REU site: REU Site in Materials and Astrophysics

在2010年、2011年和2012年的暑假期间，共有30名物理专业的本科生从事材料和天体物理方面的研究，为期10周。学生在全国范围内被招募到REU网站，优先考虑来自西部各州的学生，来自代表性不足群体的学生，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团体。学生参与UNLV最先进的实验室的研究。此外，学生将有机会参观内华达州考点的主要国家设施，以及劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室的高级光源(ALS)或阿贡国家实验室的高级光子源(APS)。许多学生将利用UNLV的研究设施，参与ALS或APS的研究。因此，学生将获得“小科学”和“大科学”的研究体验。来自一所小型大学的学生在参观或在美国能源部大型设施工作时，会给他们留下深刻的印象。今天的许多学生将在世界级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。有过研究经验的学生更有可能进入研究生院。近年来，%的毕业生都进入了物理或与之密切相关的领域研究生院。该计划鼓励有前途的学生选择科学和工程领域的职业。在2010-2012年的夏季，REU的学生致力于研究项目，包括利用UNLV高压科学和工程中心的设施，在极高压力(数百万大气压，与地球中心的条件相当)下进行物质性质实验。该中心在UNLV运营实验室，并在高级光子源运营光束线。其他学生则从事天体物理学方面的项目，例如对宇宙中最猛烈的伽马射线暴的分析；或者对黑洞附近吸积盘物理的计算机建模。学生项目经常导致学生在专业会议或专业科学文献中的出版物上共同撰写报告。

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.