DEFENSE

The LSU Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT, is hosting a nine-week summer program on “Interdisciplinary Research Experience in Computational Sciences.” During this program, 15 college students from Puerto Rico, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Louisiana will collaborate with CCT faculty and staff on advanced computational research projects.

CCT faculty Juana Moreno, Department of Physics & Astronomy, and Gabrielle Allen, Department of Computer Science, worked with CCT staff Bety Rodriguez-Milla and Kathy Traxler to secure funding from the National Science Foundation and the Louisiana Board of Regents for this summer program.

Similar Research Experience for Undergraduates, called REU, programs are hosted at most top-tier research universities. CCT’s REU, which began May 31 and will continue through July 29, is one of the first three such programs funded through the National Science Foundation’s Office of Cyberinfrastructure.

During the summer, these students will work with the faculty and research staff at CCT,

learning how to use the cutting-edge cyberinfrastructure on campus to examine various science phenomena such as gravitational waves that result from colliding black holes, explore new materials for energy storage or revolutionary electronic devices, or to design new kinds of physical interaction devices to extend computer visualizations.

“This summer’s REU will give students a chance to collaborate on computational science research projects that are larger than anything they could do alone, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary scientific exploration,” Moreno said. “Also, because many CCT research groups work regularly as part of international teams, the students at our REU will have a unique opportunity to work alongside these groups and see how international research projects are conducted.”

In addition to working on their research, the students will attend seminars and presentations with various CCT faculty throughout the summer, learn more about the high-performance computing resources and networking connections available through the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, and visit the nearby Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Livingston, Louisiana.

At the end of the REU, students will create posters based on their research, which will be displayed in LSU's "Summer Undergraduate Research Forum" at the end of July. A panel of distinguished University faculty and researchers will select the top six posters, and the students who created those will receive funding to attend and present their research at a national or international conference of their choice.

For more information on CCT’s REU in Interdisciplinary Research Experience in Computational Sciences, visit http://reu.cct.lsu.edu.