REU Site: Solar Physics Program at Montana State University

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

The proposers presented a plan to continue an ongoing Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at Montana State University (MSU) in solar physics, involving student analysis of data from space missions such as Yohkoh, SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), TRACE (Transition Region And Coronal Explorer), and RHESSI (Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager), as well as from ground-based observatories. The Principal Investigators (PIs) target undergraduates majoring in physics, mathematics, and computer sciences. The program provides solar physics research opportunities for students through an introductory course in solar physics, lectures by visiting scholars, independent research projects carried out with a faculty mentor, and web publication of the students' final reports. Student research projects frequently result in joint professional publications or presentations with the MSU faculty mentor. This MSU REU program provides an important service to the discipline of solar physics, since the subject is being taught at relatively few United States colleges and universities. The PIs are successful in recruiting women (achieving a 3-to-1 female-to-male ratio in 2005) and participate in three programs for Native American students and teachers. MSU now plans to recruit other minorities and to add an ethics component to this project. Their program offers other benefits to society through its strong space weather component. Past participants have reported that the exposure to professional research in a university environment helped them to decide whether to continue their education in graduate school, and whether to pursue solar physics research as a profession.