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Physics 770 – Fall 2012

Faculty Research Seminars for Graduate Students

University of Kentucky

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Fall 2011  |  Spring 2012  |  Fall 2012  |  Spring 2013

Chem-Phys 179
Fridays 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM


Physics 770 is intended to give first-year graduate students an introduction to the research opportunities in our department. Each week, one or more faculty members will highlight their research programs and opportunities for graduate student participation.


Date Faculty Member Research Area: Topic
Fri. Aug. 24 Dr. Chris Crawford Orientation
Fri. Aug. 31 Dr. Susan Gardner Dark Matter in a New Light
Fri. Sep. 7 Dr. Gary Ferland Star and black hole formation at the edge of the universe
Fri. Sep. 14 Dr. Bing-An Li Some thing about the God particle- Higgs
Fri. Sep. 21 Dr. Joe Straley TBA
Fri. Sep. 28 Dr. Dale Kocevsky Supermassive black holes and their effects on galaxy evolution
Fri. Oct. 5 Dr. Kwok-Wai Ng Exotic ground state in electronic materials
Fri. Oct. 12 Dr. Tom Troland Where do stars come from? Interstellar material and star formation
Fri. Oct. 19 Dr. Renbin Yan Galaxy Evolution Studies with Spectroscopic Surveys
Fri. Oct. 26 Dr. Wolfgang Korsch High Energy Physics on a Table Top
Fri. Nov. 2 Dr. Ribu Kaul Emergence and complexity in the quantum mechanics of many body systems
Fri. Nov. 9 Dr. Nick Martin Electron and photon scattering experiments in helium
Fri. Nov. 16 Dr. Brad Plaster Fundamental Physics with Ultracold Neutrons
Fri. Nov. 23 No Class Thanksgiving
Fri. Nov. 30 Dr. Renee Fatemi Deconstructing the Partonic Origin's of the Proton Spin
Fri. Dec. 7 No Class Study Break
Fri. Dec. 14 Research Statements DUE by 5PM by e-mail (PDF format) to Crawford.


Course requirements: http://www.pa.uky.edu/~crawford/phy770_sp12

(a) Enrolled students are required to attend all course meetings, and punctuality is expected. Letter grades will be assigned in this course. The students are allowed TWO unexcused absences during the course of the semester. Students missing three course meetings without an excusable absence will receive a one letter grade reduction. Students arriving more than ten minutes late and leaving more than ten minutes early for a course meeting will be count as absent. Students missing five or more course meetings without an acceptable excuse will earn an "E" in the course. Please note, in addition, that weekly attendence at the Friday Departmental colloquia is also expected; the same attendance policy applies to colloquia.

Examples of excusable absences are (University Senate rule 5.2.4.2): (i) Illness of the student or serious illness of a member of the student's immediate family. Written verification required. (ii) The death of a member of the student's immediate family. Written verification required. (iii) Trips for members of student organizations sponsored by an academic unit, trips for University classes, and trips for participation in intercollegiate athletic events. (iv) Major religious holidays. Students are responsible for notifying the instructor in writing of anticipated absences due to their observance of such holidays no later than the last day for adding a class. For all excusable absences, when feasible, the student must notify the course coordinator (Crawford) prior to the occurrence of such absences, but in no case shall such notification occur more than one week after the absence.

(b) Each enrolled student is required to submit a brief essay (2-3 written pages) describing his or her research interests or goals. The essay is due as a pdf file emailed to crawford@pa.uky.edu by 5:00 pm of the Friday of finals week (Dec. 14). If your essay is not received by this time, you will receive an "E" in the course. The content of your essay will not be graded. The course coordinator will circulate descriptions of student research interests to faculty members working in the same fields, in order to facilitate connections between graduate students and faculty members with similar research interests. If you were enrolled previously in Phy 770, you should discuss how your research interests have become further refined by the end of your second semester in the program.

Please send suggestions for future speakers, as well as comments or corrections to crawford@pa.uky.edu

This page was created by Susan Gardner. Last update by Christopher Crawford on 2012-08-07