This award supports the renewal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site in Physics at Kansas State University. The REU site will focus on interactions of laser light with matter at atomic and nanoscales. Each year the ten-week program will involve twelve undergraduate students. The participants will engage in significant research projects and related experiences during the summer. Participants will do research on how atoms and molecules behave in intense and ultra-fast optical and xray pulses, how scattered laser light reveals the structure of nanoparticle crystallization and gel formation, what eye-tracking reveals about how students learn, or how light interacts non-linearly in optical fibers; or they will develop computer codes for calculations of atomic interactions in Bose-Einstein condensates, for modeling nanoparticle self-assembly from lattices to gels, or for particle tracking for neutrino detection. This experience will be supplemented by a small series of lectures that provide the background these students need to carry out their projects. The participants will gain experience in explaining their research work to a variety of audiences and will also engage in reading on and discussion of ethical behavior in science. Social activities, both organized and spontaneous, will enrich this undergraduate research experience.
