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Paper: The Research Experience for Undergraduates Program in Solar and Space Physics at the University of Colorado
Volume: 443, Earth and Space Science: Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach
Page: 332
Authors: Snow, M.; Wood, E.; CoBabe-Amman, E.; Baker, D.; Renfrow, S.
Abstract: The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in Solar and Space Physics is a collaboration between the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s High Altitude Observatory (HAO), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and Northwest Research Associates’ Colorado Research Associates (CoRA). The goal of the program is to give students real-world, hands-on experience doing research with scientist mentors and to further their intended careers. Our program began in 2007 and is entering its fourth year. Mentors from the member institutions have supervised over fifty research projects dealing with all aspects of Solar and Space Physics. The students begin their eight-week visit to Boulder with a week of classes on the Sun-Earth system as well as practical courses on data analysis and the IDL programming language. The students give a 30 minute oral presentation of their project as well as a poster in a student symposium at the end of the program. Throughout the summer, the students give progress reports at weekly brown-bag lunch meetings. In addition to their own research projects at their host institution, the students tour and meet scientists from the partner institutions as the weekly lunches rotate from site to site. There are also opportunities for students to network with scientists in an informal way at the excursions we organize which include barbecues and weekend outings.
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