REU Site: Multidisciplinary Physics at Purdue University

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the renewal of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) site in Physics at Purdue University. For the past 23 years, the program has provided first-hand research experience to 300 undergraduate students and 42 teachers. During the new funding period, each summer the program will provide 12 undergraduate physics majors from across the country with individual ten-week-long research projects emphasizing one-to-one mentoring with faculty from a wide range of disciplines within the Purdue University Department of Physics and Astronomy. Interactions with the community of scientists is emphasized with a unique interdisciplinary science “pizza seminar” series, two required public talks on their research, an abstract on the research, tours of Purdue scientific facilities, including the unique Brick Nanotechnology Center, field trips to national facilities at Fermilab and Argonne, REU Olympics at Notre Dame University, plus picnics, ball games, canoe trips and other social activities arranged by this REU program and the university-wide SROP program. The weekly “pizza seminar” series combines Physics REU participants with students from other Purdue summer sites (REU & SURF at Biology, Chemistry, Engineering etc.) to emphasize interdisciplinary opportunities and interactions among students across many fields. Similar objectives are designed for two RET participants, whose research activities will be reflected in their subsequent classroom teaching, inspiring their own students about careers in research. The participants in this REU program will collaborate with their mentors and other researchers to advance the diverse state-of-the-art areas of physics, such as: nanophysics of electrons in reduced dimensional conductors, the dynamical behavior in proteins, the quantum mechanisms of photosynthesis, single molecule/protein dynamic imaging, the use of cosmogenic nuclei as chronometers in geoscience, coherent imaging of tumor, particle detectors with improved hardness and resolution, detectors for TeV radiation, investigation of dark matter, novel application of nuclear detectors for sensing hazardous materials, properties of graphene, application of biofilms in seismic measurements, the fundamental nature of nuclear decay, enhanced long-baseline imaging for radio astronomy, seismic propagation in structures of geologic interest, the quantum nature of bird magnetoreception, analysis of data collected by at Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and other current topics of importance. 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.