REU Site: Championing Physics in Multicultural Miami: Dismantling Barriers for New Research Perspectives

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This award supports a new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site in Physics at the University of Miami. The site aims to engage eight students each summer in cross-cutting, frontier Physics research set in the dynamic and multicultural city of Miami. Through one-on-one mentoring and hands-on research, the students will get an in-depth, “insider” view of the scientific process, and come to see themselves as important actors in advancing the discipline. A robust set of “excursions” is also planned, as well as opportunities for community engagement. Close links between scientists and their communities are critical to counter disinformation and distrust of science, to create a better informed and more empowered citizenry, and to ensure relevant, responsible, and compelling research. Community engagement supported by the REU engagements will go beyond sharing research; it will encourage support for science from families and inspire even younger participants to pursue science careers.Undergraduate students will be involved in projects including studying the biophysics of marine larvae, circadian clocks of Drosophila (fruit-fly), navigation of crawling insects, random light design with high photonic states, transport properties of novel materials, developing the next generation of mm-wave and X-ray instruments, quantum computing, simulations of exploding stars, and using modern computing to take on traditional, non-trivial physics problems. Emphasis will be on developing skills in experimental design, critical thinking, problem solving, scientific computing, data acquisition and analysis, and communication. With access to cutting-edge facilities and accomplished researchers, participants will be able to contribute to advancing knowledge in their respective fields, with work leading to presentations at conferences and peer-reviewed publications.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.