesion strength enabling adhesion to rock in shallow sea water. However, to study the adhesion of the mussel foot protein it requires mussels to be farmed and resource-intensive steps to extract it. Therefore, we use synthetic biology and cell-free protein synthesis to express and study methods to enhance protein adhesion. This project will evaluate chemical strategies to efficiently modify proteins to enhance their adhesion properties and evaluate the reactions with techniques such as mass spectrometry.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Organic synthesis, protein chemistry, and synthetic biology. Techniques not limited to enantioselective synthesis; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; recombinant protein expression; cell-free protein expression; flash and fast protein liquid chromatography; molecular biology (PCR, gel electrophoresis; and circular dichroism); and surface adhesion measurements with atomic force microscopy.

Dr. Carlie Charron
carlie.charron@dal.ca
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Stabilizing Peptide Nanotube Architectures using Amino Acid Side Chains
Cyclic peptide nanotubes are an organic alternative to the carbon nanotube possessing characteristics such as improved aqueous solubility, ample functionalization potential, and low in vivo toxicity. They’re composed of cyclic peptides that adopt a flat ring conformation allowing them to stack on top of one another using hydrogen bonding into a tube-like architecture. This project aims to remove the structural reliance on hydrogen bonds by installing a covalent linkage between neighbouring cyclic peptides by utilizing amino acid side chain functionality.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Solid phase peptide synthesis, post synthetic peptide modification, high performance liquid chromatography, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering

Dr. Saurabh S. Chitnis - Chitnis Lab Website
saurabh.chitnis@dal.ca
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

1. Cationic Nanobubbles: Making and Studying Liquids with Permanent Porous Cavities
This project will involve making and studying the properties of a new phase of dissolved material known as cationic nanobubbles. Such solutions have not been prepared before and their potential for application in dissolving, sensing, and separating different gases remains undiscovered. Their synthesis and properties assessment will be the main component of this project. Interested students will be exposed to a broad range of inorganic synthesis and spectroscopy techniques.

2. Cagey Polymers: Connecting Inorganic Cages to make Polymers
Most polymers contain a backbone of atoms or rings. The natural extension of this pattern is preparing polymers that contain a backbone of interconnected cages. Yet such materials have not been prepared before. The inorganic elements readily form molecular cages and participate in coordination chemistry. This project will involve the preparation of inorganic cages and connecting them together to make polymers with a 3-dimensional bead-like backbone. The physical and electronic properties of such polymers will be studied to discover potential applications.

Dr. Jeff R. Dahn  -  Dahn Lab Website
jeff.dahn@dal.ca
Professor, Canada Research Chair and NSERC/TESLA Canada Co. Industrial Research Chair - Cross-appointed from Physics

Dr. Mita Dasog  -  Dasog Lab Website
mita.dasog@dal.ca
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Project 1: Metal carbide and nitride nanoparticles for water-splitting application
This project will involve syntheses and characterization of metal carbide and nitride nanoparticles using solid-state chemistry. The nanoparticles will be characterized using various techniques including powder X-ray diffraction, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The nanoparticles will be further tested as electrode materials for water splitting reactions.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Students will learn nanomaterials synthesis, solid-state chemistry, operation of various instruments and data analysis, electrochemistry, and communication skills.

Project 2: Metal oxide nanoparticle inks for transparent conducting electrodes
This project will focus on synthesis and surface functionalization of metal oxide nanoparticles. The nanoparticles will be characterized using various techniques including infrared spectroscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The nanoparticles will be coated into thin films and their opto-electronic properties will be investigated.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Students will learn nanomaterials synthesis, solid-state chemistry, operation of various instruments and data analysis, device fabrication, and communication skills.

Dr. Alan Doucette  -  Doucette Lab Website
alan.doucette@dal.ca
Professor of Chemistry

1. Protein purification, separation and analysis by mass spectrometry
There has been a recent explosion in the development of protein-based pharmaceuticals.  Last year, over half of the new drugs approved by the FDA were antibody or peptide based compounds.  Analytical chemists are in high demand in industry – particularly those with skills in advanced instrumentation such as liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Our lab works in the field called proteomics, which deals with the large scale analysis of proteins from biological sources.  We specialize in the development of improved analytical instruments and/or strategies to better characterize the samples.  Mass spectrometry (MS) is our detector, but we need many more pieces to be in place.  GELFrEE is a commercial device developed in my lab to separate proteins ahead of mass spectrometry (Google it to find out more!).

Right now, we’re working on a new strategy to purify proteins – a device we like to call Transmembrane Electrophoresis, or TME for short. TME uses electric fields to drive contaminants through a porous membrane, leaving the now clean proteins behind.  Our prototype design has already proven incredibly effective, but we think a re-design of this instrument would allow it to work even better. In particular, we’d like to couple TME, + GELFrEE + MS.  This all-in-one platform would have unprecedented ability to characterize proteins. But we can’t test it until we build it first.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Bioanalytical Chemistry/ Proteomics / Electrophoresis/ Mass Spectrometry / Instrument Design/ Engineering / Research Communication.  Don’t worry if you don’t have experience with machining/ electronics.  You’ll have lots of help, and the whole point of this project is to learn new skills.

Dr. Michael S. Freund  -  Freund Lab Website
michael.freund@dal.ca
Professor of Chemistry

1.  Membranes for Artificial Photosynthetic Systems

Given the scale of projected energy needs as well as the rapid climate change associated with growing CO₂ levels in the atmosphere, there is a major push by governments to increase the rate of innovation and discovery in the area of carbon-neutral solar fuel production.  For example, the US National Science Foundation has established a Solar Energy Initiative and the European Science Foundation has established the EuroSolarFuels program to support interdisciplinary efforts to address solar energy and solar fuels.  The US Department of Energy has made major investments to establish facilities (e.g., http://solarfuelshub.org/) for testing and translating innovations in the field with a focus on scaling up and enabling.  Our group, which includes collaborators in Electrical and Computer Engineering, is focusing on the development of membranes that will likely play a key role in artificial photosynthetic systems.  This effort includes the design and synthesis of new materials as well as the study of their electronic properties and their integration with light absorbers and catalysts required for functional devices.  Read our recent review to learn more about the topic.  "Membranes for Artificial Photosynthesis" Energy Environ. Sci. (2017) https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EE00294G

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Electrochemistry, polymer science, semiconductors and catalysis.  There are a wide range of opportunities to get involved in various aspects of this research.    

2. Polymer-Based Electronics
The widespread focus on organic and molecular approaches to electronics has been driven by the promise that new mechanisms may overcome current limitations of silicon-based devices.  In particular, silicon devices based on capacitive and field effects are dominated by interfacial processes that are currently limited by defects and scaling issues.  However, molecular devices currently suffer from issues of reproducibility that are in part a result of the incorporation of organic materials into a fairly aggressive lithographic process.  Our research program explores well-defined mechanisms for redox-driven memory and electronics based on field-driven ion motion.  By designing molecular composite architectures that distribute charges within dopable systems we are opening up new approaches for the design of polymer-based electronics and memory.  Working with collaborators in Electrical and Computer Engineering and industry we are working on producing functional memory based on these new principles.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Electrochemistry, electronic memory design and electronic testing.

3.  Integrated Circuit, Chemical Sensor Arrays
The invention of the CCD chip has revolutionized the interface between technology and its environment.  By pixilating optical images of its surroundings, devices can use sophisticated imaging processing and pattern recognition algorithms to perform increasingly sophisticated tasks associated with visual perception.  The creation of a chemically diverse sensor array chip that mimics the olfactory system could provide the next revolution in sensory input for technology.  In collaboration with groups in Electrical and Computer Engineering, we are working on CMOS circuitry design and new methods for creating large numbers of chemically diverse polymer sensing materials on the chips to significantly expand the ways in which technology interacts and functions.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Electropolymerization, transistor operation and testing, and multidimensional data processing and machine learning.

Dr. David L. Jakeman  -  Jakeman Lab Website
david.jakeman@dal.ca
Professor - Cross-appointed from Pharmacy
 
Example project 1. Chemical biology: discovery of new natural products with cytotoxic activity.
Students will learn sterile technique, learn to culture soil bacteria and how to induce secondary metabolite production. They will learn to analyse culture aliquots spectrophotometrically and by LC/MS/MS. Scale-up of cultures and the isolation of the natural products will be performed, providing experience in chromatography and NMR spectroscopy.
Eight-membered ring-containing jadomycins: implications for non-enzymatic natural products biosynthesis. Robertson, A.W.; Martinez-Farina, C.F.; Smithen, D.A.; Yin, H.; Monro, S.; Thompson, A.; McFarland, S.A.; Syvitski, R.T.; Jakeman, D.L., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 3271–3275. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja5114672

Example project 2. Chemical biology: synthesis and evaluation of enzyme inhibitors as potential antibacterials.
Students will learn the fundamentals of any of the following: organic synthesis, enzyme kinetics, the basics of chromatography, operation of HPLC instrumentation, PCR, cloning, expression and site-directed mutagenesis.
α-Fluorophosphonates reveal how a phosphomutase conserves the protein transition state over hexose recognition in its two-step reaction Jin, Y.; Bhattasali, D.; Pellegrini, E.; Forget, S.M.; Baxter, N.J.; Cliff, M.J.; Bowler, M.W.; Jakeman, D.L.; Blackburn, G.M.; Waltho, J.P. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA. 2014, 111, 12384-12389. http://www.pnas.org/content/111/34/12384.long

Dr. Ryan MacDonell  -  MacDonell group website
rymac@dal.ca
Assistant Professor of Chemistry - Cross-appointed with Physics

Theoretical prediction of photochemical reactions
Predicting what happens after a molecule absorbs a photon is one of the most difficult problems in theoretical chemistry. Internal conversion between electronic states occurs in cases where the electronic states are strongly coupled to vibrations of atomic nuclei. During internal conversion, the molecule is funneled between electronic states at geometries where the electronic states are degenerate, known as conical intersection seams. Past work has focused on interpreting photochemical reactions through only minimum-energy points on the conical intersection seam. This project will build on recent work in the MacDonell Group to find and visualize all regions of the seam that are energetically accessible. The goal of the project is to develop methods that work with quantum chemistry software to identify trends in molecules that undergo internal conversion.

The successful USRA will gain skills in:
Programming with Python, quantum chemistry methods.

Dr. Mark Obrovac  -  Obrovac Lab Website
mobrovac@dal.ca
Professor of Chemistry - Cross-appointed with Physics

Metal-Ion Battery Materials Chemistry
The Obrovac lab designs and synthesizes highly engineered materials (nanostructured materials, core/shell particles, metallic glasses, etc.) for lithium-ion, sodium-ion and multivalent metal batteries for use in grid storage and electric vehicles. New metal-ion battery chemistries have the potential to store significantly more energy than conventional lithium-ion battery materials, at similar or even lower cost.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Materials design, nanostructured materials synthesis, mechanochemical synthesis, mechanofusion, topotactic reactions, electron microscopy, x-ray diffractometry, Mössbauer spectroscopy, electrochemical methods, battery assembly and testing, electrolyte characterization.

Dr. Jan K. Rainey  -  Rainey Lab Website
jan.rainey@dal.ca
Professor - Cross-appointed from Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
molecular biology based cloning and expression; recombinant protein purification; silk spinning or film casting; characterization of biomaterials by spectroscopy, microscopy, and mechanical testing; functional evaluation of biomaterials.

Dr. Alex Speed  -  Speed Research Group
aspeed@dal.ca
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

1. Development of Main Group Element Asymmetric Hydroamination Catalysts
Asymmetric hydroamination is a sought after reaction as it allows the preparation of chiral amines, which are prominent components in pharmaceuticals, with no chemical waste. This project will involve the design and synthesis of bifunctional compounds made from elements in the p-block of the periodic table, which we anticipate will activate amines. The activation of amines, and subsequent delivery of these amines to unsaturated functionality will be studied with the synthesized compound, and the observations will inform further modification of the bifunctional compounds to increase activity.

2. Development and Applications of Metal-Free Photoredox catalysis
Photoredox chemistry is currently one of the most active areas in organic synthesis, opening up opportunities to rapidly synthesize difficult synthetic targets. The most popular photoredox catalysts are currently made from compounds of the precious metals iridium and ruthenium. This proposed research involves developing photoredox catalysts where the active cores are based on compounds of phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur. These will access radicals with different selectivity patterns than existing radicals, allowing both the discovery of new chemistry, and replacement of existing precious metal catalysts.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Organic synthesis, purification and characterization, including chromatography and 1 and 2 dimensional NMR spectroscopy; the synthesis and handling of main group compounds that are sensitive to air and moisture; the screening of catalysts and discovery of new reactivity.

Dr. Mark Stradiotto  -  Stradiotto Lab website
mark.stradiotto@dal.ca
Professor of Chemistry

Homogeneous Catalyst Development for Organic Synthesis:
The Stradiotto group has made a number of important discoveries recently in this area, whereby new coordination complexes are designed, synthesized and characterized, and then applied as catalysts. This has led to our now-commercialized "DalPhos" based catalyst complexes that are used in pharmaceutical synthesis. This summer USRA project will involve exploring the way in which such catalysts operate (mechanism) as well as designing and preparing new and increasingly effective catalysts.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
the synthesis of organic and inorganic compounds; air-sensitive glove-box methods; compound purification protocols including column chromatography; and compound detection and characterization methods including gas chromatography and NMR spectroscopy.

Dr. Alison Thompson  -  Thompson Lab Website
alison.thompson@dal.ca
Professor of Chemistry

Synthesis and Characterization of Pyrroles
This project will involve the preparation of pyrroles with the goal of incorporating these molecules into larger assemblies with potential applications in materials and pharmaceutical science. Undergraduate students will work in a team environment, and will ultimately be responsible for running reactions and characterizing the products.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
synthetic chemistry; isolation procedures such as distillation, chromatography and crystallization; characterization techniques including NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.

Dr. Laura Turculet  -  Turculet Lab Website
laura.turculet@dal.ca
Associate Professor of Chemistry

Synthesis and Reactivity of New Transition Metal Pincer Complexes
Research in the Turculet group is focused on the synthesis of new, highly reactive transition metal complexes supported by multidentate “pincer”-type ligands. These molecular pincers are specifically designed to grab a tight hold of the reactive metal center, binding via three sites in order to set up an optimum environment for chemical reactivity. This project will involve the synthesis of new classes of pincer ligands and their corresponding metal complexes. The structure and reactivity of new complexes will be investigated, with particular emphasis on exploring possible applications in catalysis.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
organic and inorganic synthesis; techniques for the manipulation of air-sensitive compounds (glove box, Schlenk line); crystallization; multi-nuclear and variable temperature NMR spectroscopy.

Dr. Alex Veinot
aveinot@uwo.ca
Assistant Professor

1. Surface modification of aluminum using β-Diketiminato aluminum complexes
Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust and is lightweight, non-toxic, thermally conductive, and easily machined. These properties have resulted in the widespread use of aluminum in transportation, packaging and construction applications. Upon exposure to air, aluminum naturally produces a corrosion-resistant layer of oxide (Al₂O₃) which displays high chemical inertness and electrical resistance. These properties are useful in electronic applications in which Al₂O₃ is frequently used as an insulating dielectric material with a large band gap.

This project will examine the use of readily available β-diketiminato aluminum complexes as precursors to form addressable self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on aluminum and Al₂O₃ surfaces in solution. Unlike current strategies which use chlorosilanes or phosphonates, the properties (e.g. packing density, stability) of the resultant SAMs will be tunable through choice of N-substituents. The resultant thin films are expected to be highly robust due to a combination of strong covalent Al-O bonds with the substrate and the use of a bidentate supporting ligand. Further modification of these SAMs will be explored via on-surface reactions (e.g. deprotonation, S_N2), demonstrating a new class of modular and highly tunable SAMs for aluminum surfaces.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
organic, main group, surface, and materials chemistry.

2. Self-assembled monolayers of N-heterocyclic carbene chalcogenides
Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) are an important class of materials with unique optical, mechanical, and thermal properties with applications related (but not limited) to electronics, photovoltaics, and catalysis. TMCs can be prepared by chemical vapour deposition or solution methods, however processes used for fabricating these materials often require high temperatures (>150 °C) which is undesirable for their sustainable synthesis.

N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are an important class of ligand with emerging applications in surface science for the preparation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). In this preliminary work, NHC chalcogenide adducts (1) will be examined as small molecule precursors for preparing 2D TMC films on coinage metal substrates. Adducts 1 are air-stable and readily available by reaction of the free NHC with a suitable chalcogen source, and readily bind to transition metal elements in molecular chemistry. In this work, SAMs of 1 will be prepared on copper, silver or gold substrates and characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Annealing experiments will be used to understand the properties of the metal-ligand interface and to evaluate the potential of 1 to form 2D copper, silver or gold chalcogenides.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
organic, main group, transition metal, surface, and materials chemistry

Dr. Peter D. Wentzell  -  Wentzell Lab Website
peter.wentzell@dal.ca
Professor of Chemistry

Chemometrics and Bioinformatics in Analytical Chemistry
The goal of our work is to extract meaningful chemical and biological information from complex chemical measurements using advanced mathematical, statistical and computer-based tools.  The problems take many forms and include exploration of complex relationships, classification of samples (pattern recognition), prediction of properties (multivariate calibration), and modeling of chemical and biological systems (curve resolution).  We attempt to develop new tools to address important real-world problems ranging from forensics to food adulteration to biology and medicine.  This work is well-suited to those who enjoy the challenge of applying math creatively to solve practical problems relevant to chemistry, and is a great fit for those in interdisciplinary programs involving math, statistics or computer science.  Some typical undergraduate projects include: the application of multivariate curve resolution to study feeding patterns of fish in the Gulf of Alaska; the application of projection pursuit methods to the classification of samples in forensics, agriculture and biology; and the application of chemometric methods in proteomics.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
Multivariate data analysis, computer programming, statistics, chemometrics

Dr. Josef W. Zwanziger  -  Zwanziger Lab Website
jzwanzig@dal.ca
Professor and Canada Research Chair - Cross-appointed with Physics

1. Broad-Band Optical Properties of Glass
In this project the student will work towards development of glass with flat stress response over the entire optical spectrum. The work will entail both preparation of glass samples and their measurement under stress in different optical spectrometers available in our laboratory. There may be some opportunity for work with NMR and Mossbauer spectroscopy as well.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
high temperature preparation of optical glass samples and various optical characterization methods (transmission, reflectance, birefringence).

2. Computational studies of solid materials
In this project the student will use first-principles computational methods to study solid materials, particularly their responses to experimental methods also ongoing in the lab, notably NMR, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and optical response. The student will execute existing codes to compute these properties on model systems and also correlate the results with experiment and chemical principles.

The successful USRA student will gain skills in:
solid-state physics and computational methods, familiarity with programming in Fortran 90 and Python.