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We are excited that you are interested in learning more about chemistry and biochemistry at Auburn. We offer undergraduate American Chemical Society certified BS degrees in chemistry and biochemistry and a BA degree in chemistry. At the graduate level, we offer MS and PhD degrees. We hope that your interest in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will be enhanced by what you read here and that you will contact us personally and arrange a visit to see first hand what we have to offer.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has 22 highly qualified and dedicated research-active faculty. There are about 80 graduate students and a number of post-doctoral fellows. Cutting edge research is being carried out in the areas of biological chemistry, synthesis methodology, molecular recognition and detection, new material synthesis and characterization, computational chemistry and energetics, as well as in the traditional areas of analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry.

Research laboratories in the department are housed in a modern research building with a state-of-the-art air handling system. Each of the research laboratories is constructed to accommodate four researchers providing desks, hood and bench space as needed. Each floor of the research building has a lounge area where colleagues can interact with one another professionally or socially. Lecture rooms equipped with the latest audio-visual aids and conference rooms are located on the first floor, and the department provides an active program of colloquia and seminars to allow our students and faculty to continuously learn about cutting-edge research ongoing in the United States, around the world, and within the department.

Undergraduate laboratories are taught in world-class laboratories housed in a new Science Laboratory Center located adjacent to the research building.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is well equipped to do research. Major research instrumentation housed in the department include a MALDI mass spectrometer and mass spectrometers that have the capability of doing electrospray, gas chromatographic/ mass spectrometry, DCI and FAB, exact mass and MS/MS measurements. Multinuclear variable temperature NMR facilities include 600 MHz, 400 MHz, and 250 MHz spectrophotometers. An ESR and state-of the-art single crystal x-ray facilities are also available. Scanning probe microscopy, and a variety of sophisticated surface analysis techniques can be utilized. Fluorescent, CD, infrared, Raman, ultraviolet, and visible spectrophotometers are available, as are gas and high performance liquid chromatographs. Our computational facilities are excellent. In addition to the University's mainframe computer, the department has generous access to the Cray Supercomputer at the Alabama Supercomputing Center through workstations in the department. The department has full-time glass blowers with a well-equipped glass shop and has access to a superb machine shop in the Department of Physics.

The university library contains all major and most minor chemical journals. Many of these journals are available electronically and can be accessed through computers located in the department. The library contains more than 2.5 million hardbound volumes, 2.1 million volumes in micro format, and 375,000 items in the government documents collection. The library undergoes continuous expansion through the acquisition of new materials. Scarce and out-of-print materials are available through interlibrary loan from libraries across the nation. Computer-based searches of the chemical literature are available to chemistry students and faculty using Chemical Abstracts On Line in both the department and the main library. The library holdings catalog is accessible by computer from the department.

Auburn University is a dynamic comprehensive university with 20,000 undergraduates and about 3500 graduate students. The student population comes from all fifty states, 4 US territories and the District of Columbia as well as over 100 foreign countries. The university is located in Auburn, AL. The city of Auburn has about 45,000 people and is located about 110 miles southwest of Atlanta, GA, via interstate 85. The area is a wonderful place to live and study. Auburn has a moderate climate year-round, is an economical place to live, and is surrounded by a beautiful wooded countryside. A state park is located a few miles from the department and the beautiful gulf coast beaches are about four hours away. The university, with its world class sports facilities and sports teams, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art, Auburn University Theatre and its many concert and lecture series, provides a rich cultural and recreational environment. In order to appreciate what graduate study at Auburn really is, we hope that you will visit our campus and department as you consider where to enroll. Please call us at 334-844-4043 to arrange a visit. The internet contains more information on The College of Sciences and Mathematics, Auburn University and the City of Auburn.

Dr. S. D. Worley
Professor and Interim Chair
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry