This award supports a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site integrated with a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) component within the Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics & Engineering Research (CASPER) and the Department of Physics at Baylor University. Selected REU fellows reside on-site for approximately ten weeks with two-week extensions available for those requesting them. The NSF fellows choose from research opportunities in astrophysics, complex (dusty) plasmas, early universe cosmology, elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, space physics, superstring physics or surface physics providing clear intellectual merit for the proposed activity. In all of these areas, fellows are involved in advanced scientific research with many of their activities being interdisciplinary in nature and thus acting across several scientific fields. Over the course of the program, fellows are encouraged to become self sufficient in their research agenda. This goal is realized in part by the research team setting already in place along with individual mentor attention which is a hallmark of the program. Social integration is also strongly encouraged using opening and closing banquets, twice-weekly seminars, social activities, an end of the summer Undergraduate Research Symposium and specially designed classes in various physics research fields of interest. Collaborative research opportunities after the REU fellow returns to his or her home institution are also available as is partial stipend support for returning to Baylor during the academic year. REU fellows are selected from a national application pool at universities around the nation, with undergraduate students from smaller undergraduate institutions with little and historically minority institutions. The program also provides four to seven RET fellowships, funded at two months of annualized salary per MPS guidelines. RET fellows are selected from a national applicant pool and reside on-site for approximately eight weeks. RET fellows participate throughout the summer with researchers and faculty within CASPER, work with NSF REU fellows and attend all weekly NSF meetings. At the same time, they are also given the resources (including educational materials developed at CASPER, the Jet Propulsion Lab, Los Alamos National Lab, Sandia National Lab, the Johnson Space Center and the Texas Space Grant Consortium) to develop new and exciting curriculum modules to take back into their classrooms. This award is co-funded by the Division of Physics and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.
