Archives
2013 News
June 10, 2013
Santanu Sarkar, a UCR chemistry graduate student in the group of Prof. Robert Haddon, has been named as one of the finalists for the highly prestigious international Reaxys PhD Prize for 2013. He has been invited to attend and present his work at the Reaxys PhD Prize Symposium and Poster Session which will be held at the inaugural Reaxys Inspiring Chemistry Conference, Grindelwald, Switzerland, September 22 - 24, 2013. Read More
June 07, 2013
Qiao Zhang, a PhD student recently graduated from Prof. Yadong Yin's group, has been selected by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to receive one of the five 2013 IUPAC Prizes for Young Chemists. According to IUPAC, the prizes are given for the most outstanding Ph.D. theses in the general area of the chemical sciences. In addition to a cash prize of USD 1000, Qiao will be provided travel expenses to the 44th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress, 8-15 August 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey, where he will be invited to present a poster to describe his award-winning work. While in Prof. Yin's group, Qiao's research was mainly focused on the design and fabrication of nanomaterials and their applications in catalysis, including the mechanistic study of colloidal synthesis of metal nanoparticle catalysts, stabilization of metal nanoparticles to make reliable catalysts, and engineering the metal-based catalysts for significantly enhanced performance. Qiao is currently working as a postdoc at the University of California, Berkeley. Read More
June 03, 2013
Pauline Olsen, a third-year undergraduate biochemistry-chemistry major, has been recognized as one of the 2013 UCR Chancellor's Research Fellows. Pauline's research, conducted under the guidance of Dr. Jack Eichler in the department of chemistry, generally aims to investigate the potential anticancer properties of gold(III) coordination complexes. Her previous research in the lab focused on investigating the serum albumin binding of a five-coordinate gold(III) complex, and her work revealed that binding with this protein may limit the in vivo antitumor efficacy of this compound. Pauline has presented her research at the Fall 2012 Southern California Undergraduate Research Conference, the Spring 2013 Southern California Undergraduate Chemistry Research Symposium, and most recently at the Spring 2013 UCR Undergraduate Research Symposium. Her findings are also included in a paper that has recently been submitted to the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. Pauline's proposal for the Chancellor's Research Fellowship described her plans to make new gold(III) coordination complexes that have weaker binding to serum albumin proteins, and potentially enhanced antitumor activity.
May 29, 2013
Assistant Professor Richard Hooley has been awarded the 2013 Chancellor's Award for Fostering Excellence in Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement. This award is intended to recognize his contributions to mentoring undergraduate research students in a laboratory setting. Professor Hooley's research interests lie in the synthesis of nanoscale molecular receptors, the study of their properties and applicability to a variety of processes, including novel materials, biosensing and selective catalysis. He has mentored twelve undergraduate students during his time at UC Riverside, and these students have been a core component of his research team, contributing significantly to published research papers and projects. Students from Prof Hooley's lab have gone on to places in medical schools and chemistry graduate programs, and this award is a testament to their commitment and dedication to research at UC Riverside.
May 22, 2013
Andrew Carlson is UCR's recipient of the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry's Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry for 2013. The award is intended to recognize senior students who display a significant aptitude for organic chemistry and to encourage further interest in the field. Andrew is completing his research on novel luciferins in the laboratory of Prof. Michael Pirrung and will be enrolling in graduate school at UCLA in the Fall. Read More
May 14, 2013
The atom-sized world of carbon nanotubes holds great promise for a future demanding smaller and faster electronic components. Nanotubes are stronger than steel and smaller than any element of silicon-based electronics-the ubiquitous component of today's electrical devices-and have better conductivity, which means they can potentially process information faster while using less energy. The challenge has been figuring out how to incorporate all those great properties into useful electronic devices. A new discovery by four scientists at the University of California, Riverside has brought us closer to the goal. They discovered that by adding ionic liquid-a kind of liquid salt-they can modify the optical transparency of single-walled carbon nanotube films in a controlled pattern. Read More
May 03, 2013
Anticancer drugs save lives and/or improve the quality of life for many cancer patients. Many anti-cancer drugs work by killing tumor cells after inducing damage to DNA. The public has an opportunity to learn about the mechanisms of action of some commonly used anticancer drugs and how laboratory research may lead to novel targets and new strategies for cancer treatment. Yinsheng Wang, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Riverside, will give a free lecture on May 16 on campus to discuss those drugs that induce damage to DNA, as well as those biomolecules that allow for selective targeting of tumor cells. He will also discuss the implications of personalized medicine in cancer treatment. Read More
May 03, 2013
Professor and Chemistry Department chair Cynthia K. Larive has been appointed as an editor of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. Dr. Larive joins Prof. Sylvia Daunert, University of Miami, and Dr. Stephen Wise, NIST, as the North American editors of the journal. The mission of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry is the rapid publication of excellent and high-impact research articles on fundamental and applied topics of analytical and bioanalytical science. The journal's broad scope encompasses the entire range of analytical and bioanalytical research encouraging multidisciplinary solutions to problems in this field. Read More
April 25, 2013
Research by UC Riverside scientists have found that the optical transparency of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) films coated with a layer of an ionic liquid (IL) can be dramatically increased or decreased depending on the sign of the applied electrical potential. The change of transparency can be uniform across the SWNT thin film and utilized for large area electrochromic smart windows for energy efficient buildings and vehicles. The modulation of transparency can also be configured in a form of a designed pattern thereby allowing SWNT film to display electrically configurable optical information. The research article describing this finding appeared in April 21, 2013 online release of Nature Photonics and is authored by UCR scientists Feihu Wang (first author), Mikhail Itkis, Elena Bekyarova and Robert Haddon, representing work from the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Departments of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, and Chemical and Environmental Engineering at UC Riverside. Read More
April 15, 2013
Dr. Jack Eichler will receive the 2013 Innovative Teaching Award on May 1st, 2013 for his lecture on "Pedagogies of Engagement in Large Enrollment Introductory Course". See link for Abstract. Read More
April 11, 2013
Mary Nguyen, a junior in Chemistry and a University Honors student at UC Riverside, has been selected as a 2013 Goldwater Scholarship recipient. The Goldwater Scholarship provides $7500 for juniors to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering, and to foster excellence in those fields. In interviewing Mary for campus endorsement, Vice Provost Steve Brint, found her academics, research experience, career goals, and passion for research to fit the qualities that the Goldwater Scholarship seeks in eligible candidates. Read More
April 06, 2013
Le He, a fifth year graduate student of the Yin group won a Graduate Student Award and a Poster Award at the 2013 Materials Research Society spring meeting in San Francisco. The MRS Graduate Student Awards recognize students of exceptional ability who show promise for significant future achievement in materials research. Le presented his work on magnetic responsive photonic nanostructures in the meeting. Congratulations Le! Read More
April 02, 2013
On 3/29 three graduate students of the Bartels Lab received prestigious fellowships: MSE student Chen Wang and EE student Miguel Isarraraz received National Science Foundation graduate fellowships for studies on the catalytic and electronic properties, respectively, of molybdenum disulfide and related materials. Physics student Jon Wyrick received a National Research Council Postdoctoral fellowship for scanning tunneling microscopy studies at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) to start after his graduation in Fall.
March 27, 2013
Julia, Karissa and Sophia, 7th graders at Matthew Gage Middle School, celebrate their 1st place win of the Chemistry Department's sponsored research award at the RUSD Science Fair. Great job ladies!
March 17, 2013
Michael Janner, a high school student from Redlands East Valley High School, recently published his research results in Nano Letters, a top tier journal in the field of nanoscience. He worked as a summer intern in Prof. Yadong Yin's group since 2010. In this paper, he shared the co-first authorship with a graduate student, Qiao Zhang due to his significant contribution to the work. Together they discovered the self-assembly of novel two-dimensional photonic labyrinth structures under magnetic fields and further developed an effective method to solidify the structures and enable detailed characterization. This work is believed to provide a platform for fabricating novel materials and devices with complex morphologies and spatial configurations. Read More
March 13, 2013
The University of California, Riverside's Department of Chemistry has awarded five undergraduate students with the Alumni Scholarship Award. This award is made possible by the support of the Chemistry Department Alumni and is awarded to undergraduate students for their academic achievements, research involvement and extra-curricular activities. The following students have demonstrated such merit and were awarded the scholarship: Kliment Bozhilov, Andrew Carlson, Nicole Godfrey, Christopher Margono, and Mary Nguyen. On behalf of the Chemistry Department, we congratulate them for their achievements. Read More
March 12, 2013
Student Joseph Nakatani with Science Teacher Mr. Matt Schiller from Poly High in Riverside celebrate earning the 2nd place Department of Chemistry's Excellence in Research Award for the RUSD 2012 Science and Engineering Fair. Way to go Joseph!
February 19, 2013
Chemists at the University of California, Riverside have developed a compound that holds much promise in the laboratory in fighting renal (kidney) cancer. Named TIR-199, the compound targets the "proteasome," a cellular complex in kidney cancer cells, similar to the way the drug bortezomib, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, targets and inhibits the proteasome in multiple myeloma cells, a cancer coming from bone marrow. Michael Pirrung, a distinguished professor of chemistry at UC Riverside, announced the development of TIR-199 in a lecture he gave on Feb. 19 at the 5th International Conference on Drug Discovery and Therapy, held in Dubai, UAE. Read More
February 13, 2013
UCR Chemistry alum Dr. Renee Williams has been selected from more than 500 applicants as the recipient of a prestigious UC Presidents Postdoctoral Fellowship. A recent graduate from our Department, Dr. Williams received her Ph.D. from UCR in December 2012 under the direction of Prof. Yinsheng Wang. This fellowship will fully fund her postdoctoral research on improving the treatment of aerosol chemistry impacts in models, and provide incentives for faculty appointment at the University of California campuses. Read More
February 07, 2013
Dr. Hill Harman has accepted a position at UC Riverside as a Assistant Professor of Chemistry and will be joining the department early July, 2013. His research includes the development of new reaction centered on d- and p-block elements for the catalysis of chemical reactions relevant to these broad goals, such as the storage of electrical current as chemical fuels (electrocatalytic H+ and CO2 reduction), hydrocarbon conversions (C-H activation), and the transformation of renewable biomass to liquid fuels (hydrodeoxygenation). Read More
January 17, 2013
Three University of California, Riverside scientists and engineers are members of a new national research center - the Center for Spintronic Materials, Interfaces, and Novel Architectures (C-SPIN) - focused on developing the next generation of microelectronics. Led by the University of Minnesota, C-SPIN is being supported by a five-year $28 million grant, about $3 million of which is allocated to UC Riverside. Read More
January 11, 2013
Awards to Eric Chronister, Jack Eichler and Richard Hooley. IUIT proposals address planned research and experimentation to develop and evaluate novel ideas that integrate technology with course curriculum and pedagogy. This program is made feasible by the new student technology fee paid by all undergraduate and graduate students at UCR. The program goal is to solicit and support creative and effective ideas for improving instruction through innovative use of information technologies. Read More
January 01, 2013
Recent work in the Bartels group showed the growth of a novel Mo2S3 single layer film on a copper surface. This film was found to interact strongly with oxygenate species, much stronger than the basal plane and the edges of MoS2 islands, which are a common catalyst for the production of alcohols from syngas, suggesting structural diversity in MoS2-based catalyst may play a significant role in their catalytic application. Data obtained in this study include low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy imaging, high-level density functional theory modeling, as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy. The article appeared in Angewandte Chemie. Read More
2012 News
December 05, 2012
Congratulation goes to Katherine Djernes on receiving the 2012 ACS Ciba Student Travel Award. Only 4 students in the nation were selected to receive this award. Katherine has a significant green chemistry or sustainability component, to expand the students' education in green chemistry which will be presented in the next ACS meeting. Read More
December 01, 2012
Congratulation goes to Prof. Pingyun Feng's on her election to the 2012 class of AAAS Fellows. She is being honored for distinguished contributions to the field of porous inorganic and materials chemistry, particularly for the rational design of semiconducting porous materials and for the advancement of chalcogenide cluster chemistry. Read More
November 20, 2012
When Kerry Hanson from the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Riverside stepped to the front of a third grade classroom at Riverside's Taft Elementary one day last month, automatically, the students paid attention. They listened, and many shot up their hands when she asked a question. Read More
November 14, 2012
The University of California, Riverside has received three grants from the U.S. Department of Education to assist graduate students with excellent records who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue the highest degree available in a field of national need. Called "Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need"(GAANN), the national program will provide fellowships to graduate students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents through academic departments at UC Riverside... Read More
November 07, 2012
Prof. Mihri Ozkan, Prof. Cengiz S. Ozkan, and co-workers report a new fluorescence quenching microscopy metrology technique that allows the identification of graphene layers and doped/undoped regions across a large graphene landscape by utilizing the fact that undoped regions of graphene quench fluorescence more than the doped regions through resonant energy transfer. Contrast differences in fluorescence across the graphene sheet reveal the complex ring-patterned doping. This metrology technique is well-suited for industrial, large-scale, pristine, and modified graphene sheet surface characterization. Ozkans' and their co-workers' related work published as cover articles in high-venue journals: SMALL, NANOSCALE and ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS Read More
November 02, 2012
Researchers, including chemists at the University of California, Riverside, have found that the type of skin pigment predominantly found in red-haired, fair-skinned individuals may itself contribute to the development of melanoma... Read More
October 26, 2012
The University of California, Riverside has granted an exclusive license to The Idea Zoo, Inc., to commercialize nanotechnology research developed in the lab of Yadong Yin, an associate professor of chemistry.. Read More
October 10, 2012
A few years ago, the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Riverside decided to increase the relevancy of its introductory chemistry courses and enhance student learning. One solution rose to the top: hire someone whose job would be to focus on the general chemistry program... Read More
October 01, 2012
Chemistry graduate student Consuelo Beecher was among the nearly 4000 attendees at the SACNAS national conference held Oct. 11-14 in Seattle. Consuelo received a SACNAS travel award to attend the meeting and present a poster on her research. Read More
August 29, 2012
Cindy Larive, chair of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Riverside, is well known for her work in bioanalytical chemistry, including research on the stress response of plants to flooding and drought and methods for detecting whether fruit juices have been “watered down” with cheaper ingredients.... Read More
August 21, 2012
Yinsheng Wang's group has developed a method called "competitive transcription and adduct bypass"or CTAB, that can help explain how DNA damage arising from anticancer drugs and environmental chemicals leads to cancer development. Professor Wang's paper in Nature Chemical Biology describes how DNA modifications lead to aberrant transcription and ultimately a disruption in protein synthesis and also provides insights into the process of DNA repair. Read More
June 30, 2012
Catharine Larsen, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, will present the first lecture in a quarterly series named "The Science of Art," to begin July 1, 2010 at the Riverside Art Museum, 3425 Mission Inn Ave. Her talk entitled "Our Amazing Eyes" will be presented three times - at 7 pm, 7:30 pm, and 8 pm. Admission is free.... Read More