This award supports the Sixth Annual Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, a two-day conference for undergraduate women in physics. The conference takes place January 15-16, 2011 simultaneously at the University of Southern California (USC), Purdue University, the North Carolina Research Triangle (NCRT), and MIT. The conference has two overarching goals. The first is to give undergraduate women the resources, motivation, and confidence to apply to graduate school and to successfully complete a Ph.D. in physics or a related discipline. The second is to make undergraduate women in physics more aware of the wide range of career opportunities available to them. Regional conferences are held simultaneously in order to maximize the student attendance by minimizing cross- country travel requirements, to increase the excitement of the participants in the joint venture, and to allow the interactive simulcast of a keynote address. The conference goals are achieved by providing a series of inspiring research talks by women physicists, panel discussions on graduate school and physics careers, student presentation sessions, and ample opportunity for networking and informal mentoring. The success of these goals is measured by surveys given to students before and after the conference, as well as by longitudinal studies following the students' post-graduation paths and comparing them with female student cohorts who did not attend the conference.
This research grant provided funding for the 5th Annual Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, which was held simultaneously at the University of Southern California (USC), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois), and Yale University from January 14th through 16th, 2011. This conference was proposed in direct response to the under-representation of women at all levels of physics, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional. To improve that situation, the conference had several specific goals: To foster an undergraduate culture in which women are encouraged and supported to pursue and succeed in higher education in physics; to give young women the confidence, motivation, and resources to apply to graduate school and successfully complete a Ph.D. in physics; and to strengthen the network of women in physics nationally. The two overarching goals were to give young women the confidence, motivation, and resources to apply to graduate school and successfully complete a Ph.D., and to make undergraduate women more aware of the physics career opportunities available to them. Conference topics included: • Current research areas in physics • Choosing the right graduate school • Careers opportunities in physics • Challenges and successes of women in physics • Ways to succeed as a woman in physics • Undergraduate physics research • The art of scientific presentation The detailed goals of the conference were: To foster an undergraduate culture in which women are encouraged and supported to pursue, and also succeed in, higher education in physics. To give young women the confidence, motivation, and resources to apply to graduate school and successfully complete a Ph.D. To strengthen the network of women in physics both locally and nationally, in particular connecting female physics students with successful female physicists who can act as inspirational role models. To meet these goals, the specific objectives for the conference were that the participants leave with: An increased awareness of current research and career options in physics. A greater familiarity with the graduate school experience. Resources for applying to and being successful in graduate school, as well as general resources for women in physics. Means for connecting to and expanding the network of women in physics. Increased knowledge of career opportunities for women with a B.S. through Ph.D. in physics. The 5th Annual Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics at USC was held at the Davidson Conference Center on the University Park campus, in walking distance from the participants’ hotel accommodations. Faculty speakers were asked to combine multiple elements in their presentations, starting with a discussion of their career paths, choices, hurdles overcome, and challenges met, and then continuing with inspirational overviews of their current research programs. Student participants were invited to present their current undergraduate research projects, either in a formal (oral) session or in a poster session. During the conference, participants were also asked to network with other participants and the faculty speakers. They were given a blank form at the beginning of the conference with places to fill in the names and contact information of those they met and talked with at the conference. A table with key resource materials was set up in the foyer of the Davidson Conference Center, including information on graduate programs, resources for applying to and being successful in graduate school, and general resources for women in physics. Additionally, a Physics Trivia Contest provided after dinner entertainment, with original questions assembled by the Conference Organizing Committee, and including many questions on key women in physics and their discoveries. Prizes were awarded to each participant from the university with the most participants, as well as to the student with the highest number of networking contacts established at the conference.
