REU Site: Nevis Labs, Columbia University for Summers 2020-2022

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the renewal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site in experimental high energy physics and astrophysics at Nevis Labs, Columbia University. The site will support ten undergraduate students per year in original, cutting-edge physics research, working with a faculty mentor. Two students per year will spend the summer conducting research at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland at the Large Hadron Collider. The REU program provides the opportunity for undergraduates to join in the excitement of cutting-edge research, as well as to participate in the development of the technological and computational tools required for the projects. Through an extensive series of lectures and lab visits, the students are also exposed to the most exciting problems in many other fields of physics. The students spend ten weeks during the summer participating in the broad Nevis high energy physics, nuclear physics, and particle astrophysics research program, which seeks to address the most pressing issues of these fields, including the origin of mass, the question of neutrino oscillations, and the search for Dark Matter. Answers to these questions will have profound implications for our understanding of the fundamental structure and evolution of the universe. The strength of the Nevis research program, coupled with the Nevis infrastructure of world class electronics design and mechanical construction, forms a unique environment with opportunities for training of students. As the variety of experiments are at different stages in their development, Nevis provides the opportunity for students to gain experience in all aspects of the experiments, from initial detector design, hardware development and construction, to software development and data analysis. 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.