Undergraduate research has been shown to have positive impacts for participants including students choosing to pursue advanced degrees.  Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic limited opportunities for undergraduate to pursue meaningful research experiences.  Many undergraduate summer research programs decided to cancel summer 2020 and summer 2021 programs. The impact of lost opportunities could have negative implications for the number of students choosing to pursue advanced degrees in the chemical sciences.  The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) Chemistry and Chemical Research Experience for Undergraduate programs adapted their research programs to a virtual format and offered virtual research opportunities for summer 2020 and 2021. In total the UW-Madison summer 2020 and 2021 programs hosted 40 undergraduate students for virtual research experiences.  The virtual REU program included expanded professional development opportunities, group research projects, faculty research talks, and a virtual end of summer poster session. The pedagogy, curriculum, implementation, and evaluation of the virtual programming will be presented.

Design and implementation of a virtual undergraduate summer research program in the chemical sciences

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.