Chemistry

Professor Krishna Kumar, Chair; Organic and bioorganic chemistry
Professor Robert R. Dewald, Physical chemistry
Professor Terry E. Haas, Physical inorganic and materials chemistry
Professor Jonathan E. Kenny, Physical and environmental chemistry
Professor Mary Jane Shultz, Surface chemistry, environmental and materials chemistry
Professor Robert D. Stolow, Organic chemistry, conformational studies
Professor David R. Walt, Robinson Professorship in Chemistry; Bioorganic and materials chemistry
Associate Professor Marc d'Alarcao, Organic and biomedical chemistry
Associate Professor Samuel P. Kounaves, Analytical, environmental, and materials chemistry
Associate Professor Albert Robbat, Jr., Analytical chemistry
Associate Professor Elena Rybak-Akimova, Inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry
Associate Professor Arthur L. Utz, Physical and materials chemistry
Assistant Professor David H. Lee, Organic and bioorganic chemistry
Assistant Professor Charles Sykes, Physical chemistry
Lecturer Sergiy Kryatov, Inorganic chemistry and chemical education
 

Chemistry, the central science, offers exciting challenges to professionals who seek a fundamental understanding of the world we live in, and creative solutions to the problems confronting the global community. Chemistry offers more than hope in our attempts to feed, clothe, and house our burgeoning populations: It offers possibilities. In the search for renewable substitutes for scarce energy sources and minerals, chemistry provides the basic framework for materials scientists. As the medical community fights to conquer new and old diseases and improve the health of our populations, chemical principles guide the paths of investigators, suggesting correlations in results, and pointing the way toward ultimate solutions.

On a national level, chemistry provides the key to the future. In monitoring, cleaning up, and protecting our environment, chemistry can and must be wisely applied. In ensuring a healthy economy, chemistry now plays a vital role, as the U.S. chemical industry employs more than one million people and provides the second-largest positive international trade balance of all commodity groups. From community health to economic well-being, chemistry can be expected to maintain its preeminent role in shaping and protecting our nation's future.

The study of chemistry is appropriate to many different career goals, including medicine, law, physical and social sciences, engineering, and public policy. The Department of Chemistry at Tufts is well equipped to provide basic and advanced chemistry education to undergraduates. It offers a wide variety of courses, newly expanded and improved facilities, an active teaching and research faculty, and a favorable faculty-to-student ratio. Students who participate in research receive a great deal of personal attention from their faculty adviser, and have excellent opportunities for undertaking senior projects and honors theses. They may choose from a broad range of research projects, because the faculty is involved in all the traditional areas of chemical research, as well as many of the exciting new interdisciplinary endeavors. 

Undergraduate Concentration Requirements

The chemistry department offers four majors: 1) an American Chemical Society- (ACS-) certified major, 2) a chemistry major, 3) a chemical physics major, and 4) a biochemistry major. Each of these four majors must be completed with a minimum GPA of 2.00 for the courses applied to the major. Additionally, no more than one course (of any credit value) with a grade below a C- may be applied to any of these majors. The ACS-certified degree includes a certificate issued by the American Chemical Society and is recommended for those whose career goals include employment as a professional chemist or scientist, involvement in research, or graduate school in chemistry. Courses leading to a certified major include research that offers students an opportunity to work closely with members of the department's renowned research faculty. 

The major in chemical physics also carries American Chemical Society certification and is intended for those students who desire a more theoretical, physics-oriented education. The biochemistry major is recommended for those students with an interest in biologically oriented chemistry. The chemistry major offers greater flexibility in course selection.

Students with interest in any of these majors should acquire a copy of the chemistry department undergraduate handbook, available from the department office located in Pearson 110 or on the department's Web site at http://chem.tufts.edu.

ACS-Certified Major in Chemistry
Foundation: Chemistry 1, 11, or 16; and Chemistry 2 or 12. Core courses: Chemistry 31, 32, 33, 34, 42, 51, 52, 53, 54, 61, and 141. Research: Chemistry 91 and 92. The following sequence of courses is suggested: first year, Chemistry 1 (or 11) and 2 (or 12); second year, Chemistry 51/53, 52/54; third year, Chemistry 31/33, 32/34, and 42; fourth year, Chemistry 91/92, 61, and 141. The following alternate sequence is recommended for students with greater interest in physical or materials chemistry: first year, Chemistry 1 (or 11) and 2 (or 12); second year, Chemistry 31/33, 32/24, and 42; third year, Chemistry 51/53, and 52/54; fourth year, Chemistry 61, 91/92, and 141.

Major in Chemistry
Foundation: Chemistry 1, 11, or 16; and Chemistry 2 or 12; Intermediate: Chemistry 31, 33, 42, 51, 53; three additional courses in intermediate or advanced chemistry, excluding Chemistry 34 and 54; and two approved courses in related fields. Full credit chemistry courses with numbers higher than 16 (except 91) may be used to fulfill the related fields courses. Because of the importance of taking intermediate and advanced formal courses in chemistry, such as Chemistry 32, 34, 52, 54, and 61, only one course of undergraduate research, specifically Chemistry 92, Research II, may be counted toward the three additional courses in intermediate or advanced chemistry.

Work in mathematics and physics is required as a prerequisite to Chemistry 31 and 32. Additional work in biology, mathematics, and/or physics is also desirable. A student contemplating concentration in chemistry is advised to take courses in mathematics and physics as well as chemistry during the first year. Students majoring in chemistry should complete Chemistry 31, 32, 33, 42, 52, and 54 before the end of the junior year.

Major in Chemical Physics
Ten courses as follows. Foundation: Chemistry 1, 11, or 16; and Chemistry 2 or 12; four more advanced courses in chemistry; two courses in mathematics more advanced than Mathematics 13; and four courses in physics more advanced than Physics 2 or 12. Either Physics 64 or Chemistry 34 must be included. With the exception of these, one physics course and one chemistry course may be replaced by approved courses in related fields.

Faculty advisers in the chemistry and physics departments are available for consultation about the chemical physics program.

Major in Biochemistry
Chemistry 1, 11, or 16; and Chemistry 2 or 12; Chemistry 51/53, 52/54, 31, 42, 171, and 172; Biology 13, 41, 50 (or Chemical Engineering 163), and 105. Course work in mathematics (Mathematics 12) and physics (Physics 2 or 12) is required as prerequisite to Chemistry 31. The following sequence of courses is suggested for students concentrating in biochemistry: first year, Chemistry 1 (or 11) and 2 (or 12), Biology 13; second year, Chemistry 51/53, 52/54; third year, Chemistry 31 and 42, Biology 41 and 105; fourth year, Chemistry 171/172, Biology 50 (or Chemical Engineering 163).

Graduate Program
The Department of Chemistry offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry as well as in chemistry/biotechnology. Students interested in the joint chemistry/biotechnology program should obtain the booklet Academic Requirements and Procedure for the Chemistry/Biotechnology Graduate Program, available in the chemistry department office.

In the first year of graduate study, entering students meet with the department's graduate committee and are placed into a series of core courses in each of the traditional areas of chemistry: analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical. These courses are intended to ensure that by the end of the first year the student has an adequate grounding in the fundamentals of chemistry. Each student then takes additional advanced courses in his/her area of specialization.

Master of Science
A candidate for the master of science degree in chemistry is expected to have a satisfactory background in physics, mathematics, and chemistry.

All master's degree candidates are required to pass (B- or better) eight formal classroom graduate courses in chemistry or approved, related fields. Four of these courses must be in chemistry. Two may be approved independent study (293, 294). Alternatively, a student may elect to take six formal classroom courses and two credits of research (295, 296). The courses must be chosen in consultation with the graduate committee. Students may also elect to prepare a master's thesis which they must then present and defend before their research committee.

Doctor of Philosophy
The doctorate in chemistry is awarded to students who have demonstrated a broad familiarity with the science of chemistry, a thorough knowledge of their specialized field, and who have displayed competence in planning and conducting chemical research.

By the end of the third semester, each graduate student must pass (with a B- or higher) one formal classroom course in each of the four traditional areas of chemistry. At least six formal graduate courses in chemistry (exclusive of research) are required for the degree and must be completed satisfactorily by the end of the fourth semester. Additional courses in chemistry or related fields may be required by individual research supervisors.

Selection of a research supervisor is usually made on the basis of common interest during the first year. The student and research supervisor nominate two faculty members to serve on the student's doctoral committee. The doctoral committee (in conjunction with the student's research adviser) takes over the advisory function from the graduate committee and guides the student's research to promote his/her development as an independent investigator.

Doctoral students must also satisfy the following requirements:
1) Service as a teaching assistant.
2) Presentation of two independent study topics during the second year. One study topic is to be presented as a departmental seminar.
3) By the end of the eighth semester in residence, the student must successfully defend an original research proposal that will be judged on the basis of novelty and proposed methodology.
4) Completion of a dissertation reporting significant work of publishable quality.

The department is actively engaged in research in the areas of organic, inorganic, physical, and analytical chemistry, as well as the interdisciplinary areas of bioorganic, environmental, and materials chemistry. For more information concerning research interests, facilities, and financial aid, please see the booklet Graduate Program in Chemistry, available by request from the Department of Chemistry.

For more detailed information, please visit the website http://chem.tufts.edu.

To view Course Descriptions, please go to:  http://webcenter.studentservices.tufts.edu/courses/main.asp.