About Chemistry@NCHU

Being a scenic city with a nice climate, Taichung is regarded as one of the finest places to live in Taiwan. It is called the Cultural Town because there are so many institutions of higher education in the area.

National Chung Hsing University located in the southern part of Taichung is the only national university in the central part of Taiwan. Since its establishment in 1919, the University has been the leading institution in Central Taiwan for its academic excellence. Even though it is sitting inside the city, the University has a large and beautiful campus (more then 53,000 m2) which encompasses teaching and research facilities, sporting areas, restaurants, and leisure places.
　　

Introduction

The Department of Chemistry in National Chung Hsing University was established in 1956. Primarily, the Department offered chemistry courses to support the other departments. With the sustained effort of the chairmen, the faculty and the students, the Department of chemistry achieved many important milestones: the establishment of a graduate program in 1987, the completion of the 8-story department building in 1995, and the setup of a Ph.D. program in 1996. With solid support from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the school authority, and with collective efforts from the faculty and the students who have delivered great academic performance, the Department of Chemistry has become a both educational and research institute.

In the past few years, we have purchased our hardware and software for teaching and research. The department library owns over one hundred journals and thousands of reference books, and it serves as a Central Taiwan Chemical Library Information Service Center chartered by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The university library also provides service on literature search via internet. These libraries provide excellent sources of information for academia research.

As a major step to establish a world-class department, our instrumental facilities have been significantly strengthened. With the sponsorship form MOST, we have established Major Analytical Instrument Centers equipped with super-conductivity FT-NMR (multi-nuclei high field NMR), GC-MS, LC-MS, MS-MS, Con-focal Raman microscopy, EPR, X-ray diffractometer, laser equipment, elemental analyzers and computer workstations. The extensive facility for laboratory and literature references has become the best institute for chemical research in Central Taiwan, and made the Department internationally competitive and one of the top chemistry departments of the nation.

The Department of Chemistry runs research programs ranging from fundamental studies to environmental and industrial research. Our research budget with the university-MOST-industry collaborated projects amounts over NT$ 63 million. At present, the Department annually published for about a hundred papers in SCI journals, and ranks as top 500 Chemistry Department of the world. We believe with the strenuous exertion of the faculty and students, the Department of Chemistry has a brilliant future.

Faculty and Research Groups

In the Department of Chemistry, there are thirty-eight full-time faculty members among whom thirty-one are at or above assistant professor level and thirty each having a Ph.D. degree. Among five different research fields, the Department of Chemistry hosted presently thirty-one research laboratories: 5 in analytical chemistry, 7 in inorganic chemistry, 10 in organic chemistry, 5 in physical chemistry and 4 in biological and medicinal chemistry. They are highly energetic and enthusiastic researchers each having a strong expertise in a particular field. Our fundamental research has profound impacts on all fields of chemistry and our department trains future leaders of academia and industry.

Research Area

(1) Organic Chemistry involves the study of the fundamental reactions used to make known and new molecules. We observe natural phenomena through the structural and chemical behavior of organic molecules, and enable the design and synthesis of functionally interesting organic compounds. The research field in organic groups consists of the following directions:

• Synthesize new molecules, including novel drugs, materials and catalysts

• Study organic materials, including dye-sensitized solar cells, and develop new applications

• Create new ways to synthesize complex natural products and carbohydrates

• Explore the mechanism of reactions using computational methods

• Development of new asymmetric methodologies and its advanced applications

• Collaborate with biochemists, inorganic and physical chemists

(2) Inorganic Chemistry encompasses fundamental studies of the properties and reactivities of nearly all of the elements. It impacts diverse technologies, ranging from:

• Catalysts and the synthesis of new materials

• Exploration of new organometallic complexes for synthesis and catalysis

• Explore the catalytic application, including ring-opening polymerization, and copolymerization

• Create new nanomaterials and its advanced applications

• Study the bioinspired transition metal clusters to mimic important metalloproteins

• Development of the novel magnetic materials for the next generation electric devices

(3) Analytical Chemistry involves the development of separation techniques, spectroscopic techniques, mass spectrometry techniques, and electrochemical analysis methods. The research field in analytical groups consists of the following directions:

• Study on microwave-assisted and microdialysis-derived techniques as well as capillary electrophoresis and water liquid chromatography

• Explore the electrocatalysis, interfacial design, chemical and biological sensing

• Development of new analytical techniques includes mass spectrometry, tandem mass spectrometry and integrated separation techniques

• Development of optical chemical sensor systems and improvement the performances of sensor and sensing system

• Synthesis of functional compatible ionic liquids for potential applications in energy, analysis as proton conductors, electrolytes and non-volatile green solvent

(4) Physical Chemistry explores a wide range of research problems in experimental, theoretical and materials chemistry.

• Explore the biomolecular structural prediction and drug design

• Explore the solid-state NMR to probe the molecular structure and dynamics for condensed matters

• Study the molecular photodissociation dynamics in gas phase by utilizing laser spectroscopic techniques and electronic structure calculation

• Development of the ionization technique in mass spectrometry

• Study the quantum mechanical expressions for the electron transfer rate in condensed media

(5) Biological and Medicinal Chemistry is to cultivate students with a strong foundation in chemistry who are skilled in the study and analysis of medicine, medical materials and biology. The research field in this group consists of the following directions:

• Analysis of bacteriocin function and regulation including extracellular secretion mechanism

• Study the proteomics and bioanalytical mass spectrometry

• Development of new drugs by quantitative structure activity relationship for treatment vital diseases

• Explore the functionalized nanomaterials to resolve the clinical problems, including the early diagnosis and treatments of cancers, drug resistance.

The vision and the Future

We have become as a nationally acclaimed institute of teaching and research in chemistry. With a ream of the youngest and most enthusiastic staff in the country, and the fullest complement of equipment and library facilities, we are the hotbed of evolution in pure and applied chemistry, and a fertile nursery for the raising of young scientists who aspire to carving out their own contribution in the field.

To encourage young people of the excellent caliber to join the Department of Chemistry at Chung Hsing, a scholarship fund was set up through the generous donations of our alumni. Under this scheme, students who enter our Department as a first choice of study, and whose academic, attainment merits admission into the top three Chemistry Departments of Taiwan, will be granted scholarship to cover their tuition for years of study. We call upon all young people who aspire to a career in Chemistry to join our effort in the advancement of this science. Additionally, the young people can apply the scholarship from other sources provided by department and school.

For the greater benefit of the next generation and for the advancement of Chemical Technology in Taiwan, we urge you to support our efforts by informing your children of our progress and our achievements, to counsel them and to guide them, so that they can make the correct and informed choice of the best university and the best department for their education and for their future.　　

About NCHU