This REU program was funded through NSF PHY-2150515.
The UC Davis Physics and Astronomy Department welcomed fifteen students for summer 2022. Here they are inside a giant sequoia, along with three faculty mentors and a UC Davis undergraduate.
Research Projects (more details)
Projects involved theoretical, computational, and experimental work in Astrophysics, Condensed Matter Physics, Nuclear Physics, and Particle Physics.Field Trips (more details)
Summer 2022 trips were to Calaveras Big Trees State Park, Lick Observatory, McClellan Nuclear Research Center, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Other Activities
The group's weekly lunch meetings included informal research talks by students, virtual visits by REU alumni discussing their education and career paths, and an overview of graduate school and the admissions process.Near the end of the program, each student gave a 15-minute research presentation, open to the entire department. Students also prepared final write-ups about their projects. Some have submitted papers for review by standard scientific journals.
Housing
The students lived in five apartments spread over four apartment complexes in West Davis. Each apartment had at least two REU students, although there were also non-REU residents. All of the locations were within one mile, so students could easily bike from one to another in less than 10 minutes. Most students biked to the Physics Building, although they could also take the bus. We continued our tradition of group dinners, five nights per week. Each student was on a three-person team that cooked once per week; we made sure to place at least one confident cook on each team.