Faculty: Professors Weisshaar (chair), Berry, Blackwell, Brunold, Burke, Burstyn, Cavagnero, Coon, Crim, Cui, Ediger, Fredrickson, Gellman, Goldsmith, Gopalan, Hamers, Hsung, Jin, Keutsch, Kiessling, Landis, Li, Lynn, Mahanthappa, McMahon, Mecozzi, Moore, Nathanson, Nelsen, Raines, Record, Reich, Schmidt, Schomaker, Schwartz, Shakhashiri, Sibert, Skinner, Smith, Stahl, Strieter, Woods, Wright, Yethiraj, Yoon, Zanni, Zimmerman
The department offers a master of science and a doctor of philosophy in chemistry. Specializations within the program are analytical, inorganic, materials, organic, and physical chemistry as well as chemical biology. Breadth coursework may be taken in other departments including physics, mathematics, computer sciences, biochemistry, chemical engineering, and in fields other than the student's specialization within the Department of Chemistry.
Excellent facilities are available for research in a wide variety of specialized fields including synthetic and structural chemistry; natural product, and bio-organic chemistry; molecular dynamics and photochemistry; biophysical, bioanalytical, and bioinorganic chemistry; spectroscopy (including magnetic resonance and microwave), theoretical and experimental chemical physics, chemical dynamics, quantum and statistical mechanics; macromolecular and polymer chemistry, materials science, surface and solid-state chemistry; x-ray crystallography, lasers, and light scattering; and chemical education. Programs are assisted by department computing and instrument centers and by other facilities on campus including those of the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) and the Synchrotron Radiation Center.
Information on the research fields of faculty members is available in the American Chemical Society Directory of Graduate Research, on the chemistry website, and in a brochure available from the department.
The department offers opportunities for graduate students to obtain teaching experience. Financial assistance is available to most graduate students in the form of teaching or research assistantships, fellowships, or traineeships.
Prospective graduate students are expected to have satisfactorily completed the equivalent in class and lab of the fundamental courses in chemistry offered at UW–Madison, one year of physics, and mathematics through calculus. Students who have not completed all the prerequisites may be admitted in exceptional cases, but any deficiencies must be made up in the first year of graduate study.
A grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work is the minimum required for admission to graduate studies. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is also required. The subject test is recommended for fellowship and international applicants. Students for whom English is not the native language are required to present scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Before teaching assistant appointments can be finalized, students for whom English is a second language must participate in the SPEAK Test, the institutional version of the Test of Spoken English (TSE).
For more information: Department of Chemistry, Graduate Admissions, Room 2108 Chemistry Building, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706; 608-262-0363; toll-free 888-997-2436; gradadm@chem.wisc.edu; Department of Chemistry: www.chem.wisc.edu Graduate Admissions: www.chem.wisc.edu/content/admission-guide.
