The Department of Chemistry maintains multiple computer facilities for use by undergraduates participating in various chemistry courses and for general access by chemistry majors and students involved in graduate research.

Each computer facility provides access to a powerful suite of programs for molecular modeling, chemical structure drawing, manipulation and viewing of complex molecular models, statistical data analysis and plotting, symbolic and numerical math programming, as well as word processing and spreadsheet software. Each of the three labs is equipped for use in individual study or as a discussion room. Students enrolled in upper-level Chemistry courses are allowed access to the Advanced Computer Labs (CB W238 and E425). The hardware and software configurations can be found the link at the bottom of this page.

High performance computing and linux computing are available through the CLAS Linux Group. For those familiar with the old HPC Arsenic cluster, that system has been replaced by the CHEMISTRY 3 node on HPC Argon. For more information, please see the list of Argon queues here: https://wiki.uiowa.edu/display/hpcdocs/Argon+Cluster (search for chemistry).

The University of Iowa Information Technology Services (ITS) provides additional computational resources (Research Services), which can be accessed for chemistry-related applications. ITS has recently upgraded the campus-wide network, including the Chemistry Building network, to accommodate high-speed fiber-optic communication, providing Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop of all systems in the Department. Additionally, blocks of computer time at one of the National Supercomputer Centers can also be requested through ITS.

Through these various resources, undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Iowa receive valuable and vital training in the use of computer technology in chemistry.

Chemistry computer facility policies

Usage must conform to the University of Iowa Policy on Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources. We recommend that your data is stored on OneDrive cloud storage and USB storage as a secondary option. Do not save on the local hard drive.

In addition:

  • All users of the Department of Chemistry computers labs agree to abide by the University of Iowa Acceptable Use Policy.
  • Under this agreement the lab facilities shall only be used for school-related activities.
  • All materials viewed on these machines must be inoffensive to all people in the lab. Absolutely no viewing of pornographic materials is allowed at any time.
  • Watching streaming services, DVDs, and other non-class related material is prohibited in any of the computer labs.
  • Absolutely no food or drink is allowed in any of the labs. Any person caught violating this policy will be asked to leave the lab immediately. Repeated violations may result in all lab privileges being revoked regardless of class involvement.
  • The door to the Facility is not to be left open.
  • Equipment and furniture may not be removed from the Facility.
  • No unauthorized alterations of the hardware and software configurations are allowed.
  • Any violation of these policies will result in immediate suspension of all access privileges.

Additional policies and instructions

  • Students enrolled in Chemistry Department courses necessitating use of the Facility have top priority. General usage for chemistry education has priority.
  • The Facility may be reserved by Chemistry Department courses and will not be available for regular use during these times (notices will be posted on the door).
  • Log into an individual workstation to use it. A login dialog box is presented when the machine is powered on.
  • Your work can only be saved to a USB drive, to a file server if available, or to a cloud service such as OneDrive. Work saved to the computer's hard drive is not secure and may be purged at any time without notice. Save your work to a USB drive or a file server for maximum security.
  • Do not use the printers as copiers or for personal use.
  • Do not interrupt calculations running unattended.
  • Your access to some software and printers may be restricted.
  • Avoid movement of all hardware.

These facilities are here for your benefit. Please help take care of them!