This award supports the renewal of the REU site in Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University. The Vanderbilt University Summer REU program offers undergraduate physics and astronomy students the opportunity to work closely with faculty on forefront research projects in a variety of subfields of physics. Students will be supported for ten weeks in the summer months to perform research in areas including astronomy, biological physics, condensed matter physics including nanoscience, laser physics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. Social group activities will further help to foster a group identity for the students and enhance their educational experience. Vanderbilt has extensive research facilities, including several centers, which are be available to REU students. As a capstone experience, there will be a final joint banquet with the Fisk University REU program, preceded by a poster session where each student will summarize their work.
The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in Physics & Astronomy at Vanderbilt University provides immersive, mentored, cutting edge research experience for undergraduate interns working on site for 10 weeks during the summers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Areas of research include theoretical, experimental, and computational aspects of ASTRONOMY/ASTROPHYSICS, BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS, MATERIALS/NANOPHYSICS, NUCLEAR PHYSICS, and PARTICLE PHYSICS. Participating interns have access to world-class research faculty mentors and world-class research facilities on campus, at neighboring Fisk University, at nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and at collaborator sites internationally such as the South African Astronomical Observatory. The program emphasizes professional development, mentor training, team building, and the importance of diversity to strong functioning teams and problem solving in modern science. Indeed, the program at Vanderbilt University boasts one of the most diverse cohorts of student participants among all of NSF's REU sites programs. Each summer brings in approximately 10 student interns from other colleges and universities, including small colleges and minority serving institutions, as well as a similar number of Vanderbilt undergraduates through internal university funds. Student participants have rated the program consistently very highly, has provided students with numerous opportunities to publish and present their work in world-class venues, and has placed a large number of these diverse, highly successful students into physics and astronomy graduate programs around the world. The program's website is at: www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/physics/reu/
