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

该奖项支持堪萨斯州立大学物理学本科生研究经验(REU)网站的更新。该网站由国防部与NSF REU计划合作提供支持。每年，这个为期十周的项目将有12名本科生参加。该项目的核心是由堪萨斯州立大学教师指导的研究项目。REU网站将专注于激光与原子和纳米级物质的相互作用，以及中微子和基本粒子碰撞的研究，以及探索学生如何学习物理。对真正的科学的体验有助于参与者在职业、研究生工作和/或专业学校方面做出更明智的决定。无论他们选择继续从事物理学或相关的技术领域，还是选择跳槽到不同的领域，聪明的学生在职业生涯早期做出正确的选择都符合国家利益。本科生参与者将研究原子和分子在强烈和超快的光学和X射线脉冲中的行为，激光冷却原子的精密光谱学，光在光纤中如何非线性相互作用，纳米粒子在溶液中的性质，以及使用简化模型进行蛋白质自组装。他们将帮助建造下一代高能粒子探测硬件，改进中微子振荡的测量，并帮助教师使用基于研究的评估工具。这一经历将通过一系列讲座来补充，这些讲座将为这些学生提供开展项目所需的背景知识。参与者将获得向不同受众解释他们的研究工作的经验，还将阅读和讨论科学中的伦理行为。

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.