Research Definition and 998 Threads

I want to find an undergrad research spot at UC Davis over the summer since I'll be in the area; however, I believe I've missed the deadline for summer REU applications. Seeing as Davis gets an influx of undergrad researchers from their REU program, do I have any chance in scoring a spot by...

Hello! I'm a first year undergrad student and I have the oportunity to do research durring summer with an Ritchey–Chrétien 400 mm telescope. Can you guys recommand me something to research? I don't even know where to start with my search for interesting topics that are not too hard and that will...

I was wondering if anyone would help me get my hands on some telescope data and images of exoplanets. I know they must exist somewhere in databases on the internet, but I haven't been able to find them myself. It would be great if one of you could show me where I could get them or even if you...

I have been told when making transport measurements of graphene it is usually placed in a cryostat and cooled to ~ 4K. However I cannot find any sources that back this up and don't fully understand why it is done in the first place. My thoughts are that it is to measure the carrier mobility...

Homework Statement This isn't a standard homework problem. We were asked to do research and to find a theorem of the form: If something about the partial derivatives of u and v is true then the implication is ##D(u,v)## at ##(x_0,y_0)## exists from ##R^2## to ##R^2##Homework EquationsThe...

Hi, everyone. I just wanted your advice as at bachelors level, how much material you need to study for a topic? For example, if you're asked to describethe valance bond theory applications in chemistry, should I study and write the points of VBT and give 4-5 applications and explain the theory...

Hello, I'm a physics student (currently a senior in college, planning on going to graduate school for a Ph.D.). My current laptop is encountering major problems, mostly small things that make it not worth investing more money into the laptop, given that it's already old. I currently do...

i'm not sure if this is the best place to post this so if its in the wrong place I'm sorry and ill try to move iti've always loved physics. I've never been good at much of anything except math and science. Never could play an instrument worth a damn, zero athletic ability, and so forth, but math...

Greetings all, I've had the privilege over the past 3-4 years to do both physics and math research. I'm considering both for a career, and would like to know if my experience is the norm. My physics research is in QFT (mostly modelling the pair-creation process), and math research is in graph...

Hi all. I'm a prospective physics major, hoping to either go into particle physics or condensed matter research or enter tech if research doesn't turn out to be for me. I was wondering which elective I should choose for next semester--astro 101 or Chemistry 1 or CS 1? Will chemistry help me with...

Hi, I'm an international student attending university in the U.S.. I am currently half way through my freshman year and I would like to be involved with some research or an internship over the summer. Almost all of the guides for research that I have found were exclusive to U.S. citizens and...

The BGI corporation has a research project that is called cognitive genomics. Has anyone seen any results from them yet? They seems to be behind schedule.

Hi. Does anybody know much about the research done on nanorobots? Particularly of the self-replicating kind? Are we far away from building these things? Will we at all ever build them, or is it just science fiction? Is this a decent area to work/do academics in for a physics grad?

Does anyone know how SULI's selection process works? On the application you list your top two choices for labs; does your application get sent to those two labs for the mentors to pick or is there some sort of prescreening by the DOE? Thanks.

I'm interested in getting involved with some research while I'm still an undergrad and don't quite know where to start. I don't meet qualifications for REU programs in my area and literature on where to start is scarce. As for field of interest I'm interested in linear algebra/matrix theory...

It seems to me on the forefront that Artificial Intelligence research is more of the computer scientist's and mathematician's game, but I seem to recall reading a couple of books written by physicists on the subject as well (including Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind). Is this a popular trend...

Just finished freshmen year of university, and I would really like to have some research experience at one point before graduation. Well, I should not have much problem getting into my school's research lab since professors here are always asking us to consider joining their lab. And I would...

Hello, I will probably apply to PhD positions where I have no background and I wonder what to do. My first question is: for each project that seems interesting, should I read hundreds of pages to make sure I really like and understand the project? This would take a very long time, and for the...

Hello all! I'm getting my PhD in theoretical cosmology in August and I'm trying to figure out the intersection between what I WANT to do and what I CAN do. Does anyone know much about Physics Education Research? I find education fascinating and I'm seriously considering applying to some great...

Greetings, fellow PFers. I'll begin by saying that I'm looking for a few internships for people with research experience. I'm applying to a few REUs just in case, however I hear that they are geared more for people with few research opportunities at their home university, and that isn't the...

Greetings forum-goers, I am planning to apply for a DHS summer internship, where I am encouraged to contact research mentors (although it's stated that OSRI makes the hiring decision). I plan on cold emailing several mentors and, besides introducing myself and mentioning how I am interested in...

From a top-level view, what exactly are people working on in solar these days? Efficiency? Cost? Both? What are the parameters people really have to vary? Crystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous? Binary, ternary, quaternary compounds? Crystal structure (I have heard perovskites are a hot...

What is the physics branch with better opportunities in theoretical research? For exemple many people say that there are fewer chances to get a PhD in quantum gravity than a PhD in others branches of theoretical physics. Is that true? I think that there are more opportunities in theoretical...

It seems like two main applications of statistical mechanics in academia research include the application to solid mechanics/materials and the application to heat transfer. How do statistical mechanics and thermodynamics differ in these two aspects? Is it basically the same theory applied to...

Hello. I am a first year physics major, and a major component of the first year physics course (for physics majors) is a research project. With a partner, I am supposed to conduct a research experiment in the broad field of physics. The proposal for this project is due friday, in which we must...

Hello, I am on exchange at a university where there are not a lot of students fighting for undergrad research positions, so I have pretty much any pick I want in what group I want to join, coupled with the fact that I go to a famous University makes professors to want to have me on their team...

I've decided that I would like to pursue a career in physics. Before I decide to devote my life to it (I am in year 9, so there's really no rush), I would like to find out more about it. However I am only 15, so most information I find is far beyond my intelligence. What I would like to know is...

Hello! I am not sure if this is the correct place for this but here is a go. I'm currently applying to graduate schools and I know that I am interested in theoretical particle physics and condensed matter theory. In electricity and magnetism we were told that charge is an axiom and it's not...

What are some ways that people are applying condensed matter physics/ soft matter physics to optimize some treatments in medicine, e.g. in magnetic hypothermia?

What are some exciting research areas in condensed matter physics at the moment?

As a non-biologist, I'm curious: What are some things that current research on protein folding is focusing on? What are some current challenges that researchers are facing? I understand that the protein folding problem is a very important problem in the field of biophysics. Any experts on here?

I'm thinking about doing some research in math next semester... pure math, focused on Algebraic Geometry. I'm currently doing research in theoretical cosmology, and it's been going really well, but the math research sounds really interesting to me. What would grad schools think of this? On one...

What would the career prospects be for someone who does a Ph. D. in Mathematics with a research focus in partial differential equations? Assuming you got some computer skills along the way like parallel computing, programming, etc? Sure, you could become a professor but most people don't make...

This question just out of curiosity, How did you guys think of what your 1st research will be about? Because there are so many researches out there and many discoveries have been made, how did you come up with a topic of your own? PS, not sure if this is the right place to post this but I...

I'm a first year physics undergraduate. I'm trying to look for some research opportunities as becoming a physicist is always my target. However, I simply have no idea how the current research is going on, and before I approach any professors I guess I should already have some basic understanding...

Hello, As of this moment I am trying to get in the process of writing an Extended Essay on Chladni Plates, more specifically on a circular vibrating membrane with free ends. To begin with I thought the concept could be simplified to such an extent where I could take a cross-section of the plate...

I was wondering if anyone happened to know roughly how much does the average university physics professor spend each year on supplies for performing their experiments. I'm assuming that experimentalists would on average be spending a lot more on equipment than theory people who might only be...

The top 100 papers Nature explores the most-cited research of all time. http://www.nature.com/news/the-top-100-papers-1.16224

Hello, Does anyone know if any companies working for good causes (water filters, disease control, agricultural improvements) in undeveloped countries have paid internships for the summer (if not paid, at least room and board). Actually I'll even take good unpaid internship opportunities. I'd...

Looking at different graduate programs to apply to for physics focusing on biological physics. Very different research going on from school to school in the field so most of the criteria I'm basing where I apply is what kind of research is listed. My understanding of the process at your given...

I'm planning on going to graduate school, and that means I'll need research experience. Now, double-majoring in electrical engineering and physics, my semester schedules are too rough for me to take up research, but I was thinking of doing it over the summer. However, the university I'm at is...

As an undergraduate, how do you know when your adviser actually intends for you to get work done and do something that might be publishable? I'm in a liberal arts college with low emphasis on research, so sometimes I have this paranoid feeling that my adviser doesn't actually care whether I even...

Hi all! I'm trying to decide between Smith, Wellesley, and Wesleyan. I'm interested in their neuroscience programs, and have heard great things about all of them. However, quite a few factors are at play here: FA, Post-doc optionality if I want to do med school (not sure about career path yet)...

I would love some suggestions about my undergraduate research, thought it may be improper to ask here. I apology if I break the group rules. My undergraduate research topic is dark matter. My plan so far is to study important observations before making other progress. I have found an...

I am from India. I have done B.Sc in electronics, M.Sc in electronics, M.Tech in nanoelectronics and currently have four years of research experiences in nanoelectronics. But now I want to shift from this career and get a Ph.D in astrophysics from the universities in USA. Can anyone tell me is...

Hey PF! If any of you have experience as a graduate student or a professor please help me out here. I'm a Master's student in mechanical engineering doing research for a professor now and I really don't like what I'm working on. I've told the professor this and he said this is temporary and...

I am writing an essay on "Ziemlich Frech : Einstein versus Nernst". I can find very little information on this topic anywhere. I've searched the library and the internet and don't have anything certain yet. So far I'm at a stage where I believe it could be about Einstein Solids. I know that...

I am looking for introductiory books on gauge theory and conformalfield theory and polyakov integrals for research in Bosonic string theory. Any other material recommendations for String theory that are necessary for bosonic string theory or heterotic string theory are definelty apreciated. To...

Hey, I am currently looking for potential 2015 summer research opportunities. And as the title suggests I am a 2nd year Canadian undergraduate physics and computer science student, hence places like NASA are not possible since such opportunities require US citizenship. I know its earlier...

Hi, I was wondering if this makes sense and would appreciate pointers to relevant topics... Basic idea is that if you want to understand a system you need to 'reason' on the level of the system and not on the level of its parts. Analogy (borrowed from Tania Lombrozo from here) is that of...