This award supports the renewal of the REU site in nuclear and particle science at Texas A&M University. Twelve undergraduate students per year will spend ten weeks at Texas A&M performing research projects that are at the leading edge of nuclear and particle science, including sub-fields such as nuclear astrophysics, weak interactions, nuclear dynamics and thermodynamics, nuclear structure, RHIC, neutrinos, supersymetry, atomic ionizations, and radiation effects. There are proposed projects both in theoretical and experimental NPS. The Cyclotron Institute is a DOE Nuclear Physics Center of Excellence. The facilities include a K500 superconducting cyclotron and associated state-of the art detector systems. The Cyclotron Institute and the department of physics are also home base for involvement in experiments at other facilities, such as Fermilab, CERN, RHIC, ANL, Boulby Mine and TRIUMF. The faculty are leading scientists in the field and have a history of working with undergraduates in their research programs. Through this experience students will have a greater understanding of nuclear science, a better appreciation of research, and will have become more independent thinkers and problem solvers. These students will be better prepared for graduate school and more informed about some possible career choices.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The REU Site: Nuclear and Particle Science at Texas A&M University is a 10-week summer program that enables undergraduate students to be involved in cutting edge research projects at the Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University. Over the life of this grant X students, including 17 women and 19 members of groups historically underrepresented in science have participated in the program. They have collectively designed experiments, built equipment, taken data, analyzed experimental data, run computer simulations, enhanced theoretical models, and compared the results of experiments with predictions from theoretical models. They have presented their results in talks, poster presentations and journal articles. The posters and talks that the students present at the end of the summer are available on our website, http://cyclotron.tamu.edu/reu/. During the program the students are also involved in professional development activities such as, preparing for graduate school, learning about careers, enhancing presentation skills, and outreach to the public. One of their favorite activities has been "Street Science", where we set up hands on science activities on the sidewalk during a "First Friday". People of all ages and walks of life not only get to play with physics, but also get to engage our students in discussions about science and the projects they are working on during the summer.
