REU Program Extended

Left to right: IfA 2004 REU participants Joshua Ruderman, Jonathan Blazek, Charlotte Christensen, Meredith Hughes, Eric Bellm, Zuzana Srostlik, Bonnie Meinke, and Chase Ellis.

Jonathan Williams, the program director for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) recently received a new three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to continue the program beyond the summer of 2005, the last year under the original five-year grant.

During the summer of 2004, the REU program again brought eight undergraduate students to the IfA to work on cutting-edge research projects with IfA astronomers as their mentors. The mentors were Harald Ebeling, Yanga Fernández, Esther Hu, Robert Jedicke, David Sanders, Theodore Simon, Williams, and a team of Peter Onaka and Alan Tokunaga. The students spent 10–12 weeks working on a specific aspect of an ongoing research program, attending seminars given by IfA faculty, observing on Mauna Kea, and enjoying Hawaii. Most have presented their findings at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

These students were selected from about 240 applicants to the IfA program. They received a stipend, housing, and travel support to and from Honolulu and to attend a meeting of the AAS. Preparations for the summer 2005 program are now underway.