REU Site: Physics Research at UC Davis

该奖项支持更新加州大学戴维斯分校的本科生物理研究体验(REU)网站。每年，REU计划将为来自美国各地的10到11名学生提供参加为期10周的暑期研究计划的机会。REU的学生与一位教师导师密切合作，在不同的物理子领域进行为期十周的研究项目。这些项目跨越天体物理、生物物理、复杂系统、凝聚态物质、核物理和粒子物理等子领域。例如，开发用于暗物质搜索的新型光电倍增管，分析光谱数据以了解遥远行星形成区域中存在的分子，设计具有有用能量存储性能的新蛋白质，以及通过核磁共振探索强关联材料。除了他们的具体研究项目外，学生们还从他们与教职员工、研究生和其他REU学生的互动中学习，并从实地考察中学习在不同的环境中展示与物理相关的工作--学生们将参观麦克莱伦核研究中心、利克天文台和高级光源等设施。在旧金山湾区工作的加州大学戴维斯分校前REU学生也将向目前的参与者描述他们的职业道路。在项目结束时，每个参与者都要做一份正式的研究报告，并提交一份书面的项目报告，这份报告可能会导致同行评议的出版。作为一个整体，REU活动传授对进一步的科学努力有用的技能，让学生对未来可能的道路有一个广阔的视角，并帮助他们建立一个专业联系网络。该项目特别针对的是研究机会有限的小型学院的学生，以及那些在物理学领域代表性不足的群体，包括女性和某些少数群体的学生。

This award supports the renewal of the physics Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at the University of California, Davis. Each year, the REU program will provide ten or eleven students from around the United States an opportunity to participate in a ten-week summer research program. REU students work closely with a faculty mentor on a ten-week research project in a variety of physics subfields. The projects span the subfields of astrophysics, biophysics, complex systems, condensed matter, nuclear and particle physics. Examples include developing new photomultipliers for dark matter searches, analyzing spectroscopic data to learn about the molecules present in distant planet-forming regions, designing new proteins with useful energy storage properties, and exploring strongly correlated materials through nuclear magnetic resonance. In addition to their specific research project, the students learn from their interactions with faculty, graduate students, and other REU students, and from field trips showing physics-related work in diverse settings -- students will visit facilities such as the McClellan Nuclear Research Center, Lick Observatory, and the Advanced Light Source. Former UC Davis REU students now working in the San Francisco Bay Area will also describe their career paths to current participants. At the end of the program, each participant gives a formal research presentation and presents a written project report that can lead to a peer reviewed publication. Taken as a whole, the REU activities teach skills useful for further scientific endeavors, give students a broad perspective on possible future paths, and help them build a network of professional contacts. The program especially targets students from small colleges with limited research opportunities and those from groups underrepresented in physics, including women and students from certain minority groups.