REU Site: Research In Neutrino Astrophysics at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls

University Of Wisconsin-River Falls, River Falls WI

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls to provide six undergraduates with ten-week summer research experiences annually on projects with data from the international IceCube Neutrino Observatory. To advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning, students will be integrated into a research collaboration that opened the field of neutrino astronomy, and work in a department where learning and involving undergraduates in research are priorities. Students will acquire a broad range of research skills, will learn to appreciate the value of fundamental science to society and will be mentored on giving effective scientific presentations and in communicating science. Students will make contributions to the IceCube experiment that will help advance understanding and knowledge in the field of neutrino astronomy. IceCube is a unique telescope located at the South Pole. (However, students will not travel to the South Pole). Unlike traditional optical telescopes, IceCube looks at the universe via particles called neutrinos. Physics World deemed IceCube's observation of extraterrestrial neutrinos, a result that ushered in the era of neutrino astronomy, the physics breakthrough of the year 2013. With access to IceCube data, high performance computing resources, and personnel, the students will make real contributions while acquiring research skills that are transferrable to many fields of science, technology, and engineering. Under the guidance of faculty advisors who have many years of experience successfully supervising undergraduate research, students will contribute to resolving some of the biggest puzzles in particle astrophysics: the origin of high-energy cosmic rays, the nature of neutrino oscillations, and the composition of dark matter.