University of Florida |  Department of Physics
Summer 2010 Program:
Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Last updated June 11, 2010. This schedule is subject to change. Please check back regularly.
Week 1
Sun. May 30 -
Mon. May 31
Participants arrive in Gainesville.
Tue. June 1 Campus tour, orientation meeting, and lunch with mentors. Partipants staying at Oakbrook Walk meet at the apartment complex office at 9:30 am. UF student participants meet in NPB 2205 for the orientation meeting at 11:30 am. Lunch with research mentors will start at 12 noon in NPB 2205.
Thur. June 3,
10:00 am
Laboratory safety workshop led by Mark Yanchisin, UF Environmental Health and Safety. All REU participants must attend. (Meet in NPB 2205.)
Fri. June 4,
3:00 pm
REU Meeting: Getting into Graduate School, presented by Prof. Stephen Hagen, chair of the Physics Department's graduate recruiting and admissions committee. (Meet in NPB 2165.)
Sat. June 5 Cook-out at Lake Wauburg North Park. Food and drinks will be provided. Bring your Gator-1 card to allow admission to the park, as well as access to canoes, kayaks, volleyball equipment, etc.
Week 2
Thur. June 10,
3:00 pm
Time Management: Prof. Aravind Asthagiri of Chemical Engineering will give two presentations on "Time Management and Workflow Productivity." Prof. Asthagiri runs the REU program in Chemical Engineering. Attendance is highly encouraged, but not required. A good web reference to the techniques he discusses is here. (Meet in NPB 2165.)
Fri. June 11,
3:00 pm
REU Meeting: Prof. Mark Meisel will present an introduction to Biophysics followed by a laboratory tour. (Meet in NPB 2165.)
Week 3
Mon. June 14,
12:30 pm
Outreach Planning: This year there are two outreach events. The REU participants need only participate in one of the events. In this meeting, which will only last about an hour, John Mocko and I will review the hands-on Physics demonstrations that we will be using. Meeting NPB 1002 (small auditorium). Free pizza will be provided.
Thur. June 17,
9:00 am
Outreach Activity 1: We will do hands-on Physics demonstrations with a group of elementary school students from Miami organized through the Center for Precollegiate Education and Training. Meet in the NPB lobby at 9:00 am. The event will run from 9:15 am until 10:30 am.
Thur. June 17,
3:00 pm
Time Management: This is the second presentation by Prof. Aravind Asthagiri on "Time Management and Workflow Productivity." (Meet in NPB 2165.)
Fri. June 18,
3:00 pm
REU Meeting: Prof. Andrew Rinzler will provide an introduction to carbon nanotubes and nanotechnology, followed by a tour of his lab. (Meet in NPB 2165.)
Week 4
Wed. June 13,
8:30 am
Outreach Activity 2: We will do hands-on Physics demonstrations with a group of elementary school students from local schools that have performed poorly on the FCAT. This event is sponsored by the Young Achievers Foundation with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The event will take place at Pugh Hall (search for PUGH on the UF campus map. It will run all morning, but we will likely work in shifts. A free T-Shirt and Pizza will be provided.
Fri. June 25,
3:00 pm
REU Meeting: Prof. Neil Sullivan will provide an introduction to the methods and goals of low-temperature physics. Afterwards, Prof. Sullivan will lead a tour of the Microkelvin Laboratory. (Meet in NPB 2165.)
Week 5
Wed. June 30 NHMFL Field Trip: We will drive up to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory facilities in Tallahassee for a tour and presentations by scientists there and return in the evening.
Week 6
Fri. July 9,
2:00 pm
REU Meeting: Visit to the McKnight Brain Institute. Meet in the Physics building lobby at 1:30 pm to walk over for the tour at 2 pm. Prof. Tom Mareci will give a presentation on the physics of magnetic resonance imaging and an introduction to the research being performed at the Brian Institute and a tour of the Brain Institute's magnet facilities.
Week 7
Mon. July 12,
1:00-3:00 pm
Communications workshop: First 2-hour session on scientific writing skills, led by Dr. Dianne Cothran, Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication. (NPB 2165).
Important: Bring to this session a description (three or four well-organized paragraphs) of the purpose, plan, and scope of your REU research project. This description, which may eventually form the introduction to your end-of-project report, should be accessible to your non-expert peers. It should be prepared with a word processor (use whatever system you'll employ for preparing your final report) and printed double-spaced. Use of literature citations is optional.
Fri. July 16,
3:00 pm
REU Meeting: Prof. Ivan Furic will speak on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Following the talk there be a tour of the high bay area where parts of the detector were tested before shipping to CERN and also the remote data center in the Physics building. (NPB 2165)
Week 8
Mon. July 19,
1:00-3:00 pm
Communications workshop: Second 2-hour session on scientific writing skills (NPB 2165).
Fri. July 23,
2:40 pm
Tour of Nanoscience Facility: We have a tour of the UF Nanoscience Institute for Medical and Engineering Technology (NIMET). Meet in lobby of the New Physics Building at 2:40PM, and Prof. Biswas, who uses these facilities, will walk you over there. The tour will be given by Dr. Appleton, who is the director of NIMET.
Week 9
Mon. July 26,
1:00-3:00 pm
Communications workshop: First 2-hour session on oral communication skills, led by Dr. Stephanie Webster, Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication. (NPB 2165)
Fri. July 30,
3:00 pm
LaserFest: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of the Laser. Prof. David Reitze will give a presentation, and we will show some of the original videos from the LaserFest Web site. Prof. Reitze has used lasers for research in condensed matter physics, biophysics, and gravitational wave detection. (NPB 2165)
Fri. July 30,
3:00 pm
Deadline for submitting the first version of your end-of-project report to Christine Scanlon. Please bring two hard copies to NPB 1210.
Week 10
Mon. Aug. 2,
1:00-3:00 pm
Communications workshop: Second 2-hour session on oral communication skills. (NPB 2165)
Important: During this session, you will be expected to deliver the introduction to your final presentation. More detailed instructions will be provided during the first session.
Wed. Aug. 4,
1:00 pm
Deadline for submitting final version of end-of-project report to Selman Hershfield (NPB 2138). Please provide both a hard copy and also an electronic version, preferably in pdf format.
Wed. Aug. 4,
afternoon
Student presentations
Thur. Aug. 5,
afternoon
Student presentations
Fri. Aug. 6,
noon
Last day of REU program: There will be a lunch for the participants at noon, followed by small group exit interviews from 1-3 pm. (Meet in NPB 2165.)
Sat. Aug. 7,
noon
Latest check-out time for Oakbrook Walk residences.