Two GW Chemistry Department graduate students in white coats looking through microscopes

Research

Collaboration is critical to breakthroughs in research. In the Chemistry Department, close-knit teams of faculty members and students motivate each other toward new discoveries. From studying mutated proteins that cause birth defects to creating biodegradable and green solutions for the environment, our researchers work every day on solutions that have an immediate and lasting impact on the world.

Chemistry students often tell us how much they enjoyed their research experiences. With a large faculty who are generous with their time and projects, the department offers one-of-a-kind lab opportunities for students from undergraduate through postgraduate levels. Students on small research teams enjoy a collegial community and the opportunity to build lifelong connections in the scientific world. And our students have been published in national publications, presented at conferences and even contributed their names to patents for inventions.

Research Areas

Our faculty each have distinct areas of expertise within the chemistry discipline, and lead research teams corresponding to their expertise. Undergraduate and graduate students are engaged collaborators in their work.

Professor of Chemistry Akos Vertes in a lab

Erik Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of Chemistry

An open notebook on a table inside the GW Chemistry lab

Researcher with equipment in the green chemistry lab

Christopher Cahill with a student

Professor Dowd with Abby Pepin

Professor Houston Miller Physical Chemistry Lab

Students from Kostal's lab look at computer models

Faculty and Research Staff Office Hours

Carly Filgueira

BS ’03
2018 Seminar Speaker

"Professor Houston Miller saw my passion and commitment for research and cultivated and supported it."

Research Staff and Postdoctoral Scientists

Nathan Banek
Post Doctoral Scientist
Wagner lab

Aaron Nicholas
Post Doctoral Scientist
Cahill Lab

Felipe Montecinos Franjola
Post Doctoral Scientist
Rodriguez Lab

Juan Vicini
Research Assistant
Licht Lab

Xirui Wang
Post Doctoral Scientist
Licht Lab

Last Updated 08/22/19

Happening in Our Labs

A group of four chemists in blue lab coats and goggles look at a lab manual together

For Environmental Chemists, It’s Easy Being Green

How do you safely design chemicals that won’t harm the environment? In her classroom and her lab, Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal promotes green chemistry principles. Her newest project may change the way scientists do business.

Student in Miller's laser lab in black goggles leaning over equipment

Using Lasers to Develop Sensors

Professor of Chemistry J. Houston Miller’s team works on spectroscopy research, using beams of light to determine the presence of substances within flames and in other samples. Miller has refined a technique in which a laser beam bouncing between mirrors can provide sensitive and precise measurements of the presence of molecules within a sample. The method can be used to develop sensors, and a Pennsylvania company has employed Miller’s system in a commercial atmospheric device.