Programs

School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at the University of Southern Mississippi
The study of macromolecules involves familiarization with materials that usually is taught in a wide variety of academic disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, biochemistry, and biology. The polymer science program at Southern Miss includes a core of polymer chemistry, polymer physics, and engineering concepts.

Polymer science and engineering graduate students are trained in the theory and practice of polymer science and play an integral part in pioneering research. The thrust of the graduate program is to educate by active participation. The students' knowledge of polymer science is acquired through formal courses, seminars, colloquia, independent reading, and daily interactions with faculty. www.psrc.usm.edu

Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Mississippi
Medicinal chemistry is a chemistry-based discipline that also involves aspects of biological, medical and pharmaceutical sciences. As defined, it is concerned with the invention, discovery, design, identification and preparation of biologically active compounds, the study of their metabolism, the interpretation of their mode of action at the molecular level and the construction of structure activity relationships.

Medicinal chemistry faculty members are actively engaged in research for the discovery and development of new drugs; they are exploiting new biological targets for the treatment of cancer, malaria, CNS disorders, and infectious diseases. Faculty blend conventional disciplines to allow for more specialized research to be conducted in computational drug design, automated high-throughput synthesis and analysis, and biological evaluation and assay development. The mission of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry is to continue to produce highly trained graduates for careers in the pharmaceutical sciences, and to prepare students to be the next generation of leaders in academia and industry. www.pslc.ws/igert/programs.html