The students' activities, from a broad perspective, will be based on a weekly program. From Monday through Friday the students will work on their specified project roughly from 9 am until 5 pm with an hour for lunch. During this period each student will interact with the project mentor and the other students that may be in the research group.
At the first meeting with the student, the project mentor will provide the student with a reading list and an outline of a specific plan that will lead the student from a dependent role toward an independent achievement in the 10-week period. The students will have the opportunity to participate fully in the activities of their research groups.
During the final week there will be a poster session at Jefferson Lab in which all the students will present their research results. All in all, we expect that the unique REU experience at Jefferson Lab will stimulate the students' professional development, expose them to a variety of career options, and deepen their practical, hands-on knowledge of the world of research.
The general timetable for the projects:
- Week 1: Orientation and safety training; introduction to the project
- Week 2: Familiarization with specific equipment, software tools and laboratory procedures
- Weeks 3-8: Bulk of student independent work; evaluation of the student's progress in week 4 and corrective action if necessary, week 7 or 8 oral presentations at ODU
- Weeks 9-10: Analysis of data, conclusions and poster preparation and display; informal exit interviews & survey conducted