Transcript REU@ND A template for ARUNA Labs Umesh Garg University of Notre Dame Supported by the National Science Foundation ARUNA, June 12, 2014

REU@ND
A template for ARUNA Labs
Umesh Garg
University of Notre Dame
Supported by the National Science Foundation
ARUNA, June 12, 2014
REU@ND
 Since
1985 (NSF funded since 1987)
 ~500 students so far
 grown from 10 to ~25 students/year
[34 in 2014!]
During 2006-2010
(the last proposal period)
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104 participants
40% women
20% under-represented minorities
70% from “non-research” colleges
>80% to graduate school
>40 publications/presentations at
scientific meetings
Philosophy
 Integrated/holistic approach to
development of students as researchers
 Provide awareness and understanding
of “hands-on” research
 Provide “realistic” perspective of what a
graduate career might entail
 Make it “fun”
 Working in a research community
REU, RET, REHS, Grad Stu., Postdocs, Faculty
How does one “do” research?
Features of the ND Program
 “Real” research projects with active
research groups
>30 faculty involved
Variety of projects in different areas
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Biophysics,
Condensed Matter Physics, Cosmology.
High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics,
Physics Education
 “Match” between student interest/skills
and project requirements
- setting up and participating in
experiments
- equipment
design/construction/testing
- simulations/computer applications
- data analysis
 Research Logbook
 Weekly lunch seminars
 Ethics Workshops
 Graduate School Admission Workshop
 Field Trips– Fermi Lab and NSCL
 Research Report
 REU Symposium
 International experience
Japan, France, Switzerland
 Obesrvatories (VATT and LBT)
National Labs.
(Argonne, Berkeley, NIST, Oak Ridge)
“Optional”
 Machine Shop Course
 Advanced Computer Programming
Other activities
 “Weekly” suppers
 Lunch with Director in small groups
 Group outings, sports, movies, karaoke,
cookouts, putt-putt, whitewater rafting
Lake Michigan and Indiana Dunes
 Grand Indian Dinner!
NSL has been a major attraction and
contributor to the success of our program
typically 6-7 students in the lab.
[this year 15!]
variety of “hands on” projects
available in the lab.
(students like the idea of being
involved in different aspects
of “experimental nuclear physics”)
Valarie Gray (St. Norbert College) worked on a project to
integrate a cosmic ray veto detector into an existing setup in
the Nuclear Science Laboratory. This project involved the
design and construction of the support structure for the 3m x
3m detector, Monte Carlo simulations of the setup using
GEANT4, and testing of the setup. This new setup helped to
reduce the high-energy background seen in gamma detectors
due to cosmic rays. Being used with GEORGINA. [Prof. M.
Wiescher]
Omar Mangaña (St. Mary’s Univ. of Texas) worked on rebuilding the low-level background g-activity counter at the
Nuclear Science Laboratory. This was motivated by the remeasurement of the half-life of the astrophysically important
60Fe isotope that is currently being performed. In order to allow
for a high sensitivity measurement of the 60Fe, a reduction of
the background level was deemed necessary. Using high purity
copper in combination with “old” lead bricks, and careful
reconstruction of the counting station in combination with
constant monitoring of the background activity in all
construction phases, we hope to reduce the background by at
least a factor of 2. [Prof. P. Collon]
Patrick Copp (Univ. of Wisconsin, La Crosse) participated
in a series of nuclear physics experiments aimed at the
study of a-cluster levels in 12C, 16O, and 20Ne. His major
contribution was on the setup of the experiments. This
included mounting and aligning of the target chamber and
collimating system, testing the vacuum, making small
mechanical parts, and setting up a neutron-detector array.
As another part of his tasks, he measured the thickness of
the targets used in the experiments by use of an a source.
[Prof. A. Aprahamian]
Alex Moncion (Florida Int. Univ.) worked on the 12C+12C
fusion cross-section measurement by gamma detection
technique. In this project, he has learned the principles of
the working of a Ge detector. He also calibrated the
energy and efficiency of the Ge detector. As a next step,
he determined the cross section for the 12C+12C fusion
reaction that has been measured using the Notre Dame
FN tandem accelerator. [Prof. X. Tang]
Nathan Smith (Indiana Univ. South Bend) developed a
GEANT4 simulation of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer
to be used with the St. George recoil mass separator. The
simulation allowed for evaluation of the advantages of
using a position sensitive transmission detector (thin foil
plus microchannel plate detector) and stopping detector (a
silicon detector). Nathan also commissioned a dedicated
NSCL data acquisition system for use with the St. George
detectors, preparing configuration files for a two-parameter
measurement of a energy and time-of-flight with the
existing prototype detector. [Prof. J. Hinnefeld, IUSB]
Ke Cai (Bard College) worked on the generalized seniority
truncation scheme for the nuclear shell model, which
provides a bridge between the shell model and the
phenomenologically-successful interacting boson model.
She has developed, from scratch, an extensive library of
C++ routines which will make possible systematic use of a
new set of recurrence relations for the matrix elements and
overlaps of the nonorthonormal generalized seniority basis
states. [Prof. M. Caprio]
“After
my (REU) experience at Notre Dame I
fell in love with nuclear physics….I felt the
size of the research groups, the detection
systems used, and the hands-on environment
were exactly what I was looking for.”
-Rhiannon Meharchand
(FSU)
REU@ND2005
Luise Meyer-Schutzmeister
Memorial Award 2010