NPRLG 2020 Physics REU Workshop

Physics REU Workshop Banner

The NSF Physics REU Leadership Group (NPRLG), an independent organization of REU physics site directors working with the American Physical Society, hosted the 2020 Physics REU Workshop, which took place virtually on November 12-14, 2020.

Workshop participants heard from speakers and participated in interactive discussions on how to:

  • Launch or improve their undergraduate research programs
  • Assess the impact of their programs on the undergraduates
  • Recruit a diverse group of REU participants

Day 1: Thursday, November 12

  • 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. ET: Potential REU sites: Intro to the NPRLG and Discussion videoicon

    The NPRLG has thus far been a resource for existing REU sites, but the community would also like to welcome and support Physics Departments interested in starting their own REU program or interested in collaborating with current REUs.

    This session will introduce organizations interested in starting an REU site to the NPRLG, its past and current efforts, and its resources. Then, there will be breakout discussions to identify the support needs of potential REU sites, how NPRLG can become a community inclusive to non-REU sites, and how potential REU site needs could be addressed by NPRLG.

    Existing REU sites are welcome to this event so they can provide perspectives on what it’s like to start and run such programs. The current Physics REU Program Officer will be present to address questions.

Day 2: Friday, November 13

  • 12 p.m. - 12:15 p.m. ET: Introduction videoicon

    This session will review the broad goals of the NPRLG and the motivation for some of our past and ongoing collective activities. Then we will hold “lightning intros” in Zoom breakout rooms, where all attending institutions and REU sites will get a chance to introduce themselves to the group and discuss aspects of their programs, how each program may be able to contribute to the broader community, and what each program may hope to gain from the NPRLG. Finally, we will all come back together in one Zoom room and summarize the key takeaways from each breakout room.

  • 12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. ET: Lightning Talks (Breakout)
  • 12:45 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. ET: Group Discussion and Report Out
  • 1:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. ET: Break
  • 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET: Supporting and Recruiting Underrepresented Minorities videoicon

    This session will consist of a panel composed of undergraduate research education/mentoring experts that will discuss perspectives on recruiting and supporting participation of students from various underrepresented groups. Short panelist presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.

Day 3: Saturday, November 14

  • 11 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. ET: Common Assessment of REU Site programs

    This session will provide an update on previous NPRLG initiatives related to common assessment, followed by a talk from program assessment expert Janet Branchaw about common assessment platform CIMER and the undergraduate research assessment tool ERLA. Breakout room discussions then will allow participants to talk about their perspectives on how we can maximize the benefits of common assessment.

    The goals of this session are:

    1. To develop consensus on what a common assessment tool should consist of in order to benefit both individual sites as well as the entire Physics REU community
    2. To compile the community’s suggestions/wishlist for CIMER to maximize use of this platform across NPRLG sites in Summer 2021
  • 11:50 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. ET: Breakout Discussions
  • 12:10 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET: Group Discussion and Report Out
  • 12:30 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. ET: Break
  • 12:45 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. ET: Planning for 2021 REU activities

    This session will consist of an open forum to discuss what the NPRLG community would like to see happen in 2021 regarding collaborative efforts, including content and format of the planned Fall 2021 In-Person Workshop.

    Following this, we will move over to virtual networking platform gather.town for meeting participants to make one-on-one connections, network, and more intimately discuss sub-topics of interest.

  • 11:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. ET: Networking Event at Gather.Town

Only presentations will be recorded during the workshop.


NSFThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2011908. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.