What does the IUPUI Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology have in common with Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, India, and Sri Lanka?
The answer is: the Department has attracted a graduate student (in the case of China two students) from each of these countries. These students work in the laboratories of various IUPUI faculty members performing experiments in order to complete their PhDs. In some cases they will complete their PhDs here at IUPUI, in other cases they return to their native countries to obtain their terminal degree.
But why, you ask, with all the institutions in this country and those of many other countries, why would these students have chosen IUPUI? The answer is simple: prestige and connections.
Each of the students interviewed said that the faculty’s published papers, their websites, and the recommendation of their supervisor’s led them to IUPUI.
IUPUI receiving faculty members point out the factors in attracting students worldwide include: doing cutting edge research, publishing, presenting at conferences, and having a vibrant website.
Professor Christoph Naumann received an inquiry from Agustin Mangiarotti, Córdoba, Argentina, who knew that the Naumann laboratory has “extensive experience with the analysis of lipid and membrane protein diffusion processes in model membranes using single molecule detection techniques like Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy.” Mangiarotti was awarded a Fulbright fellowship, which allowed him to come to IUPUI on a three-month research visit. It was a most fruitful experience for both parties.
Veronica Vale, is a Ph.D. student from Brazil, who works in forensic chemistry with a focus on mass spectrometry to analyze for illicit drugs. As a master’s student she worked with PETROBRAS, a Brazilian oil company. She came to IUPUI to develop a prototype for illicit drug analysis in saliva. The choice of Professor Nicholas Manicke was easy since throughout her work in Brazil she often referenced his work.
Ritu Chaturvedi is a Ph.D. student from India who has been working with Professor Lei Li for two years and will continue another three. Ritu is most interested in developing chemical tools that can solve biological problems, specifically at the interface of chemistry and biology. Initially Ritu was inspired by Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, an Indian chemist who shared the 2009 Nobel prize for his work on the structure and function of ribosome. Her PhD thesis will be a study of the chemical stability of the pyrimidine photodimers that may be found in solar irradiated human skin and are the leading cause of skin cancer.
Ben Niu is a student in Professor Haibo Ge’s laboratory. Like Lei Pan, he is from China, is a PhD student and hopes to locate a U.S. post-doctoral position, then return to China. Before coming to the U.S. he worked in the medicinal area focusing “on the synthesis of natural products, especially the synthesis of derivatives of courmarin”. He chose IUPUI since Dr. Ge’s is so well published in top journals. Now he is “focusing on the novel C-H activation directed by transient ligand, which is a new strategy for the transition metal-catalyzed reaction.” He finds Dr. Ge to be very supportive, encouraging and motivating always encouraging us to develop and explore new areas of chemistry.
Verena Haug was encouraged by her microbiology professor in her native Germany to contact Professor Michael McLeish for a possible internship in his laboratory. She spent nine weeks in his laboratory where she “felt very welcome … and was really happy and thankful” for the opportunity. Of the seven students featured she is the only undergraduate but, according to Prof. McLeish, “she was extremely well prepared and worked as independently as any graduate student”. She worked on two projects: understanding how a change in amino acids can affect the rate of reaction, and modifying the amino acid sequence to allow for a simpler enzyme purification.
Thakshila Liyanage comes from an ambitious Sri Lankan family with three of her six siblings also studying in the U.S. She received her B.S. in Sri Lanka, then came to the U.S. and received her Master’s degree in organic chemistry from Ball State University. Currently she is a PhD student with Professor Rajesh Sardar using highly sensitive biosensors to assay cancer and heart attack biomarkers directly in human biofluids, and also fabricating flexible nanoplasmonic sensors for ultrasensitive explosive detection. The co-author of numerous articles, she is planning to obtain a post-doctoral position then work in US industry. She is very happy in Dr. Sardar’s laboratory who supports her, encourages her, spends time with her, and sends her to conferences.
Lei Pan hails from China where she received a B.S. and M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry. During her M.S. studies she read the literature and paid special attention to the work of Professor Haibo Ge, especially his work in C-H activation. She spends time on the very strong sp3 C-H bond seeking new methods to cleave such a bond and its potential application to medicine. She was also attracted to Indianapolis, since it size mirrors that of Chengdu, her home town. After completing her PhD here at IUPUI, and a possible post doc position, she intends to go back to China in search of faculty position. Her most surprising finding about the U.S. is that this “country on wheels” is one with a public transportation that “is very old and inconvenient.”
Our relatively small Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology has brought together enough factors allowing it to evolve into a department of considerable international impact. First and foremost is the caliber of the faculty: young, assertive, successful, well-published, and well-funded. Again and again students report their decision to come here was based on the faculty’s research, their publications, and conference presentations. And it certainly did not hurt that all but one of the faculty listed here were born overseas. Second, a supportive department, an active university international office, and an inviting community are all crucial to the success of doing chemistry across international borders.
What do faculty look at before inviting a student? The answers are: an independent spirit, self-motivation, command of English, academic preparation, and above all one who has people skills.