2014-2015 Graduate Catalog 
    
    Nov 23, 2024  
2014-2015 Graduate Catalog [Archived Catalog]

Chemistry (M.S.)


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Program Information
The Department’s chemistry faculty research programs fall into the thematic focus areas of environmental chemistry and green chemistry, chemical sensor development, organic synthesis, materials chemistry, natural products chemistry, and chemical education. Within these multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary focus areas, students can select research projects that involve the traditional subdisciplines of chemistry; analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic and physical. Currently active research projects in the Department focus on various aspects of analytical chemistry, drug discover and delivery, synthesis or photoactive materials including polymers, materials chemistry and self assembly, chromatography, the chemistry of cell membranes, environmental and green chemistry, chemistry of climate change, photo-physical chemistry, natural products synthesis, biophysical chemistry, computational chemistry, and solid-state NMR. For additional information student should review the descriptions of current faculty research interests at chembiochem.sdstate.edu.

In addition to a traditional thesis-based (Option A) M.S. degree, the Department also offers a predominantly on-line M.S. in chemistry in chemical education. This is a non-thesis (Option B) degree that focuses on the content necessary for practicing high school teachers to achieve highly qualified status. Admission in this program is limited to practicing high school science teachers, students interested in the thesis-based M.S. degree in chemical education should specify this on the application for admission.

Research Instrumentation
The Department is equipped with modern instrumentation core facilities to support its research program. These facilities are readily available to graduate students for “hands-on” experience after successfully completing a short training course.

  • NMR core facility includes 600, 400, and 200 MHz solution FT-NMR spectrometers and 400, 300, 100 MHz wide-bore solid-state NMR spectrometers.
  • Core campus mass spectrometry facility consists of a 7T ESI FTMS; a high-resolution magnetic sector mass spectrometer with EI and CI sources and GC, HPLC, pyrolysis and fast-atom bombardment capabilities, a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer; a Eksigent/Thermo LTQ ESI LC-MS/SM dedicated to “bottom-up” proteomics studies and an Applied Biosystems SCIEX QTRAP ESI LC-MS/MS dedicated to small molecule and metablomics characterizations; and a Varian GCMS.
  • Core campus proteomics facility has all the necessary equipment to prepare samples for mass-spectrometry-based proteomics characterizations.
  • Optical Spectroscopy lab containing 2 FT-IR spectrometer with far-IR capabilities; time-resolved spectrofluorometer; atomic absorption and diode-array UV-Vis spectrophotometers.
  • Powder x-ray diffractometer

In addition to these departmental resources, individual research groups also maintained instrumentation including supercritical fluid chromatography and extraction, for FRET microscopy, laser light scattering, and computational chemistry. Campus super-computer facilities and on-line computer access to Web of Science, Chemical Abstracts Services and other on-line information sources are readily available.

Facilities
The Department is housed in the newly constructed Avera Health Science Center South and newly renovated Avera Health and Science Center North. Combined, these connected facilities provide 100,000 sq. ft. of research and instructional space.

Available Options for Graduate Degrees


Master of Science                            Option A
                                                             Option B

Core Requirements


Thesis-Based (Option A)
Students are required to complete a minimum of 30 credits which includes 21 credits of course work (12 credits of core coursework and 9 credits specific to the research project); 2 credits of seminar; and 7 credits of research.

Non-Thesis-Based (Option B) – Specialization in Chemical Education
Students are required to complete 32 credits, 26 credits are offered on-line. Six (6) credits of 2 separate laboratory development courses are delivered on-site at South Dakota State University during the two consecutive summers that students are enrolled in the program. The student completes 3 credits for the development, implementation, and reporting of a problem-based project completed in the participant’s classroom. The written report of this project is defended orally as the capstone activity of the program.

Additional Admission Requirements


International students wishing to be considered for an assistantship should submit a complete application no later than March 15 for Fall admission and October 1 for Spring admission.

GRE: General and subject score are recommended but not required
TOEFL: Score of 580 paper-based, 237 computer-based, 92-93 Internet-based

General Requirements (Master’s Degree)


Graduate students should consult with their advisor before registering for graduate work.

See  Master’s Degree Requirements .

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