Research Careers for Minority Scholar in Condensed Matter Physics

俄克拉荷马州立大学将为少数族裔学者建立一个研究事业项目，以增加黑人、美洲印第安人和西班牙裔在凝聚态物理领域的代表性。该项目将包括三个相互支持的阶段。(1)在大三和大四之间的暑期为学生提供本科研究实习机会。这将向他们介绍在知识前沿的研究生涯的兴奋。(2)完成学士学位后的“过渡性暑期”，为他们提供从本科到研究生学习的连续途径，继续参与研究，并为他们完成论文问题提供一个良好的开端。这种连续性很重要，因为许多美国学生在进入就业市场时获得了学士学位，因此迷失在了研究职业中。(3)支持他们第一年的研究生学习，包括为少数民族本科生提供榜样的机会。该项目将重点研究光学材料的特性，这是一个具有巨大工业和学术兴趣的领域。俄克拉荷马州立大学是美国领先的光学材料研究中心之一。该计划的所有阶段都将通过参加科学会议和座谈会，提供与更大的科学界以及俄勒冈州立大学教职员工和学生互动的机会。这将有助于少数学者在物理社区内建立他们的网络，这对于成为成功和富有成效的研究物理学家非常重要。在本提案涵盖的五年内，该计划将使目标群体的学生人数增加一倍，这些学生正在为凝聚态物理的研究事业做准备。

Oklahoma State University will establish a Research Careers for Minority Scholars project to increase the representation of Blacks, American Indians, and Hispanics in the field of Condensed Matter Physics. The project will consist of three mutually supporting phases. (1) An undergraduate research internship for students in the summer between their Junior and Senior years. This will introduce them to the excitement of a research career on the forefront of knowledge. (2) A "bridging summer" immediately following their completion of the baccalaureate degree to provide a continuous path from undergraduate to graduate study, continue their involvement in research, and give them a head start toward completion of a thesis problem. This continuity is important since many U.S. students are lost to research careers because they enter the job market at the B.S. level. (3) Support for their first year of graduate study including opportunities for them to serve as role models for minority undergraduates. The project will emphasize research in the properties of optical materials, an area with great industrial, as well as academic, interest. Oklahoma State University is one of the leading American research centers in optical materials. All phases of the program will provide, through attendance at scientific conferences and colloquia, the opportunity to interact with the larger scientific community as well as OSU faculty, staff and students. This will aid the Minority Scholars in building their network within the physics community that is so important in becoming successful and productive research physicists. Over the five years covered by this proposal the program will approximately double the number of students from the targeted groups who are preparing for research careers in Condensed Matter Physics.