With so much attention focused on the achievements of our professors and their graduate students, it’s easy to forget about the burgeoning undergraduate population that is making a big impact within UGA’s chemistry department. A culture of research has spread through a collection of our undergraduate students, with many having gained recognition for their dogged efforts in the lab.

Dr. Lionel Carreira was awarded the Georgia BioBusiness Academic Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the University of Georgia Research Foundation for his successes as a spirited entrepreneur and for his longstanding commitment to education and research. Established in 2010, the Georgia BioBusiness Academic Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes a faculty member who has started a company within the past four years based on research originated at UGA.

Six graduate students in the Department of Chemistry have been awarded the 2013 Outstanding Teaching Award. These awards are conferred annually by the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning. The recipients, Srinivasa Murthy Koutha, Thomas Irvin, Henry Niedermaier, Kimberly Schuldt, Ali Siddiqi, and Alexander Vaughn, are recognized for their exemplary qualities as teaching assistants, and for contributions above and beyond normal expectations.

Dr. John Stickney has been recognized as one of three 2013 Distinguished Research Professors. The title Distinguished Research Professor is bestowed upon faculty who are internationally recognized for their original contributions to knowledge and whose work promises to foster continued creativity in their discipline.

Kasey Darley, a senior chemistry major from Macon and member of Dr. Dhar's NanoTherapeutics Research lab, has been selected to present her work at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The presentation, titled 'A Therapeutic Nanoparticle Platform for Ischemic Brain Injury', was selected from more than 3,500 submissions and is one of eight University of Georgia students selected to attend and present at the conference.

Six undergraduate chemistry majors will be among more than 200 University of Georgia students presenting original research projects and creative works at the annual spring symposium hosted by UGA's Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities. The daylong event, which is open to the public, will be held on April 1 at the Classic Center in downtown Athens.

Since its inception in 1999, the CURO symposium has provided a public space for students from all academic disciplines to share their research work with their peers, the UGA research community and others.

Robert J. Gilliard Jr., graduate student in the Department of Chemistry, has received an award to attend the 63rd Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates (funded by Oak Ridge National Laboratories). This is a globally recognized forum that aims to “educate, inspire, and connect the world’s international best talents.”

A University of Georgia researcher noted for developing computer simulations that predict the shape and behavior of molecules is to be honored by the American Institute of Chemists. Henry "Fritz" Schaefer, Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will receive the Chemical Pioneer Award at the AIC's annual meeting in April. The award recognizes researchers whose work has had a major influence on advances in chemistry.

The words "laser beam" often conjure up images of high-powered energy weapons or concert light shows, but lasers have many other applications and fighting the deadliest types of flu may soon be added to the list.

University of Georgia researchers are refining a nanotechnology-based method that uses laser light beams to more accurately predict emerging influenza strains-particularly strains with a risk of high mortality. The work will be funded by the National Institutes of Health and will total $1,124,914 over the next four years.

In antiquity, Greek and Roman marble sculpture was not pristine white but colorfully painted. Members of the UGA community now have a unique example of once-polychrome ancient sculpture on campus for scientific study.