Chemistry Seminar consists of a weekly series of presentations on current research given by senior UR chemistry majors and visiting scientists. Chemistry Seminar consists of three courses: Chem 322, Chem 421, and Chem 422.
The overall goals of the Chemistry Seminar course sequence include developing skills in communicating (written and oral) science. Additionally, this is the capstone experience for chemistry majors and helps develop community and a common experience (it’s the only time all chemistry majors are altogether with all faculty).
Course Descriptions
Chem 322: Junior Seminar
Chem 322 is normally taken in the junior year and requires regular attendance in the departmental seminar program (~one class hour per week). To help motivate your intellectual engagement with the seminar speakers and their presentations, you will be required to:
- Attend all scheduled student seminars and outside guest seminars in an engaged manner.
- For all scheduled outside guest seminars (i.e., seminars by visiting scientists), preview their presentation topic by briefly scanning over (i.e., survey reading) one or more of the references listed on the seminar schedule webpage.
- For one scheduled visiting scientist seminar, read at least one of the listed references in detail a few days before their seminar; then, write a one-two page, typed, summary and explanation of your understanding of that reference. For guidelines, see descriptions below. The summary/explanation for the reference must be submitted before seminar on the week of the associated seminar presentation.
- Write a ½-1 page (i.e., a paragraph), typed, summary/critique for each student seminar. Each summary/critique for each student seminar presentation should be submitted before seminar the week following the seminar associated with your critique. You should take notes with pen on paper during the presentation (i.e., no computer usage during the actual presentation) and then compose the summary/critique as soon after the seminar presentation as possible. For guidelines, see descriptions below.
The summary/explanation for the visiting seminar speaker reference should be 1-2 pages and include a description of your understanding of: a) the most important result and/or conclusion presented in the publication, b) the key technique that was central to the experiment design of the research reported in the paper, and c) the relevance of the research, and results thereof, reported in the paper (i.e., why, in your assessment/opinion the research was worth having been published).
The summary/critique for each student seminar presentation should be ½-1 page in length and should identify what, from the seminar presentation, you understood to be: a) the most important result and/or conclusion made by the presenter from the research they presented, b) the key experiment design features of the research reported by presenter, and c) the relevance of the research and results that were presented. In a concluding statement give your assessment of the effectiveness of the seminar presentation in explaining the material (i.e., this could/should include a comment on how you think the talk could have been improved to make it more effective). You should also include, at the very end, at least one question that you asked, and/or formulated and were prepared to ask, the speaker at the end of their seminar.
Prerequisite: Chemistry 206.
Unit(s): 0.
Chem 421/422: Senior Seminar
Chem 421/422 are the Fall semester and Spring semester seminar courses, respectively, that are required of all senior UR chemistry majors, each of whom will complete their Senior Seminar during one of the two semesters.
Each Senior Seminar will include both an oral Seminar Presentation and a formal Written Paper. The Seminar Presentation and Written Paper may either be based on one's own Research or on an article from the recent research Literature. In addition to comleting their Senior Seminar during one of the two semesters, each senior is also required during each semester to fully participate in the departmental seminar program. In this context, full participation means, that in addition to regular attendance (~one class hour per week), each student is expected to be fully intellectually engaged during each seminar, whether that involves being the actual seminar presenter for the day or actively listening to the presentation being made, seeking to understand the topic and to formulate follow-up questions to ask the presenter.
To help motivate your intellectual engagement with the seminar speakers and their presentations, you will be required to:
- Attend all scheduled student seminars and outside guest seminars in an engaged manner.
- Read at least one of the references listed for each of the visiting scientist seminar speakers a few days before the visiting speaker presents their seminar.
- Write a ½-1 page (i.e., a paragraph), typed, summary/critique for 3 of the visiting scientist seminar presentations. Each summary/critique should be submitted before seminar the week following the seminar associated with your critique. You should take notes with pen on paper during the presentation (i.e., no computer usage during the actual presentation) and then compose the summary/critique as soon after the seminar presentation as possible. For guidelines, see description below.
- Present Your Senior Seminar Presentation to the seminar class, which can either be on your Research or on a recent article from the research Literature.
- Write a Formal Report Paper on the same topic (i.e., either your Research or a recent article from the research Literature). An electronic version of your Formal Report Paper must be submitted no later than two weeks after the date of your Senior Seminar Presentation. For guidelines, see details in the Seminar Chem421/422 Syllabus, and also see the ACS “Preparing a Research Report”.]
The summary/critique for the 3 visiting scientist seminar presentations that you select to submit should be ½-1 page in length and should identify what, from the seminar presentation, you understood to be: a) the most important result and/or conclusion made by the presenter from the research they presented, b) the key experiment design features of the research reported by presenter, and c) the relevance of the research and results that were presented. In a concluding statement give your assessment of the effectiveness of the seminar presentation in explaining the material (i.e., this could/should include a comment on how you think the talk could have been improved to make it more effective). You should also include, at the very end, at least one question that you asked, and/or formulated and were prepared to ask, the speaker at the end of their seminar.
Prerequisite: Chemistry 322 or Biology 387. Chemistry 421 is a prerequisite for Chemistry 422.
Unit(s): 0 (421) - 0.5 (422)