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

伯明翰大学（UAB）继续运营本科生研究经验（REU）网站。该网站由UAB物理系主办，包括来自亚拉巴马州立大学、西格鲁吉亚大学和蒙特瓦洛大学的教师参与。每年招收八名本科生进行为期十周的夏季研究体验，学生招聘重点是妇女和代表性不足的少数民族。学生的研究项目包括高压材料研究，薄膜生长和表征，微电子材料，蘸笔纳米光刻，激光材料，生物陶瓷，聚合物生物材料，材料生长中的气相化学和表面建模，以及材料的计算机模拟。科学研究项目由科学和工程学院组成的跨学科团队专门为本科生开发。除了参加个人研究项目，REU学生将参加研讨会的科学交流和研究伦理，校园社交活动，有些人将在区域和国家会议上发表演讲，并在同行评审的期刊上发表他们的研究成果。REU网站还包括教师研究经验（RET）组件，专注于让高中教师接触跨学科，基于探究的材料研究。该网站带来了两个伯明翰地区的高中教师每年6个星期在夏季到UAB校园。教师参与UAB的开放式研究项目，并根据他们的研究主题开发课程材料和简单的演示模型。将课程材料纳入课堂的机会是在一个内部讲习班。基金会参与者还参加研究和科学交流中的伦理问题研讨会。

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.