While it may appear to many undergraduate students that research conferences are reserved for professors and graduate students only, one benefit of a Houghton College education is participating in these conferences as an undergraduate. On April 2, 2016, five Houghton physics majors presented their research at the Rochester Symposium for Physics Students (RSPS). The annual symposium, which took place at the University of Rochester this year, is specifically designed so that undergraduate physics students can present their research orally. Students from all over New York state attend and participate in the type of conference setting that they might not otherwise encounter until graduate school.
Research is a key element of Houghton’s physics program. Every student majoring in physics or applied physics takes on a research project, often starting the work in the second semester of their sophomore year and continuing until graduation. This research is typically done in tandem with physics professors and takes up approximately forty-five hours every semester, which is essentially the equivalent of a one-credit class. The end result of their work is a thesis between forty and sixty pages, as well as presenting orally at RSPS.
For the past sixteen years, Houghton students have given twelve to fifteen-minute talks on their project lab research at RSPS as a graduation requirement. According to Mark Yuly, professor of physics and associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics, the experience is one that will prove invaluable for these students as they prepare for their careers.
“It gives the students a real-world experience doing something they will be doing all the time as professional physicists or engineers – speaking in public,” he said. “They get lots of practice presenting their work here on campus in their classes, but this is a chance to present for the outside world.”
Kurt Aikens, assistant professor of physics, added that the benefits of this program are self-evident. “It provides them with the opportunity to deliver a quality talk on their individual research project,” he said. “We help them to do the research, prepare their talks, we give them feedback, and generally ensure that they are prepared to do well. All of this is important because the ability to communicate one’s work is essential—you can be the best scientist in the world but no one will understand your results or how you obtained them if you cannot speak and write.
This year, five graduating physics majors including Kyle Craft, Thomas Eckert, August Gula, Margaret Kirkland and Jonathon Yuly presented their research orally. Craft, along with Andrew Redman ‘17, also presented a poster.
Eckert, who will begin a Ph.D. program in nuclear physics at the University of Rochester this fall, agrees that conferences like RSPS are a unique opportunity for Houghton students to gain experience. In addition to RSPS, Eckert has attended two international conferences as an undergraduate hosted by the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Plasma Physics.
“By going to conferences, you see first hand how important it is to talk about your work in an effective manner,” said Eckert. “If you can’t explain it simply enough for those outside of our field to understand it, you don’t really understand your work. And if you can’t do that, funding is harder to come by since the people you interact with most likely won’t have physics degrees.”
In a job market that places an emphasis on practical experience, symposiums and conferences like RSPS are more and more attractive on a resume. Participating in these events as undergraduates allows students not only to represent Houghton and to add to their personal resumes, but to begin building skills that will prove useful in the years to come.