Young Scholars Program

PhYSics Young Scholars program welcomes high school students from the Urbana-Champaign area to explore exciting careers in scientific research. The summer program will help these students better understand how we ask and answer questions in science. They will be embedded in research laboratories in the Physics, Mechanical Sciences and Engineering departments where they will shadow undergraduate or graduate student researchers during a six week program. The Young Scholars will also make measurements and analyze results as part of the work in their research group. The capstone activity will be a poster session at the end of the program where the high school students will present their work to their peers, research mentors, teachers and parents. The student researchers will also act as mentors for the high school students and will be trained in mentoring workshops facilitated by members of the Illinois partnership for the Identities of Students in Engineering (I-RISE). Special programming will be provided for the high school students, including discussions of college applications and financial aid, college life, poster preparation, as well as a range of research talks by the mentors.

Program Dates

Please check https://wyse.engineering.illinois.edu/hs-summer-stem-research-programs/ for program information.

Program Goals

  • Introduce students to scientific research and promote career opportunities in the field
  • Help students gain knowledge in a variety of science applications
  • Help students gain an understanding of science and its local and global impact

Student Benefits

  • Work in a cutting-edge research laboratory
  • Pursue higher education goals
  • Builds resume
  • Get a taste of college life
  • Participants receive a $2,000 stipend

2018 Program

Read about the 2018 Young Scholar program.

 

 

2017 Program

Read about the 2017 Young Scholar program.

 

2017 Young Scholars
2017 Young Scholars
Mentor Chad Lantz and Young Scholar Sibiraj Senguttuvan (right) work on testing an LHC detector in Matthias Grosse Perdekamp's lab.
Mentor Chad Lantz and Young Scholar Sibiraj Senguttuvan (right) work on testing an LHC detector in Matthias Grosse Perdekamp's lab.
Jai Rice (right) at work with his lead mentor, Sidney Lower in Professor Doug Beck's lab. Rice worked on developing the nEDM experiment magnetometers.
Jai Rice (right) at work with his lead mentor, Sidney Lower in Professor Doug Beck's lab. Rice worked on developing the nEDM experiment magnetometers.
Physics Young Scholar Ritu Dave and her grad student mentor Raanan Gluck work on dark matter detectors in Professor Liang Yang's lab.
Physics Young Scholar Ritu Dave and her grad student mentor Raanan Gluck work on dark matter detectors in Professor Liang Yang's lab.
Grad student mentor Roshni Bano, Young Scholar Clara Duarte, and Professor Yann Chemla (left to right) watch as Clara performs a procedure in Chemla's biological physics lab.
Grad student mentor Roshni Bano, Young Scholar Clara Duarte, and Professor Yann Chemla (left to right) watch as Clara performs a procedure in Chemla's biological physics lab.