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. |