What Are Some Feasible Summer Research Topics in Physics?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on a summer physics fellowship at the University of Toronto that allows undergraduates to propose research topics. The participant seeks feasible and intriguing project ideas that can be completed within six weeks. Despite being a first-year student with an average physics mark, they possess a solid understanding of advanced concepts in quantum mechanics and general relativity. They express interest in potentially combining their research with a professor's work on dark matter and general relativity. It is noted that projects typically involve teamwork and are supervised by faculty, suggesting that students should collaborate with professors to identify suitable projects. The emphasis is on selecting straightforward topics due to the limited timeframe for completion.
YangMills
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
I have recently become aware of a summer physics fellowship offered to undergraduates at the University of Toronto, in which students may propose a topic and receive money to research it. Unfortunately, while there are numerous interesting projects I can think of, I am not sure if they would be acceptable. Specifically, I am looking for something which is highly fascinating, but would likely get me the fellowship. We are constrained to projects which may be completed in six weeks.

In essence, then, I am looking for some interesting, feasible research topics for the summer.

I am in first year, but this is an irrelevant concern with regard to the complexity the topic.
While my mark in physics was not outstanding (80%, mostly due to missed assignments/procedure disputers), I nonetheless have a thorough grasp of the conceptual
and mathematical aspects of modern physical knowledge. As an example, I am quite comfortable working with the Dirac/Schrodinger/Heisenberg/Path Integral formalisms of Quantum Mechanics, and am adept with differential geometry and General Relativity.

Finally, (though this is not final) I may be able to procure a research position with a professor at the University, whose research focuses on Dark Matter and General Relativity. Is there any way to combine the two?

Here is a link to the fellowship page:
http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/students/undergraduate-program/surf
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Did you catch this sentence? "Projects are generally team work on upper level lab development, supervised by Physics faculty members."
 
Usually the way these things work is that you approach a professor, tell him or her that you want to apply for said funding and ask if they have any projects that might fit in. Six weeks is not a lot of time to accomplish something, so it's best to work on something fairly straight forward. If you have your own idea, that's great. Most first-year undergrad students won't.
 
After a year of thought, I decided to adjust my ratio for applying the US/EU(+UK) schools. I mostly focused on the US schools before, but things are getting complex and I found out that Europe is also a good place to study. I found some institutes that have professors with similar interests. But gaining the information is much harder than US schools (like you have to contact professors in advance etc). For your information, I have B.S. in engineering (low GPA: 3.2/4.0) in Asia - one SCI...
Bit Britain-specific but I was wondering, what's the best path to take for A-Levels out of the following (I know Y10 seems a bit early to be thinking about A-levels, but my choice will impact what I do this year/ in y11) I (almost) definitely want to do physics at University - so keep that in mind... The subjects that I'm almost definitely going to take are Maths, Further Maths and Physics, and I'm taking a fast track programme which means that I'll be taking AS computer science at the end...
I graduated with a BSc in Physics in 2020. Since there were limited opportunities in my country (mostly teaching), I decided to improve my programming skills and began working in IT, first as a software engineer and later as a quality assurance engineer, where I’ve now spent about 3 years. While this career path has provided financial stability, I’ve realized that my excitement and passion aren’t really there, unlike what I felt when studying or doing research in physics. Working in IT...
Back
Top