The Reactive Intermediates Student Exchange

In 1995, NSERC abandoned its prestigious Undergraduate Summer Student award programme, which had long provided outstanding undergraduate students in science and engineering with the opportunity to do research in Canadian universities during the summer months. In response to this dire news, McMaster Chemistry professor Willie Leigh and a group of his colleagues at four other universities in the country started the Reactive Intermediates Student Exchange ("RISE"), a programme to provide outstanding chemistry undergraduates at each of the participating universities with summer employment in the research lab of one of the other RISE faculty participants. NSERC reinstituted the Summer Student award programme the following year, but RISE has remained. It has also doubled in size, now involving chemistry undergraduate students at the Universities of Alberta, Concordia, Dalhousie, Ottawa, Toronto, Saskatchewan, Victoria, Waterloo and Windsor as well as McMaster. Applications from interested students are accepted in the fall of each year, and one candidate from each institution is selected and assigned to one of the other universities for the coming summer. The students and faculty meet at the end of the summer at a Workshop, where the students present the results of their summer's research and are treated to a fine dinner.

This year, the McMaster RISE Scholar is Nicole Deschamps, a 2^nd year Chemistry Specialist student who is working in the lab of Professor J.C. Scaiano at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Leigh is hosting Jennifer Schmeisser, a 3^rd year Honours Chemist from the University of Waterloo. Funding for the programme is derived from contributions from the participating universities, industry, and the participants' NSERC Research Grants.