Research

The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at DU and our faculty are committed to supporting an inclusive research environment. We welcome all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, or religion. 

Our department is on an exciting trajectory with well-funded research programs. Our faculty have been awarded more than $14 million in research awards (award date of 2023 or later) from federal sponsors including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DOD), and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), along with private foundation sponsors that include the Parkinson’s Foundation and American Parkinson's Disease Association.

Research in our department covers many of the core disciplines in chemistry (Analytical, Biochemistry, Organic, and Physical), but is also interdisciplinary and highly collaborative. Many of our faculty are members of innovative programs and institutes at DU including the Molecular and Cellular Biophysics Program and the Knobel Institute for Healthy Aging (KIHA).

Learn more about the faculty leading research in our department.

Faculty Research Areas
petri dish under microscope in chemistry lab

Environmental chemistry and organic chemistry labs investigate the elements around us for answers pertaining to climate change, drug discovery and sustainability.

chemistry student examining image

Innovative imaging techniques are used to support research in the areas of biophysics, aging and biomedical chemistry.

student with faculty in EPR spectroscopy lab

Our electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy lab produces groundbreaking discoveries that drive technology forward.

Research-Driven Graduate Studies

Graduate student positions are supported by university and faculty funding. Students work as teaching and research assistants while participating in collaborative labs with chemistry and biochemistry faculty, peers and undergraduate students.

Right now we have four graduate students and, typically, throughout the year, there are about five undergraduates who work in our lab, too. We all work together to figure out how these proteins and biomarkers affect heart disease.

Michelle Knowles, Professor of Biochemistry
Chemical reaction at magnification

Preparing Junior Investigators

DU's Undergraduate Research Center, run by faculty mentors from the departments of biological sciences, physics and astronomy and psychology, guides undergraduates through the intricacies of high-level research and publication, approvals, travel, grants and funding, and proprietary property.

Visit UGC

Unprecedented Undergraduate Access

Summer Research Experiences

Through grants from DU's Undergraduate Research Center and Colorado-Wyoming Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CO-WY AMP), a limited number of summer research experiences are awarded to undergraduate students each year.