Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2009 APS March Meeting
Volume 54, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 16–20, 2009; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Session T29: Focus Session: NSF's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program: Overview and Perspectives |
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: FEd Chair: Catherine Mader, Hope College Room: 333 |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 2:30PM - 3:06PM |
T29.00001: Physics NSF-REU Site Director Workshop: What Did We Learn and What Questions Remain? Invited Speaker: The Research Experience for Undergraduates program, traditionally funded by the National Science Foundation and by other agencies (including the Department of Defense), has been a great success. Every year, hundreds of students have the chance to participate in research activities at Universities and research entities other than their own. These extended experiences have helped the students develop confidence in their abilities as practicing physicists, train on state of the art instrumentation, work on communication skills through presentations, and frequently reach a publication milestone. The REU program's impact is manifold and complementary to the strong work done at the home institutions by faculty advisors and instructors. In this presentation we will discuss the current state of the program as determined by the recent (and first) meeting of the Physics REU site directors. In particular we will focus on the strengths of the program, shared good practices, data gathering, and some changes the new Steering Committee might implement. The intended audience should be current REU directors and faculty research supervisors; students who might be interested in the program; faculty at institutions who might be thinking of applying to become a site; and anyone attentive to undergraduate research in general. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 3:06PM - 3:18PM |
T29.00002: Past participant's perspective on the Research Experience for Undergraduates program. Derek Padilla The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs funded by the National Science Foundation provide an outstanding opportunity for many students to participate in high-quality research at a facility other than their own institution. As a participant in the summer of 2006 I will attest to the success of a great REU program. This discussion will focus on my work and experience while in the program as well as the continuing relationship with my advisors and the host department as a whole. In collaborating with all levels of REU personnel we will improve the function of an already outstanding opportunity for undergraduate students for the coming years. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 3:18PM - 3:30PM |
T29.00003: Recuiting minority students into your REU program David Ernst It is important for the field of physics that we draw our talent from the broadest pool. However, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans are substantially underrepresented in physics. Since summer research experiences are a useful tool to assist students in gaining entrance into graduate school, it is particularly important that underrepresented minority students are fully able to participate. The NSF REU program at Vanderbilt University is historically comprised of one half minority students. How this comes about and how we pro-actively recruit minority students will be described. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 3:30PM - 3:42PM |
T29.00004: International Summer Research Program in Gravitational-Wave Physics operated by the University of Florida for the LIGO VIRGO Science Collaboration Guido Mueller, Bernard Whiting The NSF-funded Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), 20+ US universities and colleges, and their international partners in Europe, Australia, and Japan are operating a network of six large scale interferometers to detect gravitational waves from neutron star or small black hole mergers, supernovae, and other galactic or cosmological sources. The data analysis as well as R{\&}D activities for future gravitational-wave detectors are organized within the LIGO VIRGO Scientific Collaboration. This international frame provides the backdrop of our international summer research program. Our international partners offer currently up to 30 different research projects at 15 different institutions in 6 different countries on 3 different continents for US undergraduate students. Our primary target group are students from small US colleges who are active members of the LIGO Science Collaboration. In addition to the standard goal of exposing the students to cutting edge research, the students will also be exposed to a different culture (and usually language), and their research experience will help our small college groups to build-up or solidify their own research connection with our international partners. See http://www.phys.ufl.edu/ireu for more details. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 3:42PM - 3:54PM |
T29.00005: REU in Physics at Kansas State University--- an Evolving Program Kristan Corwin, Bruce Glymour, Amy Lara, Larry Weaver, Dean Zollman The REU site in the Physics Department at Kansas State University, funded by NSF for 13 years between 1992 and 2007, originally focused on atomic collision physics. Now the theme has broadened to include laser-matter interactions on atomic and nanoscales, and an ethics component is incorporated. Students study how atoms and molecules interact with ultra-fast optical and x-ray pulses, reveal the structure of nanoparticle crystallization and gel formation with scattered laser light, and develop computer codes for atomic interactions in Bose-Einstein condensates and nanoparticle self-assembly from lattices to gels; some have traveled to Japan for neutrino experiments. The students we select come primarily from smaller colleges and universities in the Midwest where research opportunities are limited. Prof. Weaver, who has served as PI since 1992, facilitates their transition from a teaching to research environment through lectures and individual interactions. Our program is in a period of transition. While Prof. Weaver continues to be the ``impedance match'' between students and mentors, other leadership roles are gradually being assumed by a team of faculty members who strive to preserve the intimacy and excellence of the program. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 3:54PM - 4:06PM |
T29.00006: Challenges and Opportunities in Interdisciplinary Materials Research Experiences for Undergraduates Yogesh Vohra, Thomas Nordlund The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) offer a broad range of interdisciplinary materials research experiences to undergraduate students with diverse backgrounds in physics, chemistry, applied mathematics, and engineering. The research projects offered cover a broad range of topics including high pressure physics, microelectronic materials, nano-materials, laser materials, bioceramics and biopolymers, cell-biomaterials interactions, planetary materials, and computer simulation of materials. The students welcome the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team of basic science, engineering, and biomedical faculty but the challenge is in learning the key vocabulary for interdisciplinary collaborations, experimental tools, and working in an independent capacity. The career development workshops dealing with the graduate school application process and the entrepreneurial business activities were found to be most effective. The interdisciplinary university wide poster session helped student broaden their horizons in research careers. The synergy of the REU program with other concurrently running high school summer programs on UAB campus will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:06PM - 4:18PM |
T29.00007: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:18PM - 4:30PM |
T29.00008: The Assessment of the Impact of REU Programs on Student Classroom Performance Chris Hughes Supporters of undergraduate research claim that the research experience enhances the success of students in their classes and promotes their progress toward completing a science major. Since there are many other variables that can influence a student's progress through a curriculum, it is frequently difficult to compare students from undergraduate research programs with a suitable control group. At James Madison University, a significant number of chemistry and physics majors participate in summer REU programs on campus. However, since JMU is among the top 10{\%} of undergraduate institutions in the US in undergraduate physics enrollment, there are also a significant number who choose not to stay on campus for summer research. Using several years worth of data, we have determined the change in the GPAs of REU students (N=75) from the semester before the REU to the semester after the REU and compared these with the students who did not participate in summer research (N=663). We have found that the REU students' average GPA increased by a statistically significant amount while the non-REU students' average GPA was unchanged to within a standard deviation. We will also discuss other assessment methods used at JMU and some of the limitations in the interpretation of this study. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:30PM - 4:42PM |
T29.00009: The REU Program From a PUI Perspective: Interdisciplinary Scientific Computation at Ohio Wesleyan University Brad Trees Running a research experience for undergraduates (REU) program at a predominantly undergraduate institution (PUI) has some unique aspects when compared to such a program at a doctoral/research university. Discussion will focus on the challenges of running an REU program at a PUI, as well as the potential benefits to undergraduate participants, faculty mentors, and the institution in general. The perspective for the discussion stems from experiences of the faculty mentors at Ohio Wesleyan's interdisciplinary REU program in scientific computation, which also includes a research experience for teachers component (NSF REU/RET Grant PHY-0648751). [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2025 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700