Five science departments at Hope College hold grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program.
The departments of biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics all hold NSF-REU grants. It is the seventh consecutive year that at least four Hope departments have done so.
Through the grants, undergraduate students from both Hope and elsewhere are conducting research on a full- time basis with Hope faculty members for 10 to 11 weeks this summer, and are receiving stipends as well as support for summer housing, travel and other expenses. They are with students whose summer research at Hope is supported in other ways.
The department of biology's grant is supporting 11 students working with nine faculty members for 10 weeks. Some of the department's projects include calcium and water regulation in animals, use of fruits by birds for medicinal purposes and control of swimmer's itch. The five-year, $250,000 grant is being administered by Dr. David Netzly, associate professor of biology.
The department of chemistry's grant is supporting eight students working with 11 faculty for up to 10 weeks. The 10 projects include PIXE (Particle-Induced X-ray Emission) analysis of environmental samples, synthesis of Poly propellanes and studies of atmospheric compounds. The three-year, $114,900 grant is being administered by Dr. Stephen Taylor, professor of chemistry, and Dr. William S. Mungall, who is the Elmer E. Hartgerink Professor of Chemistry.
The department of computer science's grant is supporting eight students working with four faculty for 10 weeks. The six projects include "Algorithm and Code Animations on the Web," "Concurrency Anomaly Prevention using POSIX Threads," "Exploring Dynamic Web Page Implementations," "Visualization of Function Calls and Execution," "Linking Program Implementations to Original Specifications" and "Java Interactive Environment." The three-year, $146,700 grant is being administered by Dr. Herbert Dershem, professor of computer science and chair of the department.
The department of mathematics's grant is supporting six students working with three faculty members for eight weeks. The projects are in "non-commutative geometries," "computations in semi-group rings" and "automatic geometric theorem proving with associated algebra varieties." The $30,000 grant for 1998 is being administered by Dr. Tim Pennings, associate professor of mathematics and chair of the department.
The department of physics's grant is supporting 10 students working with eight faculty for 10 weeks. The seven projects include "Nuclear Reaction Studies," "Relativistic Effects in Pulsars," "Modeling Nuclei Under Extreme Conditions," "Biomechanical Analysis of Human Movement" and "Numerical Modeling of Fracture." The three-year, $120,000 grant is being administered by Dr. Paul DeYoung, professor of physics and chair of the department.