Developing Creative Polymer-Centered Research Experiences within an Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum

Abstract The National Science Foundation Student Mini-grant Research Program (NSF SMRP) was created to expand access to research experiences for undergraduate students with limited opportunities to engage in summer internships or other external research opportunities. Unlike faculty-intensive, course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and resource-intensive undergraduate research experiences (UREs), these research experiences were intentionally designed to be creative, short-term, student-driven, and minimally faculty-supervised, making research participation more accessible. To provide research experiences to 35 students, 10 polymer-centered research experiences indirectly introduced students to polymer science. Enabled by the establishment of a Rheology and Thermal Analysis Instrumentation (RTAI) suite, the NSF SMRP supported students on projects that showcased how polymers are infused into nearly every aspect of their lives.