This award supports the renewal of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site in nuclear physics at Texas A&M University. The site will support twelve undergraduates per year in ten weeks of research during the summer months. Involvement in research at the undergraduate level is an important component in increasing the numbers and preparation of students entering graduate programs. This site primarily targets students who lack opportunities to do research in the field of Nuclear Science at their home institutions. The student research projects are at the leading edge of Nuclear Science, including sub-fields such as nuclear astrophysics, weak interactions, nuclear dynamics and thermodynamics, nuclear structure, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), atomic ionizations, and radiation effects. There are proposed projects both in theoretical and experimental Nuclear Science. The Cyclotron Institute is a Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Physics Center of Excellence. The facilities include a K500 superconducting cyclotron, a K150 cyclotron and associated state-of the art detector systems. The Cyclotron Institute and the department of physics are also home base for involvement in experiments at other facilities, and the faculty are leading scientists in the field and have a history of working with undergraduates in their research programs.
