This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award will establish a new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the University of Arkansas. Ten REU students work with faculty on peer-reviewed research projects that can be accomplished in a ten-week summer period with identifiable deliverables. The research projects the students will work on have been selected by a process of competitive peer review and are therefore of high intellectual merit. The problems addressed arise from modern astrophysical and solar system research efforts but deal with fundamental science and engineering issues and are accessible to young undergraduates. The students will receive an intellectually rigorous experience that builds-on and extends their undergraduate education. Weekly seminars on research, safety, laboratory notebooks, preparing posters and oral presentations, and writing a paper provide formal training. Five field trips illustrate research in a variety of environments. There are also several academically related social events that provide informal mentoring, friendship, and enhance the cohort experience. The following academic year, most students present their summer research at an American Astronomical Society meeting, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, or other national conference.
The REU Site will provide research experiences for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Native American (tribal) schools, and schools with limited research opportunities, taking particular advantage of a unique University of Arkansas program built on personal long-term contacts with HBCUs (the Carver Program). The Site particularly seeks to encourage women and members of underrepresented groups and to make them aware of the variety of possible career options at the graduate and postgraduate level.
