Below are some programs and offices that may be helpful in navigating your undergraduate time in chemistry.
Chemistry Merit Program for Emerging Scholars
The Merit Program is a challenging program for a select group of undergraduates. The program targets students with high potential who are members of groups, such as ethnic minorities and women, who tend to be underrepresented in the areas of science, mathematics and engineering. The program also targets students from small high schools. The Merit Program is not a remedial program. To be invited into the program, students must have high academic potential and be committed to excellence. One of our main goals in the Merit Program is to develop a community of scholars among the Merit students. The students in our program work together to solve difficult course problems, develop friendships based on common academic interests, and inspire each other to maintain a high level of commitment to excellence.
McNair Scholars
This program encourages talented minority and disadvantaged students to pursue advanced degrees in the sciences through funding their summer research experience.
Office of Minority Student Affairs
For nearly 50 years, the Office of Minority Student Affairs continues to be a campus leader in delivering exceptional mentoring, success coaching, tutoring, college prep, research training, graduate school preparation, 2nd year and beyond scholarships, academic recognition events, and many other academic and retention support services and advocacy for African-American, American India, Latino/a, Multi-racial, Educational Opportunities Program, TRiO, and President's Award Program students at all academic levels.
Summer Research Opportunites Program (SROP)
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers a summer program that provides undergraduate students from populations underrepresented in graduate study at Illinois with an opportunity to explore careers in research. The program at Illinois provides each student with an experience that will help strengthen his or her knowledge, skills, and understanding of graduate school. The many activites offered through Summer Research Opportunities Program will afford participants an opportunity to establish important relationships with faculty in their respective fields of study, conduct graduate-level research under the supervision of a University of Illinois renowned faculty member, become acquainted with the culture of graduate school, and to learn what is needed and expected of them as graduate students in their discipline at the University of Illinois.
Women in Mathematics Science and Engineering (WIMSE)
WIMSE is one of the Living/Learning Communities in the University Residence Halls at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. WIMSE provides 135 women majoring in mathematics, science, and engineering curricula with resources, activities, and programs to enhance their academic and social experiences. The goal is to unite classroom and residential experiences to build a positive foundation for a future career.