Summer Undergraduate Research Experience at the University of Michigan

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Each year, the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program will allow twelve students from around the United States and twelve students from the University of Michigan to participate in a ten week summer research program. Students conduct research in all areas of physics; including high energy, atomic, nuclear, condensed matter, and astrophysics. Non-Michigan students are recruited from undergraduate programs throughout the country with a special emphasis on students from small liberal arts colleges and historically black institutions that, ordinarily, cannot provide this range of research opportunities. REU students will be fully integrated into a research group that matches their intellectual interests and work as apprentices to their faculty mentors. The work is primarily carried out at University of Michigan facilities, where all the resources of a large research university are available. In addition, there is access to major experimental facilities around the world, such as Fermilab, the Advanced Light Source at Argonne, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Research work is augmented by an extensive array of other educational and social activities. These include shop and radiation safety classes, a lab tour to a major facility such as Fermilab, seminars presented by faculty on research opportunities for students, and a variety of lunches and dinners with other students and faculty. These activities allow students to put their research experience in a wider perspective, to build a network of professional contacts, to and develop professional skills in a scientific environment. Near the end of the project, the students present their results to their peers and faculty mentors. These presentations may form the basis for further activities, such as presentations at national meetings or publications.