School of Chemistry and Materials Science
School of
Chemistry and Materials Science
Overview
Chemistry has revolutionized modern society through synthesizing new materials and probing the fundamental processes of life. RIT offers chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate degree programs that prepare you for professional work in both research laboratory and industrial settings. We encourage collaboration with physicists, biologists, imaging scientists, geologists, and other scientists in team settings.
Certified by the American Chemical Society, RIT's undergraduate programs in chemistry and biochemistry meet a wide variety of quality standards in their curriculum, teaching, research, and intellectual climate. This certification ensures a rigorous program and strong career preparation.
10
New or renovated labs for teaching research
27.6K
Square feet of teaching, research laboratories, and support facilities
94%
Of our graduates spent at least two semesters experiencing outside-of-classroom learning
Latest News
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June 11, 2019
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RIT to host youth summer workshops on clean energy and fuel cells July 9-12
RIT is hosting workshops this summer to help high school students from the Rochester area learn about the science behind clean energy and fuel cells. The “Clean Energy: Electricity Generation Using Fuel Cells” workshops feature hands-on experiments and tours of RIT’s facilities.
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May 29, 2019
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RIT/NTID awards Dodge Faculty Grant to chemistry instructor
Jennifer Lynn Swartzenberg, a faculty member in NTID’s science and mathematics department, is the 2019-2020 recipient of the Ronald D. Dodge Memorial Faculty Grant and will receive $1,000 for her project to produce videos of established and new American Sign Language (ASL) signs for organic chemistry.
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March 13, 2019
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RIT Associate Professor Suzanne O’Handley nationally recognized for mentorship
RIT Associate Professor Suzanne O’Handley has been selected by the Council on Undergraduate Research and the Goldwater Scholarship Foundation as the 2019 CUR-Goldwater Scholars Faculty Mentor Awardee. O’Handley, a faculty member in RIT’s School of Chemistry and Materials Science, was chosen from 10 finalists for her considerable achievements as a dynamic scholar, teacher and mentor.
Featured Work
Identifying Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals
Taylor Wolf ’18 (biochemistry) ’18
Taylor Wolf ’18 (biochemistry) conducted research with Professor Scott Williams to create a test that will identify substandard and counterfeit pharmaceuticals that could help reduce what has been a...
Undergraduate Programs
RIT’s chemistry and biochemistry programs feature rigorous, in-depth curricula that remain flexible enough to allow students to specialize in several other related fields. We offer robust undergraduate research and laboratory teaching experience opportunities, often as early as freshman year, with faculty mentorship and state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentation.
Graduate Programs
Our chemistry and materials science and engineering graduate programs prepare professional scientists by offering curricula that allow students to specialize in their chosen fields while engaging in rigorous, meaningful research using state-of-the-art instrumentation and facilities, under the guidance of a faculty mentor.