SPACE CENTER OFFERS RESEARCH UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE PROGRAM FOR SUMMER INTERNS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences will host research opportunities for undergraduate students who want to participate in research in the space and planetary sciences for 10 weeks over the summer.

The center provides world-class research facilities and an energetic and exciting environment in which to learn, think and grow whilst engaging in some of the most exciting research projects of the 21st century. The center houses the only large-scale planetary environmental chamber in the country and has research laboratories at both the University of Arkansas and Oklahoma State University. Students can participate in projects at either university.

Current projects include surface processes on asteroids and comets, luminescence dating of Martian soils, chemical finger-printing of life-related processes, radiation dosimetry for astronauts, micro-organisms on Mars and local Martian resource utilization.

"There are about 24 faculty participating in the program," said Derek Sears, the center’s director. "All are doing research that undergraduates in space and planetary sciences would find exciting and where they would be able to make material contributions."

The center is interested in undergraduate students currently enrolled at U.S. universities and majoring in science and engineering, especially astronomy, planetary sciences, chemistry, physics, biology, geology or mechanical engineering.

The program is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and provides a $3600 stipend for the 10 weeks. Students should apply to the center offices in Fayetteville listing their preferred projects at UA and/or OSU in order of preference. For application details, see the center’s Web site www.uark.edu/csaps.