Graduate programs in Chemistry and Biochemistry Major Equipment Facilities and Supporting Resources
We've got what it takes!
All research and most teaching activities within the chemistry and molecular biology department are located in three connected buildings, Ladd Hall, Dunbar Laboratory, and the Industiral and Agricultural Communication Center.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Laboratory
The chemistry department has recently been awarded a NSF grant to upgrade the NMR instrumentation at NDSU. The $700,000 upgrade provided state of the art facilities which are unrivaled in our region. The instruments were installed in the Spring of 1999 and have not rested since. The NMR Spectroscopy Center constists of a 500 MHz Varian Inova with triple axis gradients, a 400 Varian Inova with Z-axis gradients, and a 300 MHz Varian Mercury with Z-axis gradients. All instruments have variable temperature capabilities and employ the latest processing software.
Materials Characterization Laboratory
The Department houses outstanding facilities for modern materials characterization. X-ray facilities include Single Crystal, Powder Diffraction, X-Ray Fluorescence, and Thin Film Diffraction capabilities. Also on hand are elemental C, H, and N analysis and standard polymer characterization (eg. TGA) equipment. A high-resolution mass spectrometer Bruker Daltonics BioTOF system with high performance ESI, APCI and nESI sample introduction and ionization sources, and a Bruker HPLC ESI mass spectrometer round out the materials characterization facility.
Center for Protease Research Core Biology Facility
In 2003, the Core Biology Facility (CBF) was established as an integral part of the Center for Protease Research and is supported by COBRE and INBRE grants from the NCRR division of the NIH. The facility, located in IACC 316 and 354, carries supplies and equipment useful for conducting experiments in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems, molecular biology techniques and in vitro enzyme assays. The CBF provides training and consultation in experimental design for students and researchers in individual sessions and group workshops. Access is also provided to major equipment, including an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer, Applied Biosystems 7500 Real-time PCR machine, Axon 4000B Microarray Scanner, BioTek Precision 2000 Robotic Pipetting System, Molecular Devices Gemini EM Microplate Fluorimeter, and Thermo Electron Multiskan Microplate Spectrophotometer.
Center for Protease Research Core Synthesis Facility
The Core Synthesis Facility (CSF) was established as a part of the Center for Protease Research at NDSU in April 2008 with funding from an NCRR-NIH-COBRE grant. The primary objective of CSF is to act as a strong in-house support system to facilitate biomedical researchers in accomplishing their research goals. The CSF is equipped with modern synthetic technologies and state-of-the-art instrumentation. The research in CSF is focused on organic synthesis of small molecules for biomedical applications and analytical characterization of substrates of interest. Current research projects involve synthesis of enzyme inhibitors, fluorescent labeling of peptides and amino acids, development of a cytotoxic drug delivery model, and qualitative analysis of natural products by LC-MS/HRMS. The CSF also offers scientific consultation and provides student training. The research in CSF is dedicated towards the treatment of a variety of diseases and our future goal is to establish a nationwide clientele.
Molecular Modeling and Bioinformatics Studio
The Molecular Modelling and Bioinformatics Studio is designed to provide undegraduate and graduate students the ability to have hands on experience with modern computational tools. When not being used for teaching the facility is available for research consultations for faculty, Post-Docs, and students wishing to incorporate molecular modelling (compuational chemistry) into their current research endeavors.
Current software includes Molecular Operating Environment (affectionately referred to as MOE) from Chemical Computing Group, Inc. and Spartan'04 from Wavefunction, Inc.
H. J. Klosterman Chemistry Library
The university maintains a branch chemistry library in the Department which is accessible 24 hours a day to faculty, staff, post-docs, and graduate students. The book collection contains nearly 7300 volumes which are shelved on the first 3 ranges and the east wall of the first study carrel. The Chemistry Library currently subscribes to 189 serials and periodicals.
