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 funding supported the Northeast Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics held January 14-16, 2011 in Cambridge, MA. This conference was one of four simultaenous conferences nationwide (the others held at North Carolina State University, Purdue University and the University of Southern California) whose goal is to help undergraduate women continue in physics by providing them with the opportunity to experience a professional conference, information about graduate school and professions in physics, and access to other women in physics of all ages with whom they can share experiences, advice, and ideas. Both men and women attended and benefitted from research talks by faculty, panel discussions about graduate school and careers in physics and related areas, laboratory tours, student research talks and poster presentations, and networking among students and between students and faculty. Approximately 140 students attended the Northeast conference. Survey results and student testimonials showed satisfaction that the program had achieved its goals. The MIT conference was the fourth in a series of Northeast regional conferences, following three earlier ones at Yale. The national series has grown from a single conference at USC in 2006 with 29 undergraduate attendees to 4 institutions in 2011 with approximately 400 undergraduate attendees and has contineud to grow since then. Research talks were given by Nergis Mavalvala and Jocelyn Monroe of MIT, Margaret Murnane of JILA, Jennifer Ogilvie of the University of Michigan, and Karin Rabe of Rutgers University. A keynote lecture was given by France Cordova, president of Rutgers University.
