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The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted undergraduate research opportunities at Chapman with restricted building access and many people not present on campus. However, it is still possible to work with IQS. Theoretical and computational work can be supervised remotely over Zoom. Experimental work that requires access to a laboratory is still possible, as many research labs are open and can be accessed for undergraduate research with special permission. If you are interested in experimental work, but cannot access campus, then it may be possible to work on computational and data analysis aspects of the project remotely.
Undergraduate research is one of the highlights of the Chapman University experience. While we would all prefer to be able to do research in person, please do not let the pandemic discourage you from participating. It is never too early to get involved in research and projects can span multiple semesters, so if you start now then you might be able to finish your project in person when campus fully reopens.
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.
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.”
Several types of undergraduate research experience are available both within the university and beyond.
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.
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 read some Media. 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.
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.
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.