REU Site: Physics and Astronomy Research at Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University, Provo UT

Investigators

Abstract

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site at Brigham Young University will provide students from a diverse pool of undergraduate institutions with a memorable and formative experience in physics and astronomy research to solidify their commitment to further study and careers in scientific fields. The leaders will guide participants in short but intense research projects in one of the many active research areas in physics and astronomy at Brigham Young University. The whole cohort is mentored from initial research prospectus to final report and intermediate presentations in addition to the one-on-one faculty mentoring. Professional preparation and skill development are complemented with informal activities for social cohesion and networking. The individual participants' projects explore a broad spectrum of currently unsolved problems through hands-on activities under a faculty mentor's direct supervision to provide significant and lasting educational and intellectual benefits to the participants. As the participants' projects are integrated into the current research program of active research groups, they are likely to contribute to the advance of knowledge and produce results that can be published and/or presented at professional meetings. Participants are immersed in an intense collaborative experiment centered around collegiality and scientific practice at a significant time in their educational development. By assembling a vast group of diverse participants from different walks of life but with a common purpose and interest in physics, the program intends to create lifelong connections and a resource network that will benefit all participants, their scientific productivity, and professional trajectory. A particular aspect of the program is the inclusion of two RET participants, typically one local. There are identical research expectations for REU and RET participants, and both groups benefit from the association. The program offers experimental, computational, and theoretical projects in a wide variety of sub fields of physics. Although each student's project is unique, participants indicate that they benefit from the broader exposure to physics through the REU cohort. The areas covered include: Quantum Information and Dynamics, Semiconductor and Solar Energy Nanomaterials, Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanet Atmospheres, Coherent Lenses Imaging and Optics, Electron Microscopy and Nanofabrication, Galactic Astronomy Deep Imaging, Local Structure of Quantum Materials, Materials Structure, Properties and Symmetries, Modeling Complex Systems, Nanomagnetism, Nonlinear Acoustics, Numerical Relativity, Observational Astronomy, Particle Theory, Physics and Astronomy Education, Pulsating Star Astronomy, and Underwater Acoustics, Material Physics for Space Observation, 3D printing in Science Teaching, Active Galactic Nuclei, Computational Biophysics, Orbits of Exoplanets and Solar System Small Bodies, Acoustics and Vibration. This award is supported by the Division of Physics, the Division of Materials Research, and the Division of Astronomical Sciences within the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 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.