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.

 

 

Faculty and Research Staff Office Hours

 

Carly Filgueira with Dr. Houston Miller

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

Last Updated 08/22/19

 

 

Happening in Our Labs

Chemistry Professor Emeritus Michael King teaching in Tompkins Hall, the former home of science and engineering.

Endowment Bequest Builds Beloved Professor Michael King’s Legacy of Impact

Testamentary gifts from the King family will fund the GW Chemistry Department’s first endowed professorship and support GW Hillel.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ling Hao in her SEH lab

Kitchen Chemistry: At-Home Experiments Enhance Remote Learning

When COVID limited students’ access to campus labs, chemistry professors designed a do-it-yourself solution to provide an “authentic research experience.”
Martín Zysmilich sits by a lake with his dog, Lola.

Martín Zysmilich on Virtual Learning Techniques

Martín Zysmilich says some techniques from virtual learning should remain in place whenever classes convene in person again. Among his favorite methods to make his students feel comfortable? Virtual appearances from his rescue dog, Lola.
Jennifer Giaccai, GW Ph.D. candidate, Miller Lab, analyzing carbon-based soot

Using Chemistry to Understand Ancient Asian Art

Jennifer Giaccai, a PhD candidate, in the Miller Lab, combines her passion for chemistry and art as part of a research project analyzing carbon-based soot.
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.

GW Professor Christopher Cahill and PhD Candidate August Ridenour confer

Exploring the Frontier of the Periodic Table

Chemistry’s Christopher Cahill has focused his research on some of the least-studied—and most dangerous—elements on the Periodic Table. It’s taken him from nuclear science labs to the heart of government policy-making.