Some things tear us apart, but chemistry brings us together.

Lauri Kivijärvi, from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, is coming to Missouri State University at the end of August for a full academic year to conduct research in the preparation, characterization and subsequent studies of one-dimensional coordination polymers based on Rhodium (II, III) complexes. He will be working with Dr. Nick Gerasimchuk in the chemistry department.

Kivijärvi, a Fulbright scholar, will have access to Gerasimchuk’s laboratory and university and department research facilities.  He also will have the opportunity to meet other scientists at Washington University of St. Louis and the University of Kansas who are also interested in the chemistry of Rhodium research. They will later make a joint effort to analyze newly obtained samples and understand their electronic structure.

Gerasimchuck and Kivijärvi’s adviser, Dr. Matti Haukka, both have interests in coordination chemistry, enabling them to make this collaboration between universities.