Education

Courses

Undergraduate
Research

Graduate
Research

Outreach

Regular Courses

Prof. Nizkorodov has taught the following courses at UCI

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Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate students are welcome to use Aerosol Photochemistry Lab for their undergraduate research projects on a space available basis. We can accommodate about 2-4 students at any given time. The usual mechanism for this is enrollment in Chem 180, Chem 199 or Chem H180. Depending on the nature of the project you will be advised either directly by Prof. Nizkorodov of one of his graduate students.

Academic year requirements for Chem 180, 199, and H180 students

• You should plan to enroll for all 3 quarters (fall, winter and spring). Therefore, a good time to inquire about the availability of research position for the next fall is spring of the previous year.
• You must pass all the necessary safety training BEFORE starting lab work and follow all the lab safety protocols. Consult the group safety officer (currently Adam Bateman) and follow this link to start your required safety training.
• You must spend at least 10 hours per week on research. This requires one full day or perhaps two full afternoons that are free of classes. Construct your course schedule with this in mind.
• You must attend weekly group seminars and other scheduled lab activities.
• You must submit a mini-report (one paragraph) by e-mailing Prof. Nizkorodov every Friday or Saturday. This weekly report should summarize results of your lab work during the past week. If you did no lab work (e.g., your instrument was broken), you should read a research paper or a book chapter on the subject of your research and make a summary of that.
• You must prepare a written report and a presentation at the end of each quarter summarizing your research accomplishments and outlining plans for the next quarter. Your report should be 3-5 pages long, and contain the most important results in the form of graphs and tables. Your presentation should be about 20 slides long, and contain all the parts that presentations usually consist of: introductions, summary of objectives, key results, discussion points, summary, and acknowledgments.
• Students will be encouraged to apply for UROP support, present their research at the undergraduate research symposium, and submit papers to the UROP journal.
• Your formal grade will depend on the quality of your reports, amount of work accomplished, group seminar attendance, etc. Most students who worked in the lab before earned "A" for their work.

If you are interested in such an opportunity please contact Sergey Nizkorodov well in advance. Send your resume, transcript, and a representative sample of your technical writing (e.g., one of your lab reports) with your inquiry. If you took classes with Dr. Nizkorodov before, be sure to mention it. We prefer taking in students during their junior and senior years but we do make exceptions to this rule.

Summer employment for UCI undergraduate students

We occasionally have paid undergraduate research positions for full-time UCI undergraduate students who satisfy one of the following requirements:

• They previously spent one academic year in out lab doing research for credit (Chem 180, 199, or H180)
• They can demonstrate appropriate level of R&D training (e.g., through past industrial employment)

Internships for high-school students

Internship opportunities for junior and senior high-school students are fairly limited. Please inquire by sending your resume, high-school transcript, chemistry SAT scores, and AP grades, and other pertinent information. Expect to spend at least two days per week in the lab during the entire summer break.

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Graduate Research

If you are interested in joining our group and/or AirUCI institute as a graduate student, please feel free to contact the Aerosol Photochemistry Group leader, Sergey Nizkorodov. We generally accept graduate students from the following programs: physical, analytical, atmospheric, and ChaMP. To enroll in one of these programs, you have to be admitted to graduate school at UCI through standard mechanisms.

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Outreach

Summer teacher training program in environmental chemistry

Prof. Nizkorodov coordinates the summer teacher training program in Environmental Chemistry for grade 8-12 science teachers. It is the main outreach effort of the AirUCI team. The program is fully sponsored by NSF. This two-week training program is focused on hands-on lab work on selected environmental monitoring problems. Supporting lectures are offered by AirUCI faculty members. Teachers are paid a stipend of $1000 for their participation. The program is limited to 20 teachers on a first-come first-serve basis. Because AirUCI does not cover transportation and living expenses, only local teachers can realistically take advantage of this program. The teacher must be employed by a K-12 state or private school and must be permanent residents or US citizens. Please refer to the class website for more information.

Other outreach activities

Prof. Nizkorodov and his group membered have participated in the following activities:

• Organizing lab tours for groups of middle-school and high-school teachers and students
• Judging Science Fairs
• Organizing on-site demos in various schools
• Giving public talks on the topics of air pollution
• Lecturing for the UCI COSMOS program (California State Summer School for Mathematics & Science)
• Lecturing for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

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