REU Site: Broadening Participation and Resiliency in Physics

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Non-Technical Summary Georgia Tech will host a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program that provides holistic summer research opportunities to undergraduate students. The REU's significance is its development and sustained support of the next generation of physicists. It is structured to strengthen the STEM pipeline by providing (i) high-quality research experiences i, (ii) hard and soft skills that support success in STEM fields, and (iii) embedding participants in a supportive network of REU alumni, mentors, and supporters that extends well beyond the summer. Students are exposed to a broad range of physics through weekly discussions of their progress (Monday Mentoring Meetups), a Frontiers in Physics seminar series, and a trip to a National Laboratory. Participants will gain timely technical skills in a three-day hands-on Computational Physics workshop. Beyond the summer, long-term mentoring and facilitated peer networking will improve outcomes. The impact of a high-quality, immersive summer research experience and the possibility of joining a lifelong community of physicists in the Georgia Tech REU alum network will ultimately create career opportunities in the STEM workforce. Hence, these activities serve national interest by advancing the field of physics, supporting education, and fostering a new generation of knowledgeable, resilient, and well-prepared scientists so that they may pursue their highest goals. Technical Summary The Georgia Tech Physics REU site aims to : (i) provide high-quality inclusive research experiences, in combination with a series of professional and scientific development activities, (ii) motivate and prepare resilient undergraduates to pursue, and succeed in, graduate study, (iii) assemble a cadre of participants that positively impacts the US STEM workforce., (iv) attract students from institutions that have limited research activities, (v) continue engagement of the participants beyond the summer and throughout their careers, and (vi) foster collaborations between Georgia Tech and the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC: Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta). Each participant will work with a faculty member who has an active research group in an area of interest to the student. Available physics research projects will range from quantum materials to the physics of living systems to astrophysics. The program will benefit from shared activities with established REU programs (~5) in other disciplines within the College of Sciences. At the end of the program, students share their research in poster and oral presentations at a college-wide REU Research Symposium. Students will be encouraged to present at external conferences, and AUCC students will have the option to continue research at Georgia Tech beyond the summer. Long-term mentoring of REU alums will strengthen their resilience and support their journeys beyond college. Networking between the REU alum cohorts will be facilitated via the 'Alum in the Hot Seat' series, a newsletter, and the GT REU Physics LinkedIn Group. 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.