School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Research
Faculty Research Groups Seminars REUs
Explore Our Faculty Research Groups
This section contains links to faculty-maintained pages on research facilities and/or opportunities that aren't mantained by the University.
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Synthetic Organic Chemistry
Research Areas: Biomedical research, drug development, organic synthesis, reaction mechanisms
Physical and Materials Chemistry
Research Areas: Functional nanomaterials, surface chemistry, organoelectronic materials and devices
Molecular Sieve Zeolites
Specialty Areas: Molecular sieve zeolites: synthesis, adsorption, diffusion, catalysis and the novel use of these materials for sustainable chemical processes
RNA Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Research Areas: Catalytic RNA, therapeutic RNA, bioorganic chemistry, synthetic metabolic
pathway
Biochemistry, Virology, Drug Discovery
Research Areas: Viral biomolecules interaction and drug discovery in HIV
Analytical Chemistry, Electrochemistry
Research Areas: Areas of analytical chemistry, electrochemistry, electroanalytical chemistry, surface chemistry, and bioanalytical chemistry
Organic Synthesis and Catalysis
Areas of Expertise: Organic Synthesis, Catalysis, NMR Spectroscopy, and Computational Chemistry
Protein Biophysics, amyloids and protein aggregation
Research Areas: Amyloid aggregation in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, intrinsically
disordered proteins in norm and pathology
Inorganic and Supramolecular chemistry
Research Areas: Optical sensors for anions, cations and neutral compounds
Wallace Research Snapshot
Graduate Students
Fall 2019: Graduate Students
Meet our Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Students and see their photos
Fall 2019: New Graduate
Join us in welcoming our new Graduate Students joining Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Mathematics
Our internationally-recognized researchers in computational mathematics are developing cutting-edge simulation techniques for use in high-performance computing environments. These algorithms serve a wide variety of real-world applications, ranging from medical imaging to petroleum reservoir engineering to national defense. Our faculty also bring expertise from mathematical physics, chaos theory, symbolic computation, celestial mechanics, and graph theory.
We collaborate with researchers at institutions such as the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers R&D Center and the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory and at universities around the world. These collaborations foster opportunities for rewarding careers, both inside and outside of academia, as well as external funding that enables students to focus on their research.
Numerical partial differential equations
Ergodic Theory, Frobenius-Perron Operators
Symbolic computation
Numerical analysis
Geometry and Physics
Computational algebra, with a special emphasis on Gröbner bases
Ordered Sets, Graph Theory
Mathematics Education, Digital Manufacturing
N-body problems, undergraduate research
Other Mathematics faculty who also pursue research and/or direct student research
include:
Physics
Physics and Astronomy is working to develop broad capabilities in laser and optical physics to enhance its educational and research activities.
- Currently funded research supports the development of optical devices, and optical materials, and the application of lasers for sensitive spectroscopic measurements.
- A collaborative research project with Los Alamos National Laboratory and Mississippi State University focuses on the development of small, portable isotopic analysis devices for environmental and security applications based primarily on the use of diode laser technology for high sensitivity environmental measurements of elements such as uranium and plutonium.
- Physics and Astronomy also participates in the recently funded Response-Driven Polymeric Films Center, an NSF funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, to develop holographically formed polymer dispersed liquid crystals for applications such as Bragg gratings, photonic crystals, hyperspectral filters, and etc.
Seminars
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Speaker Seminar Series
Each fall and spring, chemistry and biochemistry hosts a series of seminars by outside
speakers on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., normally in TEC 106.
Graduate Student Seminar Series
Graduate students in chemistry and biochemistry are required to make a public presentation
of their research each year on Thursday afternoons at 2:30 p.m., usually in TEC 106.
These often include prospectus, thesis, or dissertation defenses. Everyone in the
unit is strongly encouraged to attend these seminars to learn about ongoing research
and to support the students.
Mathematics
Mathematics Colloquium
The Department hosts a weekly colloquium on Fridays at 2 p.m., usually in Southern
Hall, room 303.
Research Experience for Undergraduates
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Funded by NSF, this “Sensing and assembly based on non-covalent interactions” program will provide the participating REU students an extensive 10-week summer Chemistry and Biochemistry research experience (May 24 – July 30) at USM.