Physics REU Resources

Assessment Resources

NSF Undergraduate Research Opportunities
SRI International independent 2006 research and evaluation.

“Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE): First Findings”
David Lopatto has an ongoing and growing program that surveys undergraduate research students and provides reports to participating institutions. The survey is available at his Grinnell website.

Establishing the Benefits of Research Experiences for Undergraduates: First Findings from a Three-Year StudyAn ethnographic study of a small group of undergraduate research programs by E. Seymour, A.-B. Hunter, et. al. This study served as the basis for Lopatto's work, above.

“Assessment and Evaluation of Innovative Programs”
By Sandra Gregerman, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Director at University of Michigan.

REU Resource Suggestions

Have a resource you'd like to pass on?
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Email: education@aps.org!

2008 REU Conference Index

2008 REU Conference

Presentations

Workshop Participants

"Creating Effective Undergraduate Research Programs In Science: The Transformation from Student to Scientist"
Editor(s): Roman Taraban and Richard L. Blanton. Teachers' College Press, July 15, 2008

"Framework for Evaluating Informal Science Education Projects"
NSF Report Assessing Informal Science Programs

The 2002 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation
Developed to provide managers working with the National Science Foundation (NSF) with a basic guide for the evaluation of NSF’s educational programs.

REU Workshop Reports

Pan REU Workshop Report
From the 2006 Workshop of 60 REU PIs from sites from all seven NSF directorates

APS 2010 April Meeting - Session T29

For April 2010, we organized a panel in conjunction with FEd and AAPT:

Session G6: Panel Discussion: Benefits of Undergraduate Research Experiences

G6.00001: Organizing a Successful REU Site
Presentation Slides
Sherry Yennello
G6.00002: Undergraduate Research: A National Overview for Physics Majors
Presentation Slides
Patrick Mulvey
G6.00003: Broadening horizons via the off-campus undergraduate research experience in physics
Stephen McGuire
(Unfortunately, Stephen McGuire had to cancel due to the unusual weather and challenging travel issues.)
G6.00004: Impact of Undergraduate Research Experiences on Graduate Research programs
Michael Thoennessen

APS 2009 March Meeting - Session T29

Session T29 - NSF’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program:
Overview and Perspectives (FEd)
This March Meeting focus session concerned the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. The perspectives of directors of REU programs, faculty who supervised undergraduates in REU programs, and students who participated in REU programs were presented. An overview of the program and a description of the recent REU Directors Workshop are included in the "Session Summary" below. All session documents are PDFs.

• Session Summary
A brief summary of the session (also published in the Forum on Education Summer 2009 newsletter)

• T29.00001: Physics NSF-REU Site Director Workshop: What Did We Learn and What Questions Remain?
Mario Affatigato

• T29.00002: Past Participant's Perspective on the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program
Derek Padilla

• T29.00003: Recruiting Minority Students into your REU Program
David Ernst

• T29.00005: REU in Physics at Kansas State University: An Evolving Program
Kristan Corwin

• T29.00006: Challenges and Opportunities in Interdisciplinary Materials Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Yogesh Vohra

• T29.00009: The REU Program From a PUI Perspective: Interdisciplinary Scientific Computation at Ohio Wesleyan University
Brad Trees

Resources for Students

The Nucleus
Web site for Physics Undergraduates. Includes a discussion forum ("the Lounge"), a list of summer undergraduate research opportunities, and scholarship for undergraduate physics students.

Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate
Web resources for undergraduates interested in research

WebGURU Project
Resources to help undergraduates engaged in research

Conference Opportunities for Undergraduate Researchers

Sigma Pi Sigma 2008 Congress
Every four years physics students, alumni, and faculty gather for a Sigma Pi Sigma Congress. They spend a packed weekend interacting with distinguished speakers, debating common concerns for the discipline and society, and touring significant physics locations.

APS Section and Division Meetings
Many APS section and division meetings are very accessible to students. Some have student travel support.

2008 APS Division of Nuclear Physics Meeting
This APS division meeting (DNP) has special travel support and programming for students through the Conference Experience for Undergraduate program.

SPS Regional and National Meetings
The Society of Physics students has regional and national meetings that are great for students to network and learn to present their work.

AAPT National and Regional meetings
The American Association of Physics Teachers meetings are very accessible to students. Some have travel support for students.

NSBP Meetings
The National Society of Black Physicists has meetings that are very accessible to undergraduates.

NSHP Meetings
National Society of Hispanic Physicists has meetings that are accessible to undergraduates.

Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates

Other Resources

"For Liability Purposes, Is a Student Worker an Employee?"
Ann H. Franke, Chronicle of Higher Education, Volume 54, Issue 41, Page A26

"A Time for Action, Not Another Report: Physics and Astronomy Communities Call for All Physics and Astronomy Undergraduates to have a Research Experience"
John Mateja, APS Forum on Education Newsletter, Fall 2009