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Student Research Opportunities

Research Overview

Research is a key component of our degree programs and takes place throughout the calendar year. By working closely with faculty members in generating new scientific knowledge, students gain critical skills that will prepare them for future careers in chemistry, biochemistry/biotechnology, physics, material science, and earth and space sciences.

Students get involved in research through several different mechanisms. Many perform research as part of an independent studies project to receive college credits. In the summer, summer undergraduate research fellowships (SURF) are available through various federal and state sources. In recent years, faculty members have received financial support for research from National Institute of Health (via RI-INBRE), National Science Foundation (via RI-EPSCoR), the State of Rhode Island (via STAC) and the Rhode Island College Faculty Research Fund.

Faculty Research Interests

Karen Almeida, PhD
kalmeida@ric.edu
Biochemistry                                                                                      
Research Interests: Bioenergetics, Metabolism, DNA damage response, Protein purification, Structure function studies
More information here.

Laura Cooley, PhD
lcooley@ric.edu
Physical Chemistry
Research Interests: Fluorescence, Tryptophan, Micelles, Fluorescence anisotropy, Binding studies
To learn more, click here.

Andrea Del Vecchio, PhD
adelvecchio@ric.edu
Materials Science
Research Interests: Thin films, metals, mechanical properties, colloids, crystal structure, crystal growth, soft materials
More information here.

Sarah Knowlton, PhD
sknowlton@ric.edu
Chemistry, Oceanography

Research Interests: Fate and transport of road salt in Rhode Island freshwater systems and the potential impacts on the Narragansett Bay watershed; Biogeochemical cycles and chemical distributions in coastal waters, including Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island Sound, and Block Island Sound
For more information, click here.

Marc Lamontagne, PhD
MLaMontagne@ric.edu
Analytical Chemistry

Research Interests: Ion analysis of freshwater systems, metal analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy, chromatography

Chin Hin Leung, PhD
cleung@ric.edu
Inorganic/Organometallic Chemistry
Research Interests: Green Chemistry, Renewable Chemical Feedstocks, Organometallics, Catalysis, Inorganic Synthesis, Ligand Synthesis, DNA-binding Metal Complexes, Metal-based Antitumor Compounds
For more information, click here.

Elaine Magyar, PhD
emagyar@ric.edu  
Physical Organic Chemistry

Research Interests: Reaction mechanisms, properties and reactions of cyclopropanes, photochemistry, computational chemistry of small organic molecules and of proteins.
For more information, click here.

James G. Magyar, PhD
jmagyar@ric.edu
Physical Organic Chemistry; Photochemistry; Environmental Chemistry                                                   
Research Interests: Environmental Chemistry; Determination of metals in natural samples; Trace organics by GC-MS; Fluorescence analysis of natural waters; Molecular Visualization; Organic Photochemistry
For more information, click here.

Peter S. Meyer, PhD
pmeyer@ric.edu
Geology, Oceanography
Research Interests: Crystal Growth in Magmatic Systems, Crystal Size Distribution in Igneous Rocks, Radon Emission from Rhode Island Granites, Impact of Climate Change on the Coast of New England

Medini Padmanabhan, PhD
mpadmanabhan@ric.edu
Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
Research Interests: Electronic devices, Micro/nano structured materials, Transport measurements in thin films, Optical characterization, Electrochemical growth
For more information, click here.

Steven Rivers, PhD
srivers@ric.edu
Physics
Research Interests: Surface physics, thin film growth, phase transitions

Daniel P Snowman, PhD                                                                 
dsnowman@ric.edu
Physics

Research Interests: Theoretical & Computational physics with a focus on Renormalization-Group Theory, Field Theory, Diophantine Polynomials, Number Theory, Riemannian Topology, Ising Networks, Competition

Jamie Towle-Weicksel, PhD
jtowle-weicksel@ric.edu
Biochemistry
Research Interests: Polymerase kinetics, DNA repair, cancer, melanoma, protein purification, protein dynamics, fluorescence resonance energy transfer
For more information, click here.

John C. Williams, Jr., PhD
jcwilliams@ric.edu
Organic, Bio-organic and Organophosphorus Chemistry
Research Interests: Synthesis, Toxicology, SAR’s, Arylphosphonium Salts, Cationic Lipophiles, Antioxidants, Antibiotics, Antibiotic Polymers, Anti-cancer Agents, Neuroprotective Polypeptides, MAOS, SSPS, HPLC, Estrogen Receptor and DNA Binders by Experimental and Computational Chemistry, Hsp70 in G. demissa, Climate Sentinels, Narragansett Bay
For more information, click here.

Benjamin Young, PhD                                                                 
byoung@ric.edu
Physics

Research Interests: Surface and Interface Physics, Crystallography, Ion Bombardment, Geiger-Muller tubes and fast pulse counting, Electron Spectroscopies, Monte Carlo Simulation, XPS core and valence models

Recent Student Research Projects

Click here for a list of recent titles.​

Links to External Programs

Summer Opportunities

Additional Information for Students​​

Page last updated: October 27, 2017