This REU program was funded through NSF PHY-1560482.
Seventeen students participated in the UC Davis Physics REU in summer 2017. This included one student from Korea in addition to those with full or partial funding from the National Science Foundation.
Research Projects (more details)
Projects were in Astrophysics, Biological Physics, Complexity, Condensed Matter Physics, Fields/Strings/Gravity, Nuclear Physics, and Particle Physics.Field Trips (more details)
In summer 2017 our trips were to Mount Diablo's wind caves and Lick Observatory, a Career Day at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the McClellan Nuclear Research Center, Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve and Goat Rock Beach, and Lassen Volcanic National Park. About half the students added an unofficial trip to Oregon for the total solar eclipse.Other Activities
Weekly lunch meetings included both practice for the GRE physics exam and brief, very informal presentations by the REU students. One meeting towards the end of the summer was devoted to information about graduate school and the admissions process, led by the chair of our graduate admissions committee.Near the end of the program, we devoted two afternoons to 15-minute research presentations by all the students. Students also prepared final write-ups of their projects.
Housing
The REU students lived in the Tri-Co-ops on campus, about half a mile from the physics building. Because our group was so large we used the entire Davis Student Co-operative (DSC), with three students living in the Agrarian Effort Co-operative next door but cooking meals and spending much of their time in DSC.