This REU program was funded through NSF PHY-0649297.
Thirteen students (5 women, 8 men) participated in the UC Davis Physics REU in summer 2008.
Research Projects (more details)
Projects were in Condensed Matter Physics, Biophysics, Computational Complex Systems, Nuclear Physics, High Energy Experiment, and Cosmology.Field Trips (more details)
In 2008 we visited Lick Observatory and the nearby Joseph Grant Park; stayed overnight at Lake Tahoe; toured Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory ; visited the Mendocino headlands after camping in Hendy Woods State Park; and experienced the KeckCAVES visualization environment at UC Davis.Other Activities
During the first week, students attended four introductory talks on major ideas in different areas of current physics research. Weekly lunch meetings featured brief, informal talks by students about their research projects and progress. There were also two graduate school-related sessions. The first was led by a new UC Davis graduate who had participated in the REU program two years ago, before transfering to UC Davis from a community college. She discussed the timeline for GRE's and graduate applications, her own (apparently very effective!) study methods for the GRE, and what she considered in selecting a graduate school. The second, a question-and-answer session with our Vice-Chair for graduate affairs, addressed questions including finances in graduate school and what aspects of an application the readers find most important.
Over two afternoons near the end of the program, each student gave a
15-to-20 minute research presentation. The entire physics department
was invited to attend the talks. The students also submitted final
write-ups of their work, which can be viewed by following the link near
the top of the page for "more details" on the research projects.