McMaster Undergraduate Society for the Chemical Sciences Summer Research Symposium 2024

Abstract

The MUSCS (McMaster Undergraduate Society for the Chemical Sciences) Summer Research Symposium is a one-day, student run, undergraduate research symposium. In McMaster University’s Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, many undergraduate students participate in research during the Spring and Summer terms.  Undergraduate students hold positions in research groups as scholarship recipients, research assistants, cooperative education students, and project course students. Despite the vast amounts of undergraduate research occurring annually, undergraduate students rarely have opportunities to communicate their work. The MUSCS Summer Research Symposium aims to give undergraduate students from McMaster’s Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology a platform to share the research they conducted over the previous summer. The 2024 symposium was held on September 29th, 2024, with over sixty attendees.  In this event, 12 students presented work from many fields of chemistry (e.g., organic chemistry, chemical biology, theoretical chemistry).  The symposium also featured two keynote presentations from professors in the department. A judging panel, comprised of graduate students, provided feedback to student presenters and awarded prizes to the top three presentations. This symposium will become an annual event in the department, and operate next year to include feedback from presenters, attendees, judges and professors.