REU/RET Site: Physics REU and RET Programs at the University of Notre Dame

This award supports the renewal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site at the University of Notre Dame. The site's goal is to provide realistic research experiences to undergraduate students and high school physics teachers. This project's primary impact is in training the next generation of scientists who will be essential for our society's and economy's continued well-being and for maintaining a robust national defense.

The RET component aims at creating enthusiastic high school teachers who, in turn, will convey the excitement of physics to their students, the future physicists.

The participants will work with a faculty mentor on a specific research project. They will be exposed to physics research in other areas via weekly seminars, workshops, interactions with other participants, and field trips to nearby national laboratories. They will participate in a "Physics Olympics" with REUs from Purdue and Michigan State Universities, prepare a research report at the end of the program, and make oral presentations at the REU-RET Symposium.

They will also maintain a research logbook and have the opportunity to attend courses in computer programming and scientific writing, a GRE-preparation class, and an "Applying to Graduate School" workshop. A series of workshops will also be held as part of the Ethics component. Projects will be available in Astronomy, Astrophysics, Biophysics, Cosmology, Condensed Matter Physics, High-Energy Particle Physics, and Nuclear Physics.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.