Summer 2006 Research Opportunities
Department of Biology
The Department of Biology, in collaboration with the Career Center, sponsors an informational meeting each year (usually in mid-January) to discuss summer research opportunities. In addition to the research possibilities on campus, procedures for applying to the large number of off-campus offerings are discussed. Faculty members in the department are often contacted about research opportunities at other institutions, and this information is forwarded (usually by email) to majors.
Students interested in conducting research at Carleton are encouraged to contact individual faculty members (the faculty web pages discuss the research projects in more detail). Research in the department occurs throughout the year, and work started during the academic year is often continued in the summer months.
For further information regarding student research, please visit the following web site: http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/biol/opportunities/
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Summer Research opportunities in the department: http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/news/?issue_id=190063&story
There are two ways in which students get selected to do research in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The first way involves taking a special project course with a faculty member during the academic year. This 2 or 3 credit course is a "dependent" study that involves the student in some research project in which the faculty member is interested. Many times, such experiences will lead directly to a summer internship. Also, in the middle of February, the department will post summer internships that are available on our web site (http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/). If you are interested in any of them, talk directly to the faculty involved. You can get a sense of the research projects available by going to the Physics & Astronomy Department home page and selecting Student Resources…Research at Carleton…Special Project Ideas or click here (http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/for_students/projects/). You are also encouraged to check out the web pages of individual faculty in the department. The department also routinely posts information on summer research positions elsewhere (http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/for_students/summer_reus_internships/). Please contact Bill Titus (Chair, btitus@carleton.edu, x 4386) if you have questions.
Department of Chemistry
On Friday Jan. 13th at 3:30pm in Olin 04, Chemistry Department faculty will present the available projects for 2006. Each summer, the Chemistry department hires 15-20 students for 10 weeks of full-time work, mentored by 5-7 faculty. Students are typically hired after their sophomore and junior years, though a small number of students just finishing their first year have been hired. All students are invited to attend the Jan. 13th seminar to learn about the research opportunities available as well as the process for applying to participate in the Chemistry summer research program.
Applications for 2006 summer positions in Chemistry are due in mid-February, offers for summer positions will be made on Feb. 27, and final decisions from students are expected by March 10. The Chemistry Department has a coordinated department process for reviewing applications and makings research position offers to students. If you are interested in a Chemistry summer position, please plan to talk to faculty with projects of interest- most faculty require a brief 1-on-1 meeting with students prior to the application deadline. You can find a detailed document detailing all the projects and applications procedures here:http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/chem/
On the front of the Chemistry Department web page, look for an icon on the left side titled something like "Summer 2006 Research Opportunities". If you have more questions, please contact Chemistry Prof. Gretchen Hofmeister (ghofmeis@carleton.edu or x 7203).
Department of Geology
The Geology Department has a meeting each year in January aimed at juniors and sophomores about "Summer Opportunities." The range of opportunities includes field camps, REU programs, Keck consortium research programs, working-with-alum possibilities, and working with faculty members. The faculty try to be clear at the time of this meeting about which projects will be undertaken in the upcoming summer and how students might be involved. It's a good idea for students interested in summer work in Geology to come to this meeting.
As alums or others contact the Geology Department about summer opportunities, students who are majors are emailed with information. Tim Vick also maintains a GeoForum Caucus conference with opportunities on it.
Students can also apply to the Geology Department for money to cover field and lab expenses for research projects, including comps. Some of these research projects dovetail nicely with faculty research agendas and others don't.
For positions working with individual Carleton faculty, the Geology Department encourages students to contact individual faculty if you have interest. To some extent, faculty also reach out to students. In general, the Geology Department probably has fewer summer students working directly with faculty than in the other science departments. Most if not all of our rising seniors do some kind of geological research in the summer; in most cases this research is independent of Carleton faculty.
If you have questions, contact any Geology faculty member of the Geology Department Chair. For more information about the Geology Department, click here:
http://www.carleton.edu/departments/geol/index.html
Department of Mathematics & Computer Science
Though the Department does not have a long history of student-faculty research, some of the Computer Science faculty (Profs. Csizmar-Dalal and Musicant) have been doing more summer research with Carleton students in the last few years. Once summer funding for students is secured in late February, the Department e-mails majors and former students from relevant courses- inviting them to apply for a summer position. The Department is also happy to have qualified students who read about opportunities on this web site contact the Department about existing opportunities. If you have questions or want more information, please contact the Department Chair, Sam Patterson, at x4363 or spatters@carleton.edu. Please check out the Department web page for more information about faculty and their interests: http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/mathcs/
Department of Psychology
Psychology faculty who apply for funds to support undergraduates in summer research individually solicit applicants when they have funds available. Below are examples of such opportunities. For more information about the Department faculty and their interests, please check out the Psychology Department web page at:
https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/psyc/
Prof. Julie Neiworth: She routinely hires 2 - 3 students each summer to collaborate on research projects with the monkey colony. Her funding sources include internal support from Carleton, animal care support, Howard Hughes Medical Institute support, or NIH or NSF grant support. Students conducting research need some background in psychology research, and it helps to have some background working with animals. To solicit applicants, Prof. Neiworth typically finds out about her funding in late February and then calculates the number of available research positions. She then sends out email announcements to all Psychology majors, to all students employed in animal care, and to all students who have enrolled in a psychology lab which uses animals in research. This broad solicitation process brings the research opportunities to any students (first-year, sophomores, or juniors) who have appropriate backgrounds for the positions. Prof. Neiworth conducts interviews to select individuals to hire. In addition, during the school year, Prof. Neiworth has a number of student work jobs related to research and monkey care. She regularly announces such job openings in Psych 110 classes, in Psych classes related to animal research, and she posts advertisements on the Psychology Department's website. Learn more about Julie and her work at:
http://www.acad.carleton.edu/curricular/PSYC/neiworth/index.html
Prof. Kathleen Galotti: She has a summer position available working with her
and an experienced research assistant on a project concerning the
goal-setting, planning, and decision-making of adolescents, especially
those considered members of an “at-risk” group. Duties would include data
entry and coding, some statistical analyses, detailed searches of the
relevant psychological literature, and preparation of various write-ups and
other presentations.
Any student who has completed Psychology 110 is eligible to apply. This
position is aimed at students who wish to explore their possible interest
in cognitive/developmental psychology. Students from underrepresented
groups are especially encouraged to apply. The position is for 10 weeks of
summer work, probably beginning on June 12, and carries a stipend of $4100
for the 10 weeks. Some flexibility in scheduling is available.
Interested students should send Professor Galotti a letter expressing their
interest, describing their previous coursework and their availability over
the summer, and giving the names of two faculty members who could speak to
your work (be sure to get their ok first!). Please include an unofficial
copy of your transcript, The deadline for applications is Friday, March 31;
decisions will be made within the following two weeks.
Strong interest and willingness to learn are more important factors than
any particular coursework. Please apply if you are interested!