9322089 Thews Opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in ongoing research projects in experimental physics are structured in a summer REU program. Students may choose from a wide variety of forefront physics activities, under the direction of senior faculty members from the Department of Physics at the University of Arizona. The main student audience will be those who have finished the equivalent of the first or second year curriculum in science or engineering at Pima Community College, in preparation for transfer to a 4-year degree program. This program will also be available to similarly prepared students from regions outside southern Arizona who will be resident in Tucson during the summer. Graduate Teaching Assistants from the physics department will serve as mentors for the students. Special orientation and skills activities will be individually tailored to enable the students to make significant contributions to the research projects. Opportunities exist in many cases for the students to continue their associations with the research project after the completion of the summer REU program, most often as paid laboratory associates. Recruitment activities will place special emphasis on women and underrepresented minorities. Because most students will start in this program at a very early point in their scientific education, we encourage continuity in their development by allowing past participants to apply for admission in subsequent summer sessions. ***
