Research Experience for Undergraduate Physics Majors

Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

The 2000 REU Physics Summer Program at Southwest Research Institute will allow students to participate in research programs in space physics, astrophysics, optics, auroral and magnetospheric physics, plasma detector development, atmospheric physics, astronomy, and planetary science. Students will be selected nationally with preference given to those entering their senior year in physics and who reflect the gender and ethnic demographics of San Antonio, Texas. Students will attend a ten-week summer program to develop skills for solving research problems, participate in seminars for career exploration, and observe, and participate in on-going research projects. SwRI staff actively participate in solar system exploration through basic modeling and theoretical research, use ground-based optical and radio observatories, and through involvement in various space missions. Interaction with SwRI mentors will be on a one-to-one basis for individual research and skills development. Students will experience first hand the advance of science from recognizing current gaps in knowledge to proposing and carrying through new experiments to analyzing the resulting data.