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Undergraduate Research Opportunities in the Institute for Quantum Studies

Welcome!

Undergraduate research is one of the highlights of the Chapman University experience. It is never too early to get involved. Research and creative activity projects are available at the freshman level and up and projects can span multiple semesters.

Why Do Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity?

  1. Undergraduate research and creative activity is one of the distinguishing features of a Chapman education. Through research, you can develop a unique relationship with faculty. Most students who undertake research and creative activity rank it as one of the best parts of their Chapman experience. Above all, it is fun and interesting.
  2. Undertaking research and creative activity is a requirement for graduating from the physics program with honors.
  3. Both employers and graduate schools are looking for more than just good grades in their potential recruits. Undertaking research and creativity develops the kinds of skills they are looking for. The relationship you develop with faculty through research and creative activity results in better recommendation letters from faculty.

About The Institute

Mission

The mission of the Institute for Quantum Studies is to provide a worldwide focal point for students, researchers, governments, and industries to collaborate on advanced studies of quantum mechanics, including: quantum foundations, quantum information science, quantum computing and technology, and applications thereof to other fields.

In addition, we offer support to new fields evolving from these cooperative advances in mathematics, as well as social, biological, computational, and physical sciences.

Vision

The Institute for Quantum Studies strives to communicate both the relevance, and importance, of quantum mechanics to an extended audience through community focused outreach. We hope to address the diverse interests of the general public by making conceptually rich science more accessible to others.

Dr. Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate in Physics and former US Secretary of Energy, has said, “The Institute for Quantum Studies will be a place of inspiration, insight, and imagination. The fields it will further are important to the strength of the nation. But even more critical is the commitment the Institute has made to deepen our nation’s appreciation for the importance of science, and to convey the mystery and wonder of the universe to our citizens.”

Types of Undergraduate Research Experiences

Several types of undergraduate research experience are available both within the university and beyond.

  • Students may take PHYS491 - Student-Faculty Research/Creative Activity as part of their regular course load either in the regular or interterm semesters. If your course load is too high for this, most supervisors are happy to work with undergraduates informally and not for credit.
  • Students may take part in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program, or other programs offered by Center for Undergraduate Excellence.
  • Students may obtain a paid summer research internship from Schmid College.
  • Students may do research in Chapman’s advanced physics laboratory (Maryland) during summer or interterm.
  • Students may apply for undergraduate research experiences at other institutions. In particular, the IQS has affiliated members and collaborators across the world that we can help you find positions with. The NSF (National Science Foundation) can help fund summer REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) positions with external colleagues. Prof. Jeff Tollaksen is a good first contact for this.
  • Students may attend conferences with faculty to network and/or present original research. This can be an excellent way to find out what is going on in the field.

Although most students join an established research project, students may propose their own ideas for research or creative projects. Please contact a faculty member for advice if you want to do this.

How to Get Involved

By far the best way to get involved in undergraduate research and creative activity is to contact a faculty member who can act as your supervisor. A list of potential project supervisors is provided in the next section. Some of the potential supervisors have provided information about undergraduate projects, which you can consult to find out the kind of research they do and projects they currently have available. There are also links to their Chapman Faculty pages, personal homepages, and Google Scholar Profile, where these exist, which you can look at to find out more about their research.

This is all well and good if you already know that you want to do a project in IQS, but what if you want to find out more about what we do first? A good starting point is to peruse some Popular Science Media about our work. Even if you have no background in quantum theory, these will give you some idea about what we do. You could also talk to students who have previously done undergraduate research and creative activity with IQS faculty. If you are feeling more ambitious, you can look a recent published work from IQS, which you can also find by looking at faculty members Google Scholar profile. Do not worry if you do not understand everything you read in the scientific papers yet. Your supervisor will give you guidance on what you need to read and how to read scientific articles when you start your project. The idea is to just give you a rough idea of the kinds of things we do and the methods and techniques we use to do them.

Potential Project Supervisors

The best way to get involved in undergraduate research and creative activity at IQS is to contact one of our members who can act as your supervisor. Potential supervisors are listed below. If you click on the links you can find out more about their research interests and the kinds of project they supervise.

Media

This section lists videos, podcasts, and popular science articles about our work, which are useful if you want to find out a bit more about what we do without delving in to our more technical articles.

If anything is behind a paywall then please contact Matt Leifer to obtain a copy.

Videos

Podcasts

Past Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Projects

Summer 2022

  • A Local Ballistic Model of Electromagnetic Forces
  • Student: Dixon Katzenberg, Supervisor: Mordecai Waegell

Summer 2021

  • Quantum Foundations Demonstration Experiments on the IBM Quantum Experience
    • Students: Jacob Anabi and Pablo Labbate, Supervisor: Matthew Leifer

Fall 2020

  • Compatibility of Quantum Channels
    • Student: Jacob Anabi, Supervisor: Matthew Leifer

Spring 2020

  • Emergence of Compatibility of Quantum Observables in the Classical Limit
    • Student: Conner Carnahan, Supervisor: Matthew Leifer

Fall 2019

  • Applications of Quantum Conditional States
    • Student: Tucker Arrants, Supervisor: Matthew Leifer

Summer 2018

  • Reverse Distinguishability
    • Student: Aaron Grisez, Supervisor: Matthew Leifer

Spring 2018

  • The Bell Game
    • Student: Aaron Grisez, Supervisor: Matthew Leifer

Fall 2015

  • Interference Energy Spectrum of the Infinite Square Well
    • Student: Taylor Patti, Supervisors: Yakir Aharonov and Mordecai Waegell