ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program

The Division of Organic Chemistry annually awards summer undergraduate research fellowships (SURF) to outstanding undergraduate organic chemistry students attending colleges and universities in the United States. These competitive fellowships are awarded on the merits of students' research proposals, academic records, faculty recommendations and their passion for laboratory science. They provide support for undergraduates to carry out independent research at their respective colleges/universities in the summer between their junior and senior year under the guidance of a faculty mentor. In addition, the program provides financial support to enable recipients to visit an industrial campus in the fall for a dinner, award session, scientific talks, a tour of the campus and a poster session, where the results of the summer research investigations are to be presented.

The Executive Committee of the Organic Division of the ACS is soliciting nominations for 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research (SURF) Fellowships. These competitive fellowships will be awarded to sixteen talented undergraduates throughout the United States who have been nominated by their departments and selected by an evaluation committee. These fellowships will provide support for undergraduates in organic chemistry to carry out research at their respective colleges/universities in the summer between their junior and senior year. In addition, the program will provide financial support to enable recipients to visit an industrial campus in the fall for a dinner, award session, scientific talks, a tour of the campus and a poster session, where the results of the summer research investigations would be presented. Information on the program and application forms are available below. Nomination packets must be submitted by February 2, 2010. Funding in 2010 has been provided by the Division of Organic Chemistry, Cubist, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim. Additional support ($6500/fellowship) from companies and individuals interested in supporting the ACS SURF Program is encouraged.

In 2009, the first year of the program, 16 students were awarded fellowships (See the 2009 Awardees). Funding was provided by the American Chemical Society, the Division of Organic Chemistry, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, Sepracor Inc, Symyx Technologies, Inc and Wyeth Research.

Nomination process: The sponsoring chemistry department should submit for each nominee a single PDF file consisting of:

1. The completed "Student Application Cover Sheet" (page 2 of the application form) and a statement from the nominee describing the importance of this opportunity to his/her personal and career plans.
2. A description of the proposed research project, authored by the student in collaboration with the faculty mentor.
3. An unofficial transcript of the nominee and a list of courses to be taken in the spring of 2010.
4. The completed "Faculty Mentor Cover Sheet" (page 3 of the application form) and a letter of recommendation from the faculty mentor on the qualifications of the nominee to carry out the project successfully.
5. The completed "Department Chair/Head Cover Sheet" (page 4 of the application form) and a letter from the Department Chair indicating that the student is a departmental nominee and that the department will provide the necessary equipment, space and administrative support to the project.

See the 2009 ORGN SURF Awardees

Applicants should be U.S. citizens or permanent resident visa holders at the time of application. Applications from minorities are especially encouraged. This program targets current Juniors and they will be given preference. Seniors are not eligible for these fellowships. The Department Chair should submit a separate application file (PDF) for each candidate (up to two students per department) by email to Robert A. Volkmann (ravolkmann@gmail.com) by February 2, 2010.

Applications submitted late, in multiple parts/files or out of order as described above will be disqualified. The chair of the department should verify that the nominee and mentor have signed the respective documents. The email message serves to verify the chairs signature. In the event that the chair of the department will also serve as the mentor, the chair should ask their immediate supervisor (i.e. dean, vice president) to submit the application.

Program questions should be directed to: Robert A. Volkmann (ravolkmann@gmail.com).

Technical questions related to the application forms should be directed to: Brian Myers (b-myers@onu.edu).