Education Corner

APS Conference: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Education
On June 5-6, APS is holding the conference “Reinventing the Physicist: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education for the 21st Century” at the American Center for Physics in College Park, MD. This conference will focus on strategies for implementing Innovation and Entrepreneurship education in undergraduate classrooms, and will be primarily targeted toward physics department leaders. Sessions will feature existing programs that have successfully implemented innovation and entrepreneurship components (such as the Scienceworks program at Carthage College, and the Case Western Physics Entrepreneurship Program). Also featured are “success stories” of students who have graduated from these programs and started companies or found employment in companies as a result of these programs. In addition, the conference will highlight resources for educators who are interested in developing innovation and entrepreneurship curricula, or in promoting entrepreneurship among their students and faculty. Representatives from the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance (NCIIA) will (1) provide information on existing programs that focus on translating research into viable commercial innovation, and (2) discuss new opportunities for collaboration with departments seeking to implement innovation and entrepreneurship components. For more information, and to register for the conference, please visit the Reinventing the Physicist: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education for the 21st Century page.

Free Guide to producing the Research Mentor Training Seminar
APS offers a free guide to the Physics Research Mentor Training Seminar, which helps physics faculty, postdocs, and graduate students succeed in mentorship roles. It is ideal for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs and can be run as a weekly seminar during the summer. The guide for this seminar is available in pdf format at the APS website; enter “mentor training” in the search bar and select the first option in the search return to learn more and access the guide.

2014 PhysTEC Conference
The 2014 PhysTEC Conference will be held in Austin, Texas on May 19-20, in conjunction with the UTeach Conference. The PhysTEC Conference is the nation’s largest meeting dedicated to physics teacher education. This year’s theme is “Building Leadership,” and the Conference features workshops, panel discussions, presentations by national leaders, and a contributed poster session. There will be a PhysTEC-UTeach joint plenary session by Arthur Levine (Woodrow Wilson Foundation). Other plenary speakers include Nicole Gillespie (Knowles Science Teaching Foundation), David E. Meltzer (Arizona State University) and Susan Singer (National Science Foundation). Additional conference information can be found on the PhysTEC 2014 Conference page.

APS Bridge Program 2014 Summer Meeting
Registration is now open for the APS Bridge Program Summer Meeting, which will be held June 25-27 at the American Center for Physics in College Park, MD. This annual meeting will bring together experts to discuss efforts to increase the number of underrepresented minorities (URMs) who receive PhDs in physics. This year’s conference will focus on exploring and understanding the role of the MS degree in preparing URMs for PhD physics programs. Workshops, panel discussions, and presentations will address topics including:

• establishing relationships among MS-granting and PhD-granting institutions
• role of master’s degrees for URM students
• barriers to student advancement to the PhD
• mentoring
• non-cognitive admissions measures.

Who should attend: faculty, students, and administrators interested in increasing the number of underrepresented students pursuing PhDs in physics. Learn more at the APS Bridge Program Summer Meeting 2014 web page.

NSF DUE Physics Rotator Position
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education (NSF DUE) is seeking candidates for the physics rotator position in DUE. Learn more about Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignments at the NSF career rotator page and/or contact Division Director Susan Singer at srsinger@nsf.gov