The Department of Chemistry at North Carolina A&T State University is a department consisting of 20 permanent faculty and staff as well as 21 part-time faculty who are engaged in providing excellent educational opportunities to over 98 undergraduate majors and 30 graduate students. The department’s mission is to prepare students to use their critical thinking skills and chemical knowledge to address technological and scientific challenges to impact societal needs. As such our faculty are committed to internationally-recognized research initiatives and engage all students in the scientific discovery process. The department strives to be a recognized leader in undergraduate education by offering a rigorous research-focused interdisciplinary curriculum to its students. By placing students at the forefront of new knowledge generation, we are hoping to make research as the most rewarding and exciting component of the undergraduate experience.

Since the Fall of 2016, the Department of Chemistry has become one of the eight departments restructured under the College of Science and Technology (CoST). Since then the department set out its vision of “Be recognized as one of the best Chemistry Science programs in the University and the State with an acknowledged excellence in research, instruction, and outreach activities.  It will be in the CENTER of research and pedagogical activities within the College of Science and Technology.”  In order to accomplish such an ambitious goal, our focus over the last few years has been: i) Enhancing faculty excellence and research productivity, ii) Infrastructure enhancement as related to research instrumentation and capacity building, iii) enhancing students' learning experience through curriculum revision.The infusion of new faculty members and the subsequent increase in extramural funding are contributing to the department's growing reputation and capability in the field. With over $3.0 million in annual funding, the department is now at a strong position to support innovative research projects, engage in community outreach, and provide students with enriched learning experiences. Currently, over 95% of the graduate students in the department receive faculty research support that augment the TA support available to all graduate students.

Students and faculty in Chemistry at the University work together to answer questions related to major societal issues in the areas of energy, the environment, material science, health, and medicine.  We invite you to explore our undergraduate and graduate programs and learn more about the department. 

Chemistry Department Contacts

Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Marion Franks, (mafranks@ncat.edu), Room 345, New Science Building, Tel: 336-285-2230. 

Graduate Studies,  Dr. Bishnu Bastakoti, (bpbastakoti@ncat.edu), Room NSB 341, New Science Building, 336-285-2233

Department Chair, Dr. Zerihun Assefa, (zassefa@ncat.edu), Room 348, New Science Building, Tel: 336-285-2255

General Inquiries, Email: chemdept@ncat.edu; 

                   Please click Chemistry Override Form for any override requests.

Connect with Us!

Follow us on social media to stay updated on ongoings with the Department of Chemistry. For those who are alumni of our department, you are invited to join our Linkedin group.

 https://x.com/NCATChemDept

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ncatdeptofchemistry/?viewAsMember=true

 Recent News

• Students Accomplishments: A spring 2025 graduating senior, Lauren Haynes has been accepted to All of the Pharmacy schools she applied and has now settled with Chapel Hill for  fall 2025. Job well done Lauren.
• Gianna Phillips is President of the Chemistry Club for the 2024-25 academic year while 
  Kennedy West serves as President of the Chemistry Honor Society. The founding president of the Chemistry Honor Society, Alexandria Washington is currently attending a graduate school preparation program at UN-Chapel Hill.  
•  Kudos to Dr. Bishnu Bastakoti who has managed to publish a record 12th peer-reviewed publication in 2024.
• Congratulating Dr. Peng He on his EiR grant award of $599,991 from NSF. Dr. He received for his project on "a PEC-AbP Dual Signal Amplification Method and its Mechanistic Study of Signal Transudation for DNA Sensing"
• Fourteen UG students recieved their BS degrees at the Spring 2023 commencement ceremony. Ten of these graduates are part of the 2019 original 30 cohort who finished the program in four years providing a 33% graduation rate. 
• Professor Debasish Kuila and his colleagues, in collaboration with Caltech, UMich, NCSU, MC, and Dow Chemical recieved funding of $3.125 Million for Non-thermal Plasma-treated Plastics for Catalytic Deconstruction and Upcycling from DOE (DOE-EERE). Dr. Kuila is actively pursuing several research projects in the Chemistry Department at NCAT.
• Chemistry senior Tanae Lewis did it again with her extraordinary accomplishment of becoming the 2022 Astronaut Scholar. Congratulations Tanae.
• The Chemistry Department conducted its annual whole day retreat on August 11 at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, NC. This provided the opportunity for a fruitful discussion regarding the future direction and expansion of the department's Teaching and Research commitments.
• Tanae Lewis has been named a 2022 Goldwater Scholar – the fourth to receive the honor in the university’s history. Congratulations Tanae! Click here to read more about the news.
• A former Chemistry faculty member, Alvin Kennedy shares his experience at North Carolina A&T State University.  "Alvin Kennedy describes his career move to North Carolina A&T State University" 

More news

 Openings

1. New Positions: Two non-tenure track Teaching Assistant professor position are available at the Department of Chemistry at North Carolina A&T State University. Any area of Chemistry will be considered. If interested in working with undergraduate students, please apply at the following site https://jobs.ncat.edu/postings/35626  and https://jobs.ncat.edu/postings/35179
2.  The Department of Chemistry is seeking for a dynamic researcher and educator in Biochemistry.  This is a tenure track position and the position will start in August 2025. Please apply https://jobs.ncat.edu/postings/34659

2. A postdoctoral position is available in the Department of Chemistry, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The project funded by DOE-BES will involve fundamental research, in collaboration with Caltech (California Institute of Technology), on direct air capture and conversion of CO2 to value-added chemicals. Please refer to the link for more details to submit your applications.

2, Graduate Student Research Assistants

The Department of Chemistry is actively looking for graduate research assistants. Various funding's are available to support graduate students. Please refer here for more details.