Research is supported by all of the standard instrumentation including atomic absorption, infrared, ultraviolet/visible, nuclear magnetic resonance, and inductively-coupled plasma emission spectrometers, gas and liquid chromatographs, and mass spectrometers, including an ICP-MS system. Specialized equipment includes ultra-high vacuum systems, Auger spectrometers, LED, a thin film deposition apparatus, scanning tunneling microscope, atomic force microscope, laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-MS), and a well equipped laser spectroscopy laboratory suite. In addition, the majority of the faculty have cooperative research efforts with one or more of the well equipped local government laboratories. The department also maintains several workstations for computational research.

The University has three major libraries with an excellent collection of monographs and all of the essential science and engineering journals. Additional library capacities are available through the local university consortium and the many government research institutions. The University has an excellent computer center. Prestigious government facilities of direct relevance to chemistry in the Washington metropolitan area include:

• Food and Drug Administration, (FDA)
• National Institute of Standards and Technology, (NIST)
• National Institutes of Health, (NIH)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration, (NASA)
• Naval Research Laboratory, (NRL)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (USEPA)
• U.S. Geologic Survey, (USGS)
• Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Smithsonian Institutions
• FBI Academy