The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded a Sonoma State University Chemistry Professor and Chair a nearly $1m grant to enhance ChemCompute, a free online platform he created for undergraduate students to perform advanced computational chemistry experiments. Creator Mark J. Perri says this funding will also support training faculty to integrate the platform into their courses; it will utilize NSF ACCESS program resources Expanse at San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), Bridges-2 at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) and Jetstream2 at Indiana University (IU).
ChemCompute, which is web-based, allows students to use computer simulations to solve complex problems in topics like quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics and data science analysis. The platform, which has been in use since 2014, has seen widespread adoption at hundreds of universities, including many Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), offering students the ability to perform computational chemistry calculations without the burden of licensing fees or additional costs for textbooks and software.
Since its launch, ChemCompute has enabled more than 110,000 students to perform over 650,000 chemistry calculations – making a significant impact on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Perri’s new NSF grant will be used to further expand the platform’s research capabilities, develop new curricula, improve accessibility and foster a learning community of faculty using ChemCompute.
“ChemCompute lowers the barrier for student use – including at two-year colleges – which are among the most diverse campuses,” Perri said. He highlighted how the platform addresses a major issue faced by larger institutions as well, where nearly half of surveyed faculty reported limited availability of computer classrooms as an obstacle to teaching computational chemistry.
The project aligns with the NSF’s Broadening Participation in Computing initiative. Perri plans to hold workshops and training sessions for faculty across the country – enabling them to incorporate ChemCompute into their courses and research.
“I feel like I am reaching people, and the site will help students in developing new science and technology content for undergraduate research,” Perri said.
Resource Provider Institution(s): San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC)
Affiliations: Sonoma State University
Funding Agency: The project is supported by NSF (award no. 2417553). Computation resources are supported by NSF ACCESS (award no. CDA170003).
Grant or Allocation Number(s): CDA170003
The science story featured here was enabled by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s ACCESS program, which is supported by National Science Foundation grants #2138259, #2138286, #2138307, #2137603, and #2138296.