About Us
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Southern California is located on the University Park campus in the historical Figueroa Corridor of downtown Los Angeles. The department has a vibrant research community of over 30 research-active faculty that serve approximately 250 undergraduates, 175 graduate students, and 50 postdoctoral associates. These research labs have strengths across the entire spectrum of the traditional areas of chemistry: organic and inorganic chemistry, chemical biology, experimental physical chemistry, and theoretical chemistry. The mission of USC chemistry is the training of creative, independent, and successful chemists at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
For undergraduate students, the department offers a unique collection of chemistry majors - traditional chemistry, chemical research, biochemistry, chemical biology, and chemical nanoscience - that enable students to tailor their educational experience towards their specific interests and career goals. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, students will have the opportunity to perform cutting edge research in a variety of areas: organic synthesis, reaction catalysis, mechanistic chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics, materials chemistry, theoretical chemistry and reaction dynamics, and ultra-fast spectroscopy.
The chemistry department at USC also recognizes the key role chemistry plays as the "central science" in other disciplines, and as such, the research at USC is highly interdisciplinary. The department has active interactions with many other departments, including Molecular and Computational Biology, Physics, Chemical Engineering, and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Through joint-appointments and broad collaborations, USC chemistry has established itself as a fulcrum at USC for research in chemical and structural biology, drug discovery, energy research, materials science, chemical physics, and theoretical modeling of biological systems. Information about individual faculty research can be found in the faculty section. The Department is proud to have fostered two "home-grown" Nobel Laureates (the late George A. Olah and Arieh Warshel).