The 2009-2010 UCEF event will be an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to make suggestions and ask questions about the Department of Chemistry, its courses, its POSts, and its environment (labs, library, classrooms, common areas etc.).

The panel members will be Prof Morris, Prof Batey, Dr Dicks, and Dr McIntosh.

Come along even if you are just interested in hearing what people have to say.

Date: Friday the 26th of March 2010

Time: 12:30 to 2:30 pm

Location: Davenport East (3rd Floor LM)

Pizza & refreshments will be provided.

Congratulations to the new CSU executive for the 2010-2011 academic year.  The roles were determined by election as follows:

President: Mengzhou Li

Vice President: Robert Chu

Vice President: Simon Chen

Secretary: Sonia Sugumar

Treasurer: Johnny Huai

Events Coordinator: Richard Huang

Events Coordinator: Yatong Li

Although no event dates have been officially set as of now, CSU will be participating in several events in the coming school year.  They are as follows:

• UTSU Clubs Day
• Welcome Back Barbecue
• Pub Night
• General Meeting / Election for 1st + 2nd year reps

Be sure to check this site in September for details.

Nominations are being accepted for all CSU Executive positions. Please read the writ of election and submit your nomination (by sending your completed nomination form to our email) by the end of Monday the 29th of March. Elections will be during the third and final CSU General Meeting from 1-3 pm on Wednesday the 31st of March in LM108.

See flyer

Date/time: Wednesday the 24th of March, 6 to 8 pm

Location: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, 144 College St, Room 850 (8th floor)

Free Pizza

On Wednesday the 17th of March, between 1 and 2 pm, Prof. Stephan will be giving a fascinating talk on ‘frustrated Lewis pairs’ in LM108 (see floorplan below). Lunch will be provided.

“The activation of hydrogen has been the purvue of transition metals for 200 years. In recent work we have discovered the first metal-free system capable of H₂ activation. Sterically encumbered Lewis acid and base combinations do not form “classical” Lewis acid-base adducts. Rather, the unquenched Lewis acidity and basicity of such sterically “frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs)” is available for reactivity. Such systems have been shown to effect the heterolytic cleavage of hydrogen and applied to develop  metal free hydrogenation catalysts. FLPs are also shown to exhibit unprecedented reactivity with a variety of other small molecules, including olefins, dienes, alkynes, CO₂ and N₂O. The implications of the discovery of such systems and further details will be presented in this lecture.”

On Wednesday the 20th January between 1 and 2 pm Prof. S. O. Kelly will be giving an academic seminar on her research into the nanostructuring of electrode surfaces in developing sensitive biosensors to detect and predict the progression of cancer and other disease states. Research has gone into encompassing nanomaterials-based electrodes into a chip platform, a more robust and practical analytical format.

It will be located in Davenport East (3rd floor Lash Miller – directly below library). CSU is providing pop and a good selection of sandwiches.

This year, the McMaster Undergraduate Society for the Chemical Sciences (MUSCS) are hosting the 10th annual Southern Ontario Graduate Information Session at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. At this session, representatives of 17 universities from across Canada will be giving presentations regarding their graduate programs in chemistry or related disciplines. This is an excellent opportunity for undergraduate chemistry students interested in pursuing graduate opportunities to examine the possibilities available throughout Canada. The session is completely free of charge and will include a complementary lunch. It will occur on Saturday the 30th of January between 11 am and 4 pm. Also, if students register in advance, MUSCS will subsidise travel costs to and from the event. You can register and get more information by e-mailing their VP Jeffrey Price at pricej4 [at] mcmaster.ca.

Ranjini (Rini) Ghosh Excellence in Teaching Award

The Arts & Science Students’ Union (ASSU) is sponsoring this award to recognize outstanding teaching at the undergraduate level in the Faculty of Arts & Science, St. George campus. The award-winning instructor will receive a commemorative plaque and a $500. prize which will go towards a Departmental initiative for undergraduate students.

Any instructor who taught or is currently teaching in the 2009-10 academic year is eligible for nomination. Teaching staff of any rank are considered to be instructors:  Full/Associate/Assistant Professors, Senior Lecturer, Lecturer. Teaching Assistants are not eligible for this award. Nominees must also be published in the ASSU anti-calendar.

Criteria for the Award

The award is made on the basis of excellence in teaching and contributions to undergraduate education. In evaluating nominees, the following criteria are considered:

*Stimulates and challenges students’ intellectual capacity
*Is skillful at communicating the course material to students
*Shows mastery of the subject area
*Is highly accessible to students
*Influences development of students’ intellectual and critical skills
*Does anything else you feel makes them an outstanding educator

Nomination Procedure

Candidates may be nominated by Full-time A&S students registered on the St. George campus only. Nomination forms are available in the ASSU Office, SS 1068. Nominations must include a typed letter outlining the merits of the instructor and why you feel they deserve to win the teaching award. Feel free to attach letters of support.

Nominations close on Monday the 8th of March, 2010 at 5 pm.

The CSU in collaboration with a graduate students physics group and a nursing students’ union have organized a delicious Italian $5 lunch at Hart House for Wednesday the 13th of January, starting at midday. Here is the menu and below is a map showing directions to the Great Hall. Although the event is supposed to go on till 2 come early to avoid disappointment as the food goes quickly. All are welcome.