REU Site: Physics Research at Brigham Young University

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This award supports the renewal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site in physics at Brigham Young University. The program will develop students' abilities in physics research by hands-on experiences. Direct mentoring and group training will help the students acquire the skills needed to get started in research. Group training will include instruction in experimental and computational techniques, preparation for graduate school, and scientific writing and presentations. Students will also benefit from close mentoring by faculty. This contact will give them role models for professional ethics and standards and opportunities to discuss many aspects of graduate school opportunities and careers in physics and related fields. The RET component will impact the experience of secondary teachers who participate in the program but also the students they teach. RET participants will be encouraged to look for ways to incorporate their summer experiences in their classroom. Participating students and teachers will participate in a ten-week summer physics research program in computational plasma physics, ultrafast nonlinear optics, experimental and computational condensed matter physics, x-ray and XUV sources and optics, microfabrication technology, visible astronomy, or materials science. Participants will experience the joy of research by being involved in a research project from proposal presentation through performing the research and reporting results. The award is funded by both the Division of Physics and the Division of Astronomical Sciences within the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.