REU Site: Astrophysics and Condensed Matter Physics at Villanova University

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This award supports a new Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) site at Villanova University (VU), led by a collaboration between the VU Department of Physics and the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science. The site will engage six undergraduate students per year in discovery-based research, professional training, and community building activities. As a part of the professional training, students will travel to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to interact with other scientists and explore various career paths in astrophysics. They will present their research at a regional symposium hosted at VU as a capstone activity. Participant mentoring will continue after the completion of the program and students will receive support to present their work at a national or regional meeting.This REU program is focused on research in astrophysics with targeted opportunities in condensed matter physics. Participants will gain competence addressing real-world scientific problems through observation, experimentation, critical thinking, and data analysis - preparing them for a career in science or other technical fields. They will have opportunities to present their work at conferences (including support for presentations at professional meetings during the following academic year) and through peer-reviewed papers in which they would share authorship with their mentors. Students will receive professional training and experience in a variety of areas needed for successful careers in STEM, including: research ethics; computer programming; hardware and software operations as required by their specific research topic; and finally the presentation of their results and professional interactions. Mentors will receive valuable annual training in mentoring skills and establish and grow a mutually beneficial network with institutions targeted for recruitment. The local community will benefit from the “Regional Physics & Astronomy Research Symposium” gathering summer research students from the local area to share their research, practice their communication skills, and expand their network. This site is supported by the Division of Physics and the Division of Materials Research within the Mathematics 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.