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 Daniel Brush, who defended his Ph.D. work "Development of chemoproteomic methods for profiling the conformational dynamics of protein kinases" on March 11, 2026. Dan was a student in Professor Dustin Maly’s research group, where he built a proteomic platform that profiles ligand-bound kinase conformations using reactivity profiling, allowing us to uncover druggable pockets. He has accepted a scientist position with Arzeda in Seattle, where he will be working on analytical…
Congratulations to Brian Sun who defended his Ph.D. work “Expanding Polymer Design Tools: Molecular Fluxionality and Topological Crosslinks for Novel Polymer Networks” on March 5, 2026. Brian was a student in Assistant Professor Matthew Golder’s research group and worked with the molecular ball joint Bullvalene and studied its effect on the bulk property of polymer materials. He has accepted a position as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University where he will focus his research on…
Congratulations to Chris Lowe, who defended his Ph.D. work “Inducing Chirality in CdS Nanocrystals with Biomolecules” on February 25, 2026. Chris was a student in Professor Brandi Cossairt’s research group and spent his time synthesizing and studying inorganic interfaces for inorganic-organic hybrid materials.
Congratulations to Langxuan Yang, who defended his Ph.D. work “Boron-mediated Transition-metal Catalyzed Selective Synthesis of Diverse Alkenes” on February 11, 2026. Langxuan was a student in Professor Gojko Lalic’s research group and worked on the development of advanced synthetic methodologies for complex and challenging targets in organic chemistry. He has accepted a postdoctoral position with Professor Yang Yang at USCB, where he will focus on the development of biocatalytic strategies to…
Chemistry PhD alum Jonathan Cox spent most of 2025 in Kyrgyzstan, helping farmers improve their soil—and their crops—through soil testing. Continue reading on UW College of Arts & Sciences News
Congratulations to Jodie Tokihiro who defended her Ph.D. work "Advances in Open Microfluidics from Fundamental Flow Dynamics to Environmental and Translational Science Applications” on October 8, 2025. Jodie was a student in Professor Ashleigh B. Theberge’s research group. She studied fundamental open capillary microfluidics to expand the microfluidics toolbox for researchers across many disciplines. Jodie’s work also focused on the application of these technologies for andrological and…
Congratulations to Farhad Akrami, who defended his Ph.D. work, "Surface Passivation of Lead Halide Perovskite Semiconductors for Improved Stability and Performance" on November 20, 2025. Farhad was a student in Professor David Ginger's research group, where he investigated how molecular surface treatments can suppress ion migration in lead halide perovskites and how tuning treatment conditions influences interfacial chemistry, material stability, and optoelectronic performance. After graduation…
Congratulations to Lauren Brown, who defended her Ph.D. work “Engineering Fluidic Tools for Translational Science: Developing In Vitro Tissues and Remote Sampling Platforms” on October 3, 2025. Lauren was a student in Professor Ashleigh Theberge’s research group where she worked on two different analytical chemistry projects focused on translational applications for human health. Her first project was on developing mini tissues in the lab for studying tissue junctions and disease interfaces,…
In an exciting breakthrough, a team of scientists led by Ashleigh Theberge, professor of chemistry, and Nate Sniadecki, professor of mechanical engineering, published a paper in Advanced Science detailing a new 3D-printed device known as STOMP (Suspended Tissue Open Microfluidic Patterning) that provides tissue engineers with the ability to examine how cells respond to various mechanical and physical cues, while creating distinct regions in a suspended tissue.The first authors of the…