Two Columbia International University biology majors have received a grant to explore methods to make certain compounds more efficiently, inexpensively, safely and with minimal waste.

The $4,200 grant comes from the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU), of which CIU is a member. 

To receive the grant, rising sophomore Taylor Hollis and rising junior Joshua Neath researched the project and wrote a brief proposal outlining their goals, what experiments and techniques they would be doing, what they hoped to learn, and how it would help them in their academic and professional careers. Also submitted were letters of recommendation, a budget for the proposal, and document approval from the University of South Carolina to use their facilities.

Hollis, who lives in Winnsboro, South Carolina says she is honored to be a part of the grant project.

“I’m very excited to be working alongside one of my professors and one of my fellow friends in my class,” Hollis said. “I’m super excited.”

Neath, who lives in Blythewood, South Carolina calls the project exciting, especially “to be able to work with, honestly, my favorite professor. I’m just really looking forward to it.”

In explaining potential results of the students’ project, CIU Assistant Chemistry Professor Dr. Alex Manzewitsch, who will assist the students, says the project could be used later, for example, to develop more efficient methods in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, leading to reduced cost while making the production more environmentally-friendly.

The project will be conducted in the second half of summer, where the students will be working in the lab learning organic synthesis techniques (i.e., how to make and purify new chemicals) and running analyses of what they made. They will submit periodic reports documenting their progress.

Hollis and Neath will present their findings in January 2025 at the SCICU Research Symposium at Milliken & Company in Spartanburg, South Carolina. 

The grant will be used to fund stipends for both the students, as well as buy lab materials and pay for using the University of South Carolina facilities.

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