REU Site: Research Experiences for Community College Students in Physics and Astronomy

Cuny Queensborough Community College, Bayside NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole (or in part) under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at Queensborough Community College in New York City has a number of broader impacts that focus on providing research opportunities to undergraduates to help prepare them for future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. The site focuses on providing research opportunities to students from community colleges who have had no prior research experience. The site has a strong plan to recruit students from groups underrepresented in physics. The research projects proposed for the students to engage in are varied and reach across different physics and astronomy topics including black holes, biophysics, cosmic ray detection, X-ray spectroscopy, acoustics, and climate change. Due to the diversity of the research topics offered the students have an opportunity to engage in research that excites them while mastering skills that can be applied to the academic journey in a number of ways. Participants will have the opportunity to access and analyze big data using large national databases which will give them skills in understanding and applying large amounts of data. They will learn computational methods to create applications that can collect and manipulate data as well as run large simulations from basic equations that will predict physical outcomes. They will have the opportunity to physically build detectors and assist in collecting and analyzing data from experiments with partners all over New York. The REU site at Queensborough Community College provides opportunities to twelve undergraduate students at community colleges per year. One of the goals of the REU site is to prepare the students to be competitive for transfer to a four-year college in a STEM discipline. In addition to participating in research with an experienced mentor, the students will engage in activities to ensure not only that their research stays on track but that they have an engaging collegial and scholarly experience. The skills of data handling and analysis, building and controlling equipment and computation methods can be applied to their academic path and many of their careers. A focus on scientific communication and collaboration will also be emphasized which is an essential skill for any STEM student in all aspects of their journey. By the end of the program, every student will present the results of their work in a seminar talk. 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.