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Cornell University

CLASSE

CLASSE stands for Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based ScienceS and Education

REU Program Overview and Logisitics

Participants will receive a stipend of $6,000, a housing allowance, and a travel allowance for a round trip to/from Ithaca. We expect that group housing will be available through Cornell University Campus Life and it is hoped that all the students can participate in this arrangement. Cornell Dining also has meal plans available at its various dining facilities.

Each student will work in a research group which typically involves a professor, postdoctoral research associates, and graduate students. These mentors will define the nature of the research project, organize access to the resources necessary to carry out the research, and guide the participant's effort through frequent interaction. The student projects are always important elements of the overall research program of the Laboratory. The areas of research will be:

  • Accelerator Physics
  • Microwave Superconductivity
  • Advanced Instrumentation (electronics, lasers, cryogenics, etc)
  • Synchrotron Radiation in Scientific Research

CLASSE operates the Cornell Electron-positron Storage Ring (CESR). An active program in accelerator physics research, called CESRTA, is aimed at developing ideas for future higher luminosity electron-positron colliders, especially the International Linear Collider (ILC), for which CESR serves as a prototype in some key areas. The accelerator physics program also includes research and development of microwave superconducting cavities, devices for more efficiently delivering energy to particles in accelerators. Research opportunities in developing instrumentation are also possible.

The Laboratory is engaged in developing a new form of x-ray facility known as an (ERL), which could improve the capabilities of synchrotron radiation science by orders of magnitude. Recent years' programs have had projects on aspects of the ERL as varied as ultra-high vacuum technology, electron gun design, superconducting RF (SRF) cavity performance, and beam dynamics via simulation.

CHESS, the Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source provides facilities to utilize the high energy x-rays (synchrotron radiation) produced by CESR for a wide variety of research projects in biology, chemistry, engineering, materials science, and physics. Members of the CHESS staff develop state of the art instrumentation to support users of the facility and utilize the x-ray beams for their own scientific research.

The REU program is open, by NSF regulation, only to US citizens and permanent residents. If accepted, you will be required to show proof of citizenship or permanent residency. This CLASSE program is intended primarily for sophomore and junior students in science and engineering. In exceptional cases first year students could have enough familiarity with physics, engineering, or computer science to profit from their research experience. Students who have not yet enrolled as undergraduates and students who will have a Bachelors degree by the summer of the year of application are not eligible according to NSF regulations. If accepted, you will have to show proof of health insurance coverage for the period of the REU Program.

Good oral and written communication of results are essential elements of scientific research. To develop these communication skills, each student will:

  • present an oral statement of the goals early in the program
  • present an oral report on results at the end of the program, and
  • write a report describing final results of the research.