The
outreach program of Advanced Atomic Design Group led by Professor Demkov
The program is supported by the National
Science Foundation (DMR-0606464).
Its goal is to attract women to physics by getting high-school students
involved in research over the summer before they make decisions about
colleges. The internship can cover the entire summer, but at the
minimum should be at least one full month. It offers a fixed stipend of
$1000 for the entire term. Participants work in real research labs in
the departments of physics or chemical engineering. In
addition a short course is offered at the start of the program in June.
This informal course (no credit is given), given by UT graduate
students, covers subjects from computer modeling and quantum mechanics
to scanning tunneling microscopy and thin film growth.
The gender imbalance in physics is a pressing concern. Most people
agree that there are a disproportionately low number of women,
particularly at the senior faculty level. The importance of successful
women scientist as role models for graduate students has been pointed
out. However, it is possible that the remedies we implement at the
college level may be too little too late. The so-called pipeline starts
well before college! In Texas in the first year of high-school the students
take a general science course. The differentiation takes place the
second year when students may elect chemistry or physics as a separate
course of study. This observation led to creation of the Alice in Wonderland Summer Program for Girls. This
summer program is an important part in the entire research project.
This outreach program started from 2005. There have been many high
school students, graduate students and professors involved in it. All
of them have enjoyed the program, which will hopefully encourage more
students to join and take a tour in the world of science.
