Skip to content

Research

A young woman in a lab coat and safety googles looks intently at a fluid she is measuring in a pipetOur graduate and undergraduate students collaborate with faculty and staff on research in all fields of chemistry. Research is often undertaken in partnership with other groups in the department, other departments on campus, and at other universities around the country and around the world.

The very first PhD earned at the University of Utah was in chemistry, by Dr. James M. Sugihara in 1947. Since then, we have awarded doctorate degrees to more than 1,100 students. Today, the Department of Chemistry is one of the U's major research hubs and the largest PhD-granting department on campus. Scientists at the University of Utah benefit from the impressive history of the department and the tradition of excellence our students and faculty have built over the past 67 years. The department’s annual research expenditures total more than $10 million and include grants from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), among others.

Our faculty are members of several interdisciplinary centers on campus including the Henry Eyring Center for Theoretical Chemistry (housed in the Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry), the Center for Cell and Genome Science, the Center for Advanced Microscopy, and the Center for Science and Math Education. The department is also the home of the editors of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Organic Chemistry and Accounts of Chemical Research.

 

Learn more about undergraduate research opportunities

 

Inside a bar, a large gathering of alumni from the Keck Group smile at the cameraJoin a research group, make history. Gary Keck and the Kecklings, August 11th, 2014, San Francisco.

Last Updated: 11/14/23