REU Site: Solar and Heliospheric Physics at UAH and MSFC

这个REU站点是阿拉巴马大学亨茨维尔分校(UAH)和美国宇航局马歇尔太空飞行中心(MSFC)共同努力的，目的是促进与太阳和日球层物理相关的科学领域的多样性和保留性。这些实体之间的协同作用得益于以下机构在华南大学校园的合用：(1)新成立的华南航空航天大学空间科学系；(2)华南航空航天大学空间等离子体和大气研究中心(CSPAR)；以及(3)美国宇航局MSFC太阳物理组。每年将选出10名学生，并与UAH或MSFC的科学家在夏季进行为期10周的工作，开展与数据分析、仪器设计和测试、等离子体物理现象模拟或理论和建模技术的开发和实施有关的项目。仔细地将学生的技能与研究项目的要求相结合，将允许接受各种经验水平的本科生，包括那些刚刚完成大一年级的学生。在该计划的第一周举行了一个研讨会，其中包括关于太阳及其与星际环境的相互作用的讲座，以及教授计算机编程基础知识的动手课程。这个项目的智力价值集中在学生所做的研究上，他们在暑期项目结束时以海报的形式展示这些研究成果。此外，还鼓励每个参与者在每年12月举行的美国地球物理联盟年度会议上向科学会议提交他们的工作。该计划有部分资金支持参加这次会议的学生。该项目的更广泛影响涉及留住STEM领域的学生和少数群体参与科学。为实现这些目标，招聘工作针对美国东南部研究活动水平相对较低或为少数族裔服务机构的学院和大学。对申请者的评估将包括？需要？除了更传统的学术准备评估外，还有其他因素。这一额外因素使来自低研究机构的热心学生，他们可能几乎没有或根本没有了解研究经验，与来自更多研究密集型学校的学生竞争进入REU的机会。这项计划的目标是每年夏天挑选一批经验丰富的学生，以便参与者除了从导师那里学习研究技能外，还可以从同行那里学习研究技能。

This REU Site is a joint effort by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to promote diversity and retention in scientific fields related to solar and heliospheric physics. The synergy between these entities is facilitated by the colocation on the UAH campus of (i) the newly formed UAH Space Science department; (ii) the UAH Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR); and (iii) the NASA MSFC Solar Physics group. Each year 10 students will be selected and paired with scientists from either UAH or MSFC to work for 10 weeks over the summer on projects related to data analysis, instrumentation design and testing, simulations of plasma physics phenomena, or the development and implementation of theoretical and modeling techniques. Careful pairing of students skills with the requirements of the research projects, will allow acceptance of undergraduates across a wide range of experience levels, including those who have only completed their freshman year. A workshop is held during the first week of the program that includes lectures about the Sun and its interaction with the interstellar environment, and hands-on session that teach the basics of computer programming. The intellectual merit of this project centers on the research performed by students, which they present as a poster at the end of the summer program. In addition, each participant is encouraged to submit their work to a scientific session at the annual American Geophysical Union conference held each December. The program has funds to partially support students attending this conference. The broader impacts of the project relate to the retention of students in STEM fields and the participation of minorities in science. To meet these goals recruitment efforts are targeted towards colleges and universities in the South-Eastern United States whose level of research activity is comparatively low or are minority serving institutions. Evaluation of applicants will include a ?need? factor in addition to more traditional assessments of academic preparation. This additional factor enables a keen student from a low research institution, who may have little or no understanding research experience, to compete acceptance into this REU with students from more research intensive schools. This program will aim to select a cohort of students each summer with a range of experience levels so that participants may learn research skills from peers in addition to their mentors.