Summer Research Opportunity 

Applications for Summer 2020 are currently closed. During Fall 2020, we will open applications for Summer 2021.

The Physics Department at LVC is happy to offer Research First, a program that provides opportunities for incoming LVC freshmen to work with college faculty/student research teams during the summer before their freshman year of college. This 40 hours per week immersion experience in scientific research provides opportunities to learn many new techniques in experimental and theoretical physics. Based on high school records and experience, we will select a limited number of incoming LVC freshmen for this program. Research First students will: 

• Spend 4 weeks in the summer of working on discovery research at LVC 
• Receive a stipend of $350 per week 
• Receive room and board while staying at the college 
• Get an exciting head start on their college experience 

As a Research First student, you will become involved in challenging and interesting research areas, including:

• Quantum Information Theory—study the ways in which the "quantum advantage" of systems of entangled particles can perform computing and communications tasks that outperform the most powerful existing computers
• Laser Modifications of Glass—fabricate crystals in glass using a laser as a heat source and characterize them by various means (Raman spectroscopy, piezoresponse force microscopy, etc.) to gather information for practical applications and more fundamental studies.
• Computational Nuclear Physics— extract information on the elementary particles that make up objects like the proton by writing code in Python to compute high-energy particle collisions and analyzing how models fit experimental data.

We will teach you everything you need to know to do meaningful research. You will learn much and get to know science students and faculty at LVC, all before you begin college in the fall! 

If you match the profile given below, we encourage you to apply for Research First. In our selection process for this program, we will be looking for students who: 

• Will graduate in the top 20% of their class 
• Have strong high school backgrounds in science and mathematics 
• Scored 1200 or greater combined on the SAT math and verbal exams 
• Have an innate sense of curiosity and a genuine interest in discovery research 

Acceptances are made each year on a rolling basis. Questions? Contact Dr. Daniel Pitonyak, assistant professor of physics, at 717-867-6151 or pitonyak@lvc.edu.