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Summer REU Program
The Physics Department will unfortunately not be hosting a summer REU program for the summer of 2009. Please continue to visit this site for future REU programs. We hope to have another REU program for the summer of 2010.
The University of Michigan Physics Department Summer Research for Undergraduates Program (REU) in physics provides selected undergraduate students from around the United States an opportunity to conduct ten weeks of summer research with some of the country's leading physicists in a range of experimental physics fields. The program is conducted in concert with the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program and is supported by funds from the National Science Foundation. REU students have the opportunity to participate in laser and radiation safety training classes and also a specially designed instrumentation shop class that provides training in the use of shop tools.
Previous students have participated in one of the following research labs/projects:
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Carl Akerlof-The Robotic Optical Transient Experiment (ROTSE) is engaged in searching and identifying a variety of astrophysical transients, particularly gamma-ray bursts and supernovae. We have recently completed the development of an independent data pipeline that probes nightly sky images for new supernova events, a program we expect to extend to all four ROTSE telescopes. We are seeking help in evaluating the significance of this data on a daily basis in order to direct further observations, both photometric and spectroscopic. More details of this program are available at www.rotse.net.
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Myron Campbell-The next generation experiment to elucidate CP violation will take place at the JPARC laboratory in Japan. The experiment is to measure the branching ratio of kaons to a pion and two neutrinos, which is expected to be 2.8 x 10^-11. The goals of the summer project is to work on developing a system to acquire data from the experiment and distinguish between the dominate decay modes and the rare decay modes.
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Jennifer Ogilivie- Our group is seeking an undergraduate student to work towards developing an ultrafast, molecular scale microscope for studying energy transfer between single molecules on the femtosecond time scale. The instrument will be used to characterize a wide array of energy transfer processes in natural and artificial light-harvesting systems, providing insight into the physics of energy transfer at the single molecule level. The project will involve the collection of fluorescence images, and writing software for data analysis and interpretation.
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Roy Clarke- The group is studying the influence of interfaces on correlated electron behavior. A recent paper his group co-authored [³Structural Basis for the Conducting Interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3², Physical Review Letters, 99, 155502 (2007)] summarizes the interesting physics. An REU student would most likely be involved in electronic and optical measurements of novel emergent properties. The materials are of interest for energy applications, including solar photovoltaic applications.
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David Gidley-Our group is probing nanomaterials with antimatter. Positrons (anti-electrons) are used to probe the nanometer-scale structure of nanoporous materials for microelectronics, hydrogen fuel storage, and drug encapsulation. We work with a host of collaborators at universities, industry, NIST, and JPL. This research involves nuclear particle detection, radiation safety techniques, vacuum technology, and data acquisition, analysis, and presentation.
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Aaron Leanhardt-Narrow linewidth CW lasers are ideal tools for precision atomic and molecular spectroscopy, as well as for laser cooling and trapping of atomic gases at microKelvin temperatures. The goals of this REU project are to stabilize and characterize the linewidth of lasers spanning the visible spectrum. These lasers will be used to detect optical transitions in ytterbium atoms and/or tungsten carbide molecules. Knowledge of these optical transitions is a key element for future experiments aimed at searching for physics beyond the Standard Model.
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Georg Raithel-We investigate cold Rydberg-atom gases produced via photo-excitation of laser-cooled atoms. The REU student will learn about vacuum systems, electron- and ion detection, different kinds of lasers, and atom-trapping methods used in these experiments. The REU student will also be given a building project that is suitable in scope and is associated with one of the experiments. In this project component, the REU student will develop work-shop and electronics skills as well as practical skills that are important in typical atomic-physics laboratories. The proposed REU project will further introduce the student to the taking and the evaluation of data. In this project component, the student will learn about computer-based data and image acquisition and analysis. The work will be performed within a group of several graduate students. Through interaction with group members, the REU student will broaden his/her knowledge in atomic physics and quantum mechanics. More information about the lab environment can be found at http://cold-atoms.physics.lsa.umich.edu/ and http://www-personal.umich.edu/~graithel/ .
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Greg Tarle-The Dark Energy Survey will employ a wide-field camera on the Blanco 4-m telescope to study dark energy. The camera will utilize the largest astronomical filters ever produced. The REU project will involve operation of a filter transmission measuring instrument to characterize filters and the use of straightforward analysis software to interpret the results.
The online application for the 2008 program at Michigan is available here.
Students who are selected to participate in the program will receive:
Active REU research areas in Physics at Michigan include:
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astrophysics/astronomy
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atomic, molecular and optical physics
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biophysics/medical physics
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condensed matter theory
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condensed matter experiment
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high energy theory
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high energy experiment
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nuclear physics
Questions? Check here first.
Financing an undergraduate education is always a challenging endeavor. Decisions about direct financial aid are made at the University level, and not in the Physics Department. As a result, your primary resource when looking for financial aid should be the University of Michigan Office of Financial Aid*.
Additional Resources for Funding Opportunities
Part-time Employment in Research
Many students seek part-time employment as a way of meeting some of their educational bills. Many of our physics students are able to combine fund-raising with their education by obtaining paid part-time employment with one of the research groups in the Department. This is especially common in the summer, when as many as 30 or 40 students are employed doing research.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
In physics courses you learn what people already know about how the world works. But what scientists do on a daily basis is research; finding out things about the world which no one has ever known before. It is very important that you expand your experience of physics from book learning to include actually participating in original research. In doing this, you will learn what it is that scientists actually do for a living, and find out what it takes to do it yourself. In addition, you will have the chance to establish your ability to do the kind of research a graduate program will expect you to do, greatly enhancing your ability to get into the best graduate schools.
The University of Michigan is one of the largest research universities in the world. With more than 60 faculty members and an annual research budget of about $14.8 million a year, a wide range of exciting research projects are being pursued. Most physics undergraduates supplement their classroom education by taking part in these research projects.
This participation can happen in several ways:
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As an independent study (Physics 415) project
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Through the Department’s summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program
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As a paid research assistant
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As part of a senior thesis project (Physics 496/497 or the honors version 498/499)
For more information about how to get started in undergraduate research, please talk with a Physics concentration counselor. You can also read some advice from a fellow physics student in How to Kick Off Your Undergraduate Research Career, written by a former Society of Physics Student president.
Summer Research Opportunities
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