M University of Minnesota
CONTACT INFORMATION
School of Physics & Astronomy
116 Church Street S.E.
Minneapolis, MN, 55455
Phone: 612-624-7375
Fax: 612-624-4578
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Research Experience for Teachers

June 23 - August 22, 2008 at the University of Minnesota

RET student David Brown
David Brown at work in the Biological Physics lab.
The Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program is an NSF-funded University of Minnesota outreach activity designed to allow high school teachers to participate in cutting edge physics research with University of Minnesota research groups. Participating teachers will work in for six weeks in the physics research area of their choice. Starting and ending dates during the summer are flexible. Starting dates will be on or after June 25th and ending dates will be on or before August 24th. Participants also receive a stipend that acts as a summer salary. For those living near Tower, Minnesota the program has positions doing research in the Soudan Underground Laboratory.

The RET program affords teachers the experience of working with researchers on the frontiers of physics so that they can use this experience in their classroom. In addition, teachers in the program will participate in a seminar with the Physics Education research group to discuss issues directly applicable to teaching. The on-line application for this program is available on this page.

RET offers physics and physical science teachers:

  • hands-on experiences in physics research techniques
  • information about frontier experiments in physics
  • stipend equal to 6 weeks of salary
  • academic year follow up

Teachers selected for this program will be matched with research programs closest to their interest. Previous RET teachers have done research in:

  • Biophysics
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • High Energy Particle Physics
  • Physics Education
  • Space Physics
  • Astrophysics and Cosmology
  • Candidate selection will begin March 14, 2008 and continue until all positions are filled.