Welcome to the UW Department of Chemistry! Please review the pages below for information about our degree programs, research opportunities, and resources to support graduate students. We hear from our students that our expansive research facilities and accessible faculty contribute to an excellent graduate experience. If you need financial assistance to help you realize your dreams, financial support is available. If you are serious about pursuing your graduate education with us, please review the admissions section.
Graduate Programs
Graduate Program News
Congratulations to Jiahao "Bobby" Wan, who defended his Ph.D. work “Nitrile Imines as Peptide and Oligonucleotide Photo-Cross-Linkers in Gas-Phase Ions” on November 22, 2024. Jiahao was a student in Professor Frank Tureček’s research group. He worked on developing novel gas-phase cross-linking strategies for structural analysis of biomolecules. He will stay for a few more weeks until the end of the quarter, so come by BAG 310 to say "hi" and chat with him about fishing and soccer games!
The National First-Generation College Celebration is on November 8, and we’re celebrating our first-generation community!
Read graduate student Adrian Guerrero’s story as Featured on UW College of Arts & Sciences News.
The National First-Generation College Celebration is on November 8, and we’re celebrating our first-generation community!
Read graduate student Jacob Russell’s story as Featured on UW College of Arts & Sciences News.
Congratulations to Kelly Walsh, who defended her Ph.D. work, "Spin-Correlated Optical Properties of Ferromagnetic Nanostructures,” on October 11, 2024. Kelly was a student in Professor Daniel Gamelin’s research group and has accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of California, Berkeley. She will be at the UW through the rest of the autumn quarter, so swing by CHB 222 to say hi before her move in the New Year!
Congratulations to Leo Zasada, who defended his Ph.D. work “Conjugated Metal–Organic Macrocycles as Solution-Processable Semiconductors” on October 22, 2024. Leo was a student in Assistant Professor Dianne Xiao's research group and studied making porous crystalline semiconductors into solution phase inks for future ease of industrial scale up.
The UW Molecular Engineering Ph.D. program celebrated 12 students who successfully defended their theses during the 2023-2024 academic year on May 31, 2024. Faculty, students, and the graduates’ family and friends were in attendance. These MolE Ph.D. graduates conducted interdisciplinary research across eight different departments and organizations.
During the ceremony, Gökçe Altin was awarded the MolES Distinguished Dissertation Award for her publication, “3D printed engineered living… Read more
Congratulations to Yuting Zeng, who defended her Ph.D. work “Elucidating Human Disease Mechanisms Using Innovative Open Microfluidic Platforms” on June 17, 2024. Yuting was a student in Professor Ashleigh Theberge’s research group and worked on biomedical applications of multiple open microfluidic devices, including kidney disease, airway inflammation, and wildfire smoke exposure. She has accepted a position as a business operations manager… Read more
What are your group’s dissertation defense traditions?
Keller group
Sarah L. Keller, Duane and Barbara LaViolette Endowed Professor of Chemistry:
One year, on a lark, I made a cake that illustrated a graduate student’s research project and used it as a visual aid during my introduction of their dissertation defense. Somehow, the next couple of students’ projects also lent themselves to cakes. (Our lab’s main research focus is on lipid vesicles and cell membranes, which tend to be round. See… Read more
What are your group’s dissertation defense traditions?
Vaughan Group
Professor Joshua C. Vaughan:
We do a Doktorhut (German-style “doctor hats” or mortarboard) decorated with memorabilia, miniature interpretations of research papers, sculptures of volcanoes, and blinking lights. These are lots of fun. (Lauren Gagnon '19 is pictured above.)
We also do a "lightning wisdom transfer" from each successive graduate student to the next using a plasma… Read more
Congratulations to Atchuthan Gopalan, who defended his Ph.D. work “Redox Targeting Insights and Applications for High-Energy-Density Redox Flow Batteries” on August 14, 2024. Atchuthan was a student in Professor Daniel Gamelin’s research group and investigated the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of redox-active solids with liquid electrolytes found in flow batteries.