REU Site: Educating a New Generation of Astronomers in the Golden Age of Astronomy

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award will support a new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site in astronomy supporting 8 student interns for 8-weeks at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) with the goal of helping undergraduate students acquire skills needed to conduct research using data acquired from the newest generation of observatories. The participants will choose from a range of observational, theoretical, computational, and data intensive research programs addressing the most fundamental questions in modern astronomy. During the 8-weeks students will be instructed Python programming and data visualization skills, career development, oral presentations, and research ethics, and will be encouraged to publish their results. Astronomy is entering a "golden age" and there is a clear need to train a new generation of astronomers to deal with data from new ground-breaking telescopes. The team has built a network of local schools, communities, and libraries, and have partnered with the Riverside Unified School District to extend outreach activities to minorities and their families. The REU Site program will involve interns in outreach activities including scientific journalism, and the Python and visualization courses will be made available to a wider community of students and educators. The group will further develop online public presentations in astronomical topics given by researchers in the field. Finally, public science venues will be developed in Spanish, and aimed towards underrepresented minorities and their families. 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.