This award supports an REU program at Texas Christian University (TCU), which would involve 4-6 undergraduate students in 10 weeks of workshops and research in Physics or Astrophysics. The inclusion of astrophysics is the first of its kind in Texas. The main goal of the program is to provide a memorable and potentially career-defining experience for student participants. The TCU REU program will include: (1) final oral research presentations by participants to other students and faculty of the College of Science and Engineering; (2) final written student research reports to be posted on the TCU REU web page; (3) Friday afternoon discussions in which all the students and mentors meet to discuss their weekly progress; (4) field trips to local high-tech industries; and (5) a series of talks about "Ethics in Science", and workshops on research presentations and career planning. The expectation is that participants will give post-summer presentations of research at a professional science conference. Follow-up data on career paths and graduate school admissions will be collected from participants having completed the program as part of an effort to sustain relationships between mentors and participants. TCU has a reputation for providing a nurturing learning environment with a low student-to-faculty ratio. The targeted participant of the REU program is the "research-deficient" individual who may otherwise never have considered participating in a research program, due to lack of opportunity, intimidation, etc. To inform and encourage such students to apply to the program, recruiting efforts will be focused on regional colleges and universities which either offer limited or no undergraduate research opportunities (such as community and 4-year colleges), or which have a large minority student population. Existing connections with local universities in the latter category will facilitate the ability to recruit minority students. Aggressive recruiting efforts will help develop and nurture lasting relationships with the local university community, resulting in a strengthening of the infrastructure for research and education in the North Texas region. This award is co-funded by the Divisions of Physics and Materials Research.
