Jonathan Reichert and Barbara Wolff-Reichert Award for Excellence in Advanced Laboratory Instruction

This award is to recognize and honor outstanding achievement in teaching, sustaining (for at least four years), and enhancing an advanced undergraduate laboratory course or courses at US institutions. The course(s) should provide a selection of experiments in a range of the various interest areas of physics, for example atomic physics, electronics and optics.

The award consists of $5,000 plus travel expenses (up to $2,000) to attend an APS meeting at which the award is presented, and a certificate citing the achievement of the honoree. The honoree will be invited to present a lecture at that meeting. The award will be offered annually.

Establishment & Support

This award was established in 2012 and endowed with support from Jonathan Reichert and Barbara Wolff-Reichert.

Rules & Eligibility

The award will be given to an individual or a team of individuals who have taught, developed, and sustained an excellent advanced undergraduate physics laboratory course or courses for at least four years at an institution in the US. Some or all of this activity should have occurred within the five years prior to the nomination. The course(s) will lead upper-division students to experience a broad selection of experiments in the various interest areas of physics. This may include the development of experiment(s) reflecting current research.

Nominations are sought that confirm the fundamental role of the advanced laboratory course(s) in a physics department's curriculum, and which clearly show its impact on students and their subsequent careers in physics or applied physics. A successful nomination may also present evidence of the dissemination of the laboratory work to the broader physics community. Evidence of broad scope, excellence, and dissemination may include faculty/staff publications and workshops, student awards and publications, and other demonstrated student outcomes (as in preparation for undergraduate research, future employment, and acceptance and performance in graduate programs).

Nomination & Selection Process

Serving a diverse and inclusive community of physicists is a primary goal for APS. Nominations of qualified women and members of underrepresented minority groups are especially encouraged.

The deadline for submission of nominations for the 2014 award is July 1, 2013. The nomination must include:

• A letter of not more than 5,000 characters evaluating the qualifications of the nominee(s)
• Evidence for the excellence and broad scope of the advanced laboratory course(s). For example: course syllabi, course materials, scanned photographs of the experimental set-ups, student reports or presentations, student/alumni evaluations
  
• A biographical sketch or curriculum vitae
• A list of the most important publications
• At least two, but not more than four, seconding letters not more than 2 pages each
  
• Up to five reprints or preprints
  

There may be additional requirements for particular prizes and awards. Please read the rules carefully.

To complete a nomination click here for the electronic submission form. All files should be in PDF format. Letters can be signed electronically (for example, using an embedded facsimile) or physically. In the latter case, they should be digitally scanned. File names should include the name of the nominee.

To update a nomination that has been held over from a previous selection process, you may log into the database using the same login information used to set-up your user account. Please contact Shelly Johnston if you have trouble submitting a nomination.

Selection Committee Members: Julian Maynard, (Chair); Edward Conrad; Oscar Vilches; Elizabeth George; Melissa Eblen-Zayas

Nomination Guidelines