Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) Site Program at the National Solar Observatory (NSO)

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The National Solar Observatory (NSO) is a national center for research in solar physics. The NSO has operated summer research programs for both undergraduate and graduate students since 1983, and has participated in the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program since its inception in 1986. The NSO will continue its REU program with the funding of four students per summer, two at the NSO Tucson site and two at the NSO Sacramento Peak (Sac Peak) site. The NSO offers a unique educational opportunity for students, as solar physics research is not present at many universities. Students will be mentored in projects ranging from studies of the Alfvén waves in the solar corona to measurements of the plasma flows in the solar interior below coronal mass ejections. NSO REU students enjoy exposure to the intense research environment at the Sac Peak telescope facilities and to the university environment of the Tucson location. At both sites, the REU students mix with graduate students and post-doctoral researchers in addition to their scientific mentors. To date, the NSO REU program has served a diverse group of students, including those from research universities and those from smaller schools who normally would not have access to forefront research projects. The NSO program has served an audience with a gender and ethnic diversity comparable to that of the general physics and astronomy undergraduate population, and is working on an approach to increase the participant ethnic diversity. Finally, NSO REU participants enter graduate programs at a rate three times higher than the typical undergraduate population, which is an indication of the success of the NSO program and also of the talent of the students choosing to participate in the program.