REU Site: Applying the Tools of Physics to Contemporary Problems in Science and Engineering

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This award supports an REU site at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The ten week program involves Physics research projects in condensed matter physics, materials physics, biological physics, nuclear and high-energy physics, astrophysics, atomic physics, computational physics, and complex systems. The program introduces undergraduate students to the broad range of problems in science and engineering that can be addressed using the tools of physics. The REU projects are original research exercises intimately related to ongoing faculty research at the cutting edge of physics. Students write code that is subsequently used in real experiments, they design and test components for real instruments, and they analyze real data. Projects are challenging but "doable" and are designed to achieve measurable accomplishments in the 10-week time frame. A wide range of research activities are supported so that participants receive an engaging introduction to the breadth of forefront research opportunities in the major subdisciplines of physics. In addition to research skills, undergraduates receive valuable training in technical communications skills, teamwork skills, and research ethics, and information and discussion on career choices. The program will also work to ensure student progress and success by assigning a graduate student or postdoc in the individual research groups as a personal "mentor" in addition to the faculty adviser, scheduling frequent and regular student-faculty interactions, and promoting collegial relationships among the REU students and the larger Physics community at Illinois. Students will present three oral reports during the program: a 5-min introductory talk during the first week; an informal 10-15-min "progress" report during the sixth week, and a formal APS-style presentation in the final week. Talented undergraduate students from academic institutions having limited research programs in physics will be especially recruited and encouraged to apply, as are students who are members of historically under-represented minority groups.