REU site: REU Site in Materials and Astrophysics

在2010年、2011年和2012年的夏季，共有30名本科物理专业的学生参加为期10周的材料和天体物理方面的研究。REU在全国范围内招募学生，优先考虑来自西部各州的学生，来自代表性不足的群体的学生，以及来自研究设施有限的机构的学生。学生们住在UNLV的宿舍里，一起吃饭，形成一个有凝聚力的社会群体。学生参与研究在最先进的实验室在UNLV。此外，学生将有机会参观内华达试验场的主要国家设施，以及劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室的先进光源（ALS）或阿贡国家实验室的先进光子源（APS）。许多学生将参与ALS或APS的研究，使用UNLV的研究设施。因此，学生将获得“小科学”和“大科学”的研究经验。来自一所小型大学的学生参观或在大型能源部设施工作时印象深刻。今天的许多学生将在世界一流的国家研究机构工作。熟悉大科学的世界对学生未来的职业生涯很重要。有过研究经历的学生更有可能进入研究生院。近年来，64%的毕业生继续攻读物理或相关领域的研究生。该项目鼓励有前途的学生选择科学和工程领域的职业。在2010年至2012年的夏季，REU学生从事研究项目，包括在极高压力下（数百万大气压，与地球中心的条件相当）的物质特性实验，使用UNLV的高压科学与工程中心的设施，该中心在UNLV运营实验室和先进光子源的光束线。其他学生从事天体物理学的项目，比如分析宇宙中最猛烈的事件——伽马射线暴；或者用计算机模拟黑洞附近吸积盘的物理现象。学生的项目通常会导致学生在专业会议或专业科学文献的出版物中共同撰写报告。

A total of thirty undergraduate physics majors are engaged in research in materials and astrophysics for ten weeks during the summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012. Students are recruited nationally to the REU site, with preference for students from the Western states, students from underrepresented groups, and students from institutions with limited research facilities. Students live in the dorms at UNLV, eat their meals together, and form a cohesive social group. Student participate in research in the state-of-the-art laboratories at UNLV. In addition, students will have an opportunity to visit major national facilities at the Nevada Test Site and at either the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory or the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory. Many of the students will participate in research at the ALS or APS, using UNLV's research facilities. Thus students will thus get a research experience in both "small science" and "big science". Students from a small college are very impressed when they visit or work at a massive DOE facility. Many of today's students will work at world-class national research facilities. Becoming familiar with the world of Big Science is important for the students'future careers. A student who has had a research experience is more likely to attend graduate school. In recent years, 64% of the graduating students have gone on to graduate school in physics or a closely related field. The program encourages promising students to choose careers in science and engineering.During the summers of 2010-2012, REU students work on research projects, including experiments on the properties of matter under extremely high pressure (millions of atmospheres, comparable to conditions in the center of the Earth), using the facilities of UNLV's High Pressure Science and Engineering Center, which operates laboratories at UNLV and a beamline at the Advanced Photon Source. Other students work on projects in astrophysics, such as analysis of Gamma Ray Bursts, the most violent events in the universe; or computer modeling of the physics of accretion disks near black holes. Student projects often result in student co-authorship of presentations at professional meetings or publications in the professional scientific literature.