The Fall 2024 Undergraduate Research Fair will be held on Thursday, August 29th from 3:00-6:00pm at the West Pauley Ballroom. This will be our first joint fair with Astronomy and Earth & Planetary Sciences, and co-sponsored by the MPS Scholars Program.
Learn more about:
- Opportunities for Summer Research
- Strategies to Land your First Research Position
- Possible openings for research in Physics/Astronomy/EPS labs and groups
And meet Physics/Astronomy/EPS faculty researchers, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students so you can learn more about their science. Chair Siddiqi will say a few opening words at 4:40pm and the rest of the time is reserved for you to interact with student groups and researchers.
Directions: West Pauley Ballroom is located in the Martin Luther King Jr. Building at Sproul Plaza, South campus entrance. Find West Pauley Ballroom on the third floor. Enter MLK Building from Sproul Plaza and proceed up the stairs or take the elevator to the third floor.
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Here is a recording of the first half-hour portion of the SP23 fair where we presented tips and reminders for undergraduates seeking experience in research. The URAP website is the other structured means by which you can learn about formal physics research opportunities available. If you were unable to attend the fair and/or if you do not obtain a position this semester, we recommend that you:
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Explore our Physics Research and Faculty website to learn more about faculty areas of research and the kind of science you might be interested in. Consider cold emailing faculty, postdocs, and/or grad students from a particular lab to see if there are any research positions available this spring or fall. (Tips for how to cold-email can be found here (Cal workshop), and through online resources (example 1, example 2).
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Explore our Physics Undergraduate Research webpage and Physics Research Opportunities Board to learn more about research wisdom and opportunities from the physics community.
More about our physics research fairs:
Since 2020, on the first Thursday after the start of classes each semester, the Physics Department has been hosting an undergraduate research fair. The Physics Undergraduate Research Fair has been organized by student leaders in the department with support from department staff.
This fair is targeted at undergraduates from all years looking to join a physics research group or who might be just looking to learn more about physics research generally. Students who have never done research are particularly encouraged to attend. At the fair, there will be faculty researchers, postdoctoral scholars and graduate students available to answer questions about their research.
After the event, students can apply to available research positions via URAP and/or GoogleForm application that will be sent to all research fair participants.
Stay tuned in early August and in December/January each year for information on how to attend the next Physics Undergraduate Research Fair!