This grant will continue support for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates at Hope College. A key factor in the program is the close professional partnership between the student and faculty mentor, which covers active involvement in planning experiments, doing experiments, and interpretation of results for presentation and/or publication. Each participant will spend ten weeks (minimum of 40 hours/week) during the summer on research activities. The students will work with a mentor in a broad spectrum of research areas supported within the department (heavy-ion physics, nuclear theory, theoretical astrophysics, science education, and material properties). The projects are designed to introduce students to a variety of topics and techniques, as well as provide experience in the selection of a research problem, the design of experiments and equipment, the analysis data, and interpretation in light of models and theory. Communication skills will be emphasized by the presentation of student seminars at the beginning and end of the ten week period and the preparation of final written report.
