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.
