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One of the most valuable educational experiences offered by the department is the opportunity to participate in research projects with faculty members. Usually the projects involve laboratory or computational work in particle physics, plasma physics, condensed matter physics, biophysics, or astronomy. Because the department is well funded and active in research, and because the student-to-faculty ratio is relatively low, virtually all qualified students who seek an undergraduate research project obtain a suitable project. In recent years, several students have published results of their project in scientific journals.

The formal arrangements for the research projects vary. These include:

Course credit. Students who take Physics 196 or H196 for a year complete a Senior Thesis in Physics while satisfying their upper-division writing requirement. (This sequence also counts as two quarters of "coherently related" courses for the departmental degree requirement.) Alternatively, students can enroll in Physics 195.

Volunteering in the lab. Many students gain experience as volunteers during the school year or in the summer.

Participation in a formal program. There are many research programs for undergraduates that provide research stipends. Application deadlines for summer programs are generally in February or March. These include the UCI Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program funded by the National Science Foundation (and also available at many other univerisities), the CAMP program for minorities, and fellowship programs funded by many governmental agencies including the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards.

Employment as an Undergraduate Lab Helper (hired by a faculty member).
 
Another excellent opportunity at UCI exists through the UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM. Information on this program can be found at the UROP website. It is a great way to get funding for research projects and recognition for your work.
 
Finding a research project takes initiative. Do not be discouraged if your first inquiry is not successful! Research programs continually evolve; sometimes a faculty member has a good project for an undergraduate and sometimes the current projects are suited for graduate students or postdocs. For a list of faculty and senior researchers who often supervise undergraduate projects, consult the list of Representative Projects (last updated 9-20-2005)


 planning your independent research 
Whether you are planning graduate school or another career, taking advantage of research opportunities is an important part of your undergraduate experience as a physics majors, and a key component of success. As a minimum, we encourage all of our majors to be involved in research during their senior year. But, it doesn’t hurt to start talking with faculty at the end of your sophomore year or during the beginning of your junior year. For a list of faculty and senior researchers who often supervise undergraduate projects, consult the list of Representative Projects (last updated 11/2002)

Also, an excellent idea is to participate in an REU program the summer after your junior year. This is a great chance to experience research at another University. It is especially useful if you are planning to go to graduate school, but for any career plans, it provides essential experience and training, as well as additional potential references. To see a complete list of REU sites, go to the NSF webpage at:




updated 4-25-06
A. Lara


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Department of Physics & Astronomy
 4129 Frederick Reines Hall
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-4575
telephone:  949.824.6911
fax:  949.824.2174
email:  physics@uci.edu