UCD Physics REU, 2014

This REU program
was funded through
NSF PHY-1263201.

UC Davis REU Program, Summer 2014

Sixteen students (8 women, 8 men) participated in the UC Davis Physics REU in summer 2014. Two Mexican physics students from a separate campus-wide summer research program also attended the weekly REU meetings and went on the field trips.

Research Projects (more details)

Projects were in Condensed Matter Physics, Biological Physics, Nuclear Physics, High Energy Experiment, General Relativity, and Cosmology.

Field Trips (more details)

Summer 2014 trips were to the American River in Sacramento, the McClellan Nuclear Research Center, the San Francisco Exploratorium, Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and Lick Observatory.

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 a longtime member of our graduate admissions committee.

At the end of the program, each student gave a 15-minute research presentation and prepared a final write-up of the project. The talks were spread over two days to help the listeners stay focused.

Housing

Zuni the cat and most of the REU students again shared the Davis Student Co-operative (DSC), on campus about half a mile from the physics building. One student with an off-campus apartment also cooked and had weekday dinners at DSC.