REU-Site: Regional Initiative to Promote Undergraduate Participation in Experimental and Computational Materials Research

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The University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) continues operating a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site. The Site is hosted by the Department of Physics at UAB and includes participation of faculty from Alabama State University, University of West Georgia, and University of Montevallo. Eight undergraduate students are recruited every year for a ten-week summer research experience, with a student recruitment focus on women and underrepresented minorities. Student research projects include high pressure materials research, thin film growth and characterization, microelectronic materials, dip pen nanolithography, laser materials, bioceramics, polymeric biomaterials, modeling of gas phase chemistry and surfaces in materials growth, and computer simulation of materials. The scientific research projects have been specifically developed for undergraduates by an interdisciplinary team consisting of science and engineering faculty. In addition to participating in individual research projects, REU students will attend seminars on scientific communication and ethics in research, on-campus social activities, and some will give presentations at regional and national meetings and publish their research findings in peer-reviewed journals.The REU Site also includes a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) component, focused on exposing high school teachers to interdisciplinary, inquiry-based materials research. The Site brings two Birmingham area high school teachers every year for 6 weeks in summer to UAB campus. Teachers participate in open-ended research projects at UAB and develop curricular materials and simple demonstration models based on their research topics. Opportunities for incorporating curricular materials in the classroom are addressed in an internal workshop. RET participants also attend the seminars on ethics in research and scientific communication.