REU/RET Site: Radio Science in Astronomy, Geodesy, and Geospace Science at MIT Haystack Observatory

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

MIT's Haystack Observatory will host a combined summer REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) and RET (Research Experiences for Teachers) site in astronomy, space sciences, geodesy, and informatics. The program will strive to recruit diverse student cohorts including students from underrepresented groups, as well as students from colleges and universities with limited local research infrastructure. The research and professional development programs will help students to understand the nature and ethics of scientific research and the skills and process necessary to become a professional scientist. Instructional Units developed by RET participants will be used in classrooms worldwide. This program is a renewal of an existing REU/RET site. These activities are linked through an overarching radio science theme. Each summer, seven undergraduate students and two K-12 teachers will spend ten weeks at Haystack engaged in research. Most of these will utilize major on-site facilities and instrumentation. Opportunities also exist for students to get involved with the Event Horizon Telescope, very long baseline interferometry, the Murchison Widefield Array, and in designing instrumentation for these and future facilities. The program is also a gateway to opportunities in various geospace and magnetospheric physics projects. 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.