REU Site: Summer Research in Physics at the University of Arkansas

非技术描述：阿肯色大学的本科生物理研究体验(REU)网站继续为学生提供令人兴奋的研究机会，这些学生大多来自欧扎克地区和周边州的本科机构，他们的基础设施有限或没有基础设施来支持本科研究。每年，包括女性和代表性不足的少数族裔在内的不同学生群体都会成为招生的目标。这方面的成功是由历史上的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)的教职员工和校友联系网络以及拥有大量美洲原住民和西班牙裔人口的机构以及大学为少数族裔招聘而建立的基础设施确保的。此外，一些可能在课程中表现不佳，但表现出独创性和创造力的学生也被包括在内。被选中的学生参与纳米材料、凝聚态物质、软物质、生物物理学、光子学、激光和量子光学的实验和理论研究项目。他们通过教师、博士后学者和高级研究生的指导，获得科学解决问题和在协作环境中工作所必需的技能和实践。他们访问高科技行业，参加专业发展活动，包括每周研讨会、关于实验室安全的讲习班、图书馆数据库搜索、研究生院申请、口头和书面沟通技能、参与性科学道德课程，以及与REU其他团体的社会/文化活动。评估过程既包括对学生成功的直接衡量，也包括对学习和成绩的间接衡量(学生、导师、校友调查)，以提供指导，以继续升级REU计划并扩大其影响。REU网站的许多参与者继续研究生学习或毕业后直接在科学、技术、工程或数学(STEM)领域找到工作。技术细节：REU参与者致力于当前感兴趣的课题的精心挑选的研究项目，如纳米材料的性质，使用扫描隧道显微镜(STM)的自由站立石墨素的热运动，原子薄材料量子器件，用于检测DNA的固态纳米孔制造，石墨烯以外的二维原子材料的相变，光-量子点相互作用，激光，结构光束，光中的量子关联，超分辨率荧光显微镜，以及极端分子和大脑的统计和非线性物理。通过为期十周的研究项目，参与者接受使用最先进的仪器以及计算和分析研究技术的技术培训。他们经历了科学研究中的创造性过程，从提出问题到解决问题，经历了起伏，最后是新发现的兴奋。在暑期结束时，学生们在REU研讨会上展示他们的研究成果。许多人继续在国家/国际科学会议上展示他们的研究成果，并根据他们的工作在科学研究期刊上发表论文。每一位REU参与者都放弃了在使用先进科学仪器方面获得的技术技能和更软的技能，成为国家科学和技术工作队伍中富有成效的一员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: The Physics research experience for undergraduates (REU) Site at the University of Arkansas continues to provide exciting research opportunities to students, mostly from, but not limited to, undergraduate institutions in the Ozark region and surrounding states with limited or no infrastructure to support undergraduate research. Each year, a diverse group of students including women and underrepresented minorities are targeted for recruiting. The success with this aspect is assured by a network of faculty and alumni contacts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and institutions with significant Native American and Hispanic populations, and the University's infrastructure for minority recruiting. Additionally, a few students who may have not performed well in courses, but show indication of originality and creativity, are included. The selected students participate in experimental and theoretical research projects in nanoscale materials, condensed matter, soft matter, biophysics, photonics, lasers, and quantum optics. They acquire skills and practices essential to scientific problem solving and for working in a collaborative environment through mentoring from faculty, post-doctoral scholars, and senior graduate students. They visit high-tech industries, participate in professional development activities that include weekly seminars, workshops on laboratory safety, library database searches, graduate school applications, oral and written communications skills, a participatory scientific ethics course, and social/cultural activities with other REU groups. The evaluation process incorporates both direct measures of student success and indirect measures (student, mentor, alumni survey) of learning and achievements to provide guidance to continually upgrade the REU program and broaden its impact. Many participants in the REU site continue with graduate studies or find employment directly after graduation in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields.TECHNICAL DETAILS: The REU participants work on carefully chosen research projects on topics of current interest such as properties of nanoscale materials, thermal motion of free standing grapheme using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), atomically thin material quantum devices, solid-state nanopore fabrication for detection of DNA, phase transition in two dimensional atomic materials beyond graphene, light-quantum dot interaction, lasers, structured light beams, quantum correlations in light, super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, and statistical and nonlinear physics of extremophiles and the brain. Through engagement with their research projects for ten weeks, the participants receive technical training in using the state of the art instruments, and computational and analytical research techniques. They experience the creative process involved in scientific research starting from the formulation of a problem to its solution, the ups and downs, and the eventual thrill of a new discovery. At the end of the summer, students present their research at a REU symposium. Many go on to present the results of their research at national/international scientific conferences and publish papers based on their work in scientific research journals. Each REU participant leaves having acquired technical skills in the use of advanced scientific instruments and softer skills to be a productive member of the nation's scientific and technical workforce.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.