REU Site: Physics at Kansas State University - Interactions of Matter, Light and Learning

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This award supports the renewal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site in Physics at Kansas State University. The site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program. Each year the ten-week program will involve twelve undergraduate students. At the core of the program are the research projects with mentors from Kansas State faculty. The REU site will focus on interactions of laser light with matter at atomic and nanoscales, as well as investigations of neutrinos and elementary particle collisions and probing how students learn physics. The experience of what real science is like helps the participants make better informed decisions about careers, graduate work and/or professional school. Whether they choose to continue in physics or a related technical field, or choose to move to a different area, bright students making good choices early in their careers is in the national interest.Undergraduate student participants will do research on how atoms and molecules behave in intense and ultra-fast optical and x-ray pulses, precision spectroscopy in laser-cooled atoms, how light interacts non-linearly in optical fibers, the properties of nanoparticles in solution, and protein self-assembly with simplified models. They will help build next-generation hardware for high-energy particle detection, improve measurements of neutrino oscillations, and help faculty use research-based assessment tools. This experience will be supplemented by a series of lectures that provide the background these students need to carry out their projects. The participants will gain experience in explaining their research work to a variety of audiences and will also read about and discuss ethical behavior in science.