Vesna Gasperov

Pandemic is obviously not optimal conditions for in-person research but my PI made it work. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2021 Course: CHEMUN3098_001_2021_1-SUPERVISEDINDEPENDENTRES : CHEMUN3098_001_2021_1 - SUPERVISED INDEPENDENT RES Instructor: Vesna Gasperov

The fact that you won't go to lecture means you'll have to spend roughly a full day every week (with a few breaks) learning everything for the quizzes, and the same for the midterms (the final was just another midterm). Other than that, there's no class, section (with Joseph) is usually useful, and homework is optional.

Introduced to research in chemistry and related fields

It's hard to even begin this review, because I'm having trouble thinking of ways to describe how truly abysmal Professor Gasperov (PhD...) was. I mean, record-settingly, mind-blowingly, remarkably awful. In fact, I might almost give this class high marks as an anthropological experiment, or perhaps as a Teacher's College practicum on how not to teach a class. That said, it went on a little too long for the joke to be funny anymore (though watching the TAs struggle to make sense of what Vesna was doing at any given moment never got old). Prof. Gasperov did not know chemistry AND was really really bad at communicating it to us. A double whammy of terrible! And be careful if you ask a question—that's like employing a freeze ray that will cause Dr. G to stand in place for up to 45 seconds with a blank stare on her face before she proceeds to ignore you and move on in the slides (if you're very very lucky, she may repeat what she's just said while circling shit in the slides with her laser pointer, regardless of its bearing on your question). Fortunately, her tests are chock-full of errors, and don't necessarily address the material (just like Vesna! HEYO!). The only redeeming quality of this class was Joseph Ulichny, the TA. I'd much rather have him teach it, since he a) knows chemistry, b) can respond to questions without playing possum, and c) is extremely friendly and accomodat…

I learned about the different areas of chemical research happening at Columbia.

I learned about different topics in chemical research that are currently being studied.

I was exposed to ongoing chemical research of scientists from Columbia University.

We learned about the contemporary research conducted by Columbia Chemistry faculty

I was exposed to a wealth of different research in chemistry concepts.

I learned about various types of research happening within distinct subdivisions of chemistry, and learned about applications of chemistry I had not previously considered. It helped me gain a better understanding of the research being done in chemical biology for instance, and for that I am grateful.