Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Graduate Education & Bridge Program Conference
Friday–Sunday, February 10–12, 2017; College Park, Maryland
Session PS1: Poster Session: Graduate Education Program (3pm - 5pm) |
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Room: Chesapeake Foyer |
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PS1.00001: The Bridge Programs in Physics and Astrophysics at Princeton University Lyman Page, Herman Verlinde, Jenny Greene, Michael Strauss, Jeremy Goodman We describe the bridge programs in physics and astrophysics at Princeton University. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00002: The Graduate Program in Physics & Astronomy at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Amy Oldenburg, Joaquin Drut, Sheila Kannappan, Adrienne Erickcek The Physics & Astronomy Department at UNC Chapel Hill is an APS Bridge Program Partnership Site offering a traditional PhD program with a commitment to improving student success through multi-level mentoring, flexible study plans, and a welcoming community. UNC is in the top ten nationally in federal research funding and all department graduate students who maintain satisfactory progress receive RA, TA, or fellowship support. Students have access to abundant telescope time and multiple astronomical instrumentation labs, a broad network of interdisciplinary nano/materials science and biomedical imaging research labs, one of the premier university-based nuclear physics labs in the nation, and superb computational facilities for modeling, visualization, and numerical simulation, with applications from astro/biophysical fluid dynamics to string theory. The department is also active in education research and offers training in evidence-based teaching methods as part of the graduate curriculum, along with many opportunities for outreach. UNC and nearby Duke and NC State surround the ``Research Triangle,'' one of the country's most active high-tech industry regions, yet Chapel Hill remains an affordable and beautiful place to live, a short drive from both the mountains and the sea. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00003: Implementation of an APS Bridge Program Site at Indiana University Jon Urheim The Indiana University Bridge Program was established in 2015 as one of six APS-supported efforts aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented minority students undertaking Ph.D. studies in Physics. Implemented as a two-year M.S. degree awarding program, the IU-BP offers a supportive, responsive and welcoming environment for students committed to diversity issues to elevate their readiness for Ph.D. studies through research exposure, coursework and professional development experiences. This contribution provides an overview of the main features of the program based on its first year and a half of operation. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00004: The Physics MS-to-PhD Bridge Program at Florida State University Stephen Hill, Simon Capstick, Jeremiah Murphy With joint support from the APS and Florida State University (FSU), we have developed a Bridge Program (BP) aimed at students who lack preparation in one or more areas of undergraduate physics, so that they may go on to enroll in the PhD program at FSU or elsewhere. Students are initially provided housing and a research internship during a 6-week summer program, providing opportunities to familiarize themselves with their new environment and the research culture at FSU. This also allows time for mentoring {\&} advising in advance of coursework. BP students then enroll in advanced undergraduate courses in Mechanics, E{\&}M, Quantum Mechanics, and Statistical Mechanics, or the corresponding graduate courses, depending on their preparation. After a 2nd summer of research, students enroll in a mix of graduate courses and research credit, qualifying for a thesis-based MS degree by the end of their 2nd year. Students receive full stipend and tuition support and do not teach until their 2nd year. Successful students are eligible for admission to the FSU PhD program, or may apply to any other physics PhD program. The FSU program combines other components aimed at enhancing the experience and maximizing success. A Physics Graduate Student Association (PGSA) assigns peer mentors and organizes regular activities. Faculty meet weekly with BP Fellows, either one-on-one or together with PGSA leaders and mentors. A formal orientation program for all incoming graduate students is under development. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00005: California State University Long Beach: Model for a Terminal Master's Program as a Bridge to PhD. Andreas Bill, Chuhee Kwon, Galen T. Pickett The department of Physics {\&} Astronomy at California State University Long Beach (www.physics.csulb.edu) has redesigned its Master's program in 2008 with the goal to provide a true graduate experience in Physics. In 2013 we became one of six Bridge Sites and only non-PhD granting institution of the APS. We admitted 13 Bridge students of whom two joined PhD programs after obtaining their MS degree, three are expected to follow in 2017, and only one student was disqualified from the program. During the last five years, 46{\%} of all MS recipients (24 students) were members of underrepresented groups of the population in physics. Of all MS recipients, 42{\%} were accepted to PhD programs, 41{\%} found private-sector STEM careers, and 17{\%} decided on teaching and other paths. We will describe the structure of the MS program, its goals and its place in the University degree plan landscape. We also discuss how the APS Bridge Program has been implemented in our institution and has influenced our MS program. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00006: Physics Graduate Program at the University of Cincinnati Rohana Wijewardhana, Rostislav Serota, Leigh Smith The University of Cincinnati was the first institution west of the Appalachian mountains to offer a PhD in Physics. The Department of Physics currently has 25 faculty members. The undergraduate program in Physics offers BA and BS degrees with optional concentration in Astrophysics, while the graduate program confers MS with and without thesis, and PhD degrees. Our faculty members conduct research in condensed matter theory and experiment, high energy physics theory and experiment, experimental astrophysics and cosmology, and physics education. We also have ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations with the Department of Chemistry, School of Engineering, College of Medicine, Department of Psychology and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where some of our graduate students conduct their dissertation research. We currently have 55 graduate students, of whom more than 20% are women. We employ holistic admissions practices and do not impose a GRE cutoff in selecting students. Over the past three years, we have established a bridge program within the framework of our graduate program. Upon matriculation, students are administered a comprehensive diagnostic test to assess course background and steered to an individualized “Bridge” curriculum if they are found to need [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00007: New Mexico Tech Physics Graduate Program -- Let us spark the star in you! Michelle Creech-Eakman, Raul Morales-Juberias Located in a rural setting in the desert southwest, New Mexico Tech is a small, Hispanic-serving STEM university of about 2000 students located in Socorro, NM. The Physics program prepares students for an M.S. or Ph.D.'s with concentrations in Astrophysics, Atmospheric Physics or Instrumentation. We have 12 full-time faculty (25{\%} women), with numerous adjuncts from local national labs (Sandia and Los Alamos National Labs) as well as from the operations center for NRAO's Very Large Array. We presently have about 25 students in the program (30{\%} women and 15{\%} international.) Students pursue research using local facilities such as the Langmuir Laboratory for lightning studies, NRAO's VLA, the physics department Beowulf cluster, NASA and NSF supported national facilities, and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (presently under construction.) Recent areas of graduate student research include: modeling atmospheric dynamics of the Earth and other planets; astrochemistry of galaxies using data from ALMA and Herschel and of variable stars using Spitzer; development of instrumentation to detect and characterize lightning strokes from clouds; studies of the atmospheric composition of Earth and exoplanets; and correlations of radio and x-ray emission from high-mass star forming regions. When not engaged in their studies or research, students enjoy outdoor activities including hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing, with the big city of Albuquerque only 1 hour away for those wanting urban experiences. We will present a brief overview of our program. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00008: MS in Physics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette: efforts toward diversity Gabriela Petculescu We became part of Bridge in 2016 in an effort to enhance our ability to attract and educate underrepresented students. Minorities, a group with very high potential and unused opportunities, are the most effective role models for young students who are attracted to a career in science. While the faculty is somewhat diverse (30% women, 10% African-American), our student body is not. We have had successful female and minority students but have not been able to maintain their representation in every cycle. With the help of the Bridge program, we can build a more solid campaign as we offer a fertile environment for their growth: a heightened level of mentorship, access to diverse areas in physics, as well as an immediate feedback on their progress. Our students take advanced classes in a small-class setting, which can be easier to personalize. They work on research projects in a very close and direct feedback with their research advisers, which often leads to publications. This experience greatly enhances their skills and prepares them to be accepted and succeed in PhD programs, indicating that our program is an effective stepping-stone between undergraduate and doctoral education. We will present our program and efforts taken toward attracting and retaining underrepresented groups. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00009: The Imes-Moore Fellows Program: A Bridge Program at the University of Michigan Aimed to Enhanced Diversity in Applied Physics Cagliyan Kurdak The Applied Physics Program at the University of Michigan allows graduate students to do research at the frontier between the physical sciences and technological applications, which is not readily accommodated by traditional single-focus graduate programs. In the last 30 years, the program has attracted many underrepresented minority and female students, matched these students with faculty with research projects that are beyond the traditional boundaries of physics, and provided the support structure and mentorship that was needed for the students to succeed. Building on our success, six year ago we have launched a master's bridge-to-PhD program designed to prepare students from underrepresented groups for doctoral studies in applied physics. The program is highly integrated with our PhD Program allowing smooth transitioning of bridge students into our PhD Program.. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00010: Bridge Partnership Program at the University of Connecticut Ilya Sochnikov In this poster we will describe the main research fields and the work life setting for graduate students in our state university which is consistently ranked as the number one large public institution in New England by certain ranking agencies. We had been a Membership Institution for several years, and are taking more proactive steps as a newly accepted Partnership Institution towards working with minority students on their accommodation in our graduate program. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00011: Core Graduate Courses: A Missed Learning Opportunity?* Alexandru Maries, Singh Chandralekha An important goal of graduate physics core courses is to help students develop expertise in problem solving and improve their reasoning and meta-cognitive skills. We explore the conceptual difficulties of physics graduate students by administering conceptual problems on topics covered in undergraduate physics courses before and after instruction in related first year core graduate courses. Here, we focus on physics graduate students' difficulties manifested by their performance on two qualitative problems involving diagrammatic representation of vector fields. Some graduate students had great difficulty in recognizing whether the diagrams of the vector fields had divergence and/or curl but they had no difficulty computing the divergence and curl of the vector fields mathematically. We also conducted individual discussions with various faculty members who regularly teach first year graduate physics core courses about the goals of these courses and the performance of graduate students on the conceptual problems after related instruction in core courses. *Work supported by the National Science Foundation [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00012: CAMPARE and Cal-Bridge: Two Institutional Networks Increasing Diversity in Astronomy Alexander Rudolph, Tammy Smecker-Hane We describe two programs, CAMPARE and Cal-Bridge, with the common mission of increasing participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in astronomy, through summer research opportunities, in the case of CAMPARE, scholarships in the case of Cal-Bridge, and significant mentoring in both programs, creating a national impact on their numbers successfully pursuing a PhD in the field. In 7 years, the CAMPARE summer research program has sent 80 students, \textgreater 80{\%} from underrepresented groups, to conduct summer research at one of 10 major research institutions throughout the country. Of the CAMPARE scholars who have graduated with a Bachelor's degree, more than 60{\%} have completed or are pursuing graduate education in astronomy, physics, or a related field. Cal-Bridge is a CSU-UC Bridge program comprised of faculty from 5 UC and 9 CSU campuses in Southern California. In the first three years, 22 Cal-Bridge Scholars have been selected, including 11 Hispanic, 3 African-American and 8 female students, 5 of whom are from URM groups. Nineteen (19) of the 22 Cal-Bridge Scholars are first-generation college students. Cal-Bridge provides much deeper mentoring and professional development experiences over the last two years of undergraduate and first year of graduate school to students from this diverse network of higher education institutions. Cal-Bridge Scholars benefit from substantial financial support, intensive, joint mentoring by CSU and UC faculty, professional development workshops, and exposure to research opportunities at the participating UC campuses. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00013: Bridge Program in the University of Houston Clear Lake Samina Masood University of Houston Clear Lake is a master degree granting institute, primarily. It offers MS in Physics and has been chosen a Bridge program partner in 2014. Since then it has been contributing to train MS level graduate students from the under-represented minorities (URM) to prepare for the job market and higher education. Current Physics MS program has more than 16{\%} percent students from Bridge program and a more than 25{\%} URM students in the graduate Physics program. [Preview Abstract] |
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PS1.00014: Best Practices from a Bridge-to-PhD Program at the University of Michigan Cagliyan Kurdak In 2010, the University of Michigan Applied Physics Program launched a Master's degree bridge program designed to prepare students from underrepresented groups for doctoral studies in interdisciplinary research in applied physics, physical sciences and engineering. The program is fully integrated with ourPhD program and enables smooth transition of the bridge students into our PhD program. In this talk, I will share some of our best practices that can be used by other programs that are interested in enhancing diversity [Preview Abstract] |
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