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The period of the program for the summer of 2007 are from May 30th to August 3rd. It is expected that students will normally be working here at Penn State throughout this time. If these dates conflict with your school's academic schedule please let us know on your application form. It may be possible to arrange alternative dates in some cases.

Students will receive a stipend of $4,000 for the summer.

For out of state students we will be able to reimburse you for some travel expenses to and from Penn State. The University Park campus is located in central Pennsylvania, in the town of State College. State College is about a three hour drive or bus ride from Pittsburgh, about four hours from Philadelphia, Washington DC or Baltimore and five hours from New York. Flights into State College are available through Detroit, Philadelphia, Cincinnati or Washington Dulles. For more information about traveling to State College, visit Penn State visitors' guide webpage.

The visiting REU participants will be housed in apartments that are a short walk from the department of Physics. Students will be responsible for making their own arrangements for meals. A number of restaurants are available both on campus and off campus. On campus meal plans are available. Convenience stores are also within easy reach should students want to use the apartment kitchens.

Please let us know if you will be staying in the housing provided (above). Please note, you will be responsible for all problems and damages that may occur during your stay. Parking is an option and will be an extra charge.

The first full day on campus will be spent on an orientation tour of the physics department, research facilities, libraries, and the campus. This will include recreation and cultural facilities, and other resource centers. You will meet your faculty advisor and the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in your research group. During the first weeks of the summer, we offer an introductory machine shop and safety course and a workshop introducing the basic ideas of computer simulation. The machine shop course provides instruction and supervised shop time to develop the skills many times required in the fabrication of unique experimental equipment during your summer experience and, possibly later, in your doctoral research. The computer simulation workshop introduces modeling and computer simulations as an alternative to theory and experiment, engage students in exploring the effects of changing parameters and assumptions, and encourage students to discover science in a way similar to how scientists do research.

Throughout the ten week period we shall have a weekly seminar where faculty will describe their work, or other exciting current developments in their field. There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions. There will also be picnics, outings and other recreational activities organized. The aim is to encourage the participating undergraduates to get to know the graduate students, postdocs and faculty on an informal level. This is one of the best ways of really getting a feel for what a career in physics is all about.

At the end of the summer we will have a mini-research symposium on the research that has been carried out. Each student will present a poster about their research to an audience of the other students and the faculty advisors.

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