Undergraduate Research in Physics at UMBC is not only possible, but strongly encouraged
Undergraduate Research in Physics at UMBC is not only possible, but strongly encouragedTypes of Opportunities Available
Many students work on individual research projects, in collaboration with faculty members and other qualified mentors. Such research is usually performed via
- a Special Topics course for credit (via PHYS450 or PHYS499)
- as a paid research assistant or intern.
The department also offers one student a year a Donald N. Langenberg Undergraduate Research Award to support undergraduate research.
Many of the undergraduate research projects in the department have been supported by the university’s Undergraduate Research Award (URA). Students in the department also participate actively in the Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD).
Examples of Recent Undergraduate Research Projects
| Year | Student | Details |
| 2024 | Olivia Chiarini | “Top-of-Atmosphere Data Reduction Pipeline for the UMBC Observatory Using Landolt Standard Fields” Advisor: Mr. Roy Prouty, CSST, Observatory 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Robert Coggins | “Optimal driving in two-qubit annealing: The Landau-Zener model” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Andrew Dvorak | “Searching for Black Holes Ejected by Gravitational-Wave Recoil with the Hubble Space Telescope” Advisor: Dr. Meyer 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Yohannes Girma | “Flux ropes and their properties during storm-time and typical solar wind conditions” Advisor: Dr. Brandon Burkholder, GPHI 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | John Melles | “Direct Radiative Effects of Dust Over Desert Regions from Observations of EMIT Mission” Advisor: Dr. Zhang 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Jonathan Miller | “Signatures of True Quantum Chaos in Energy Level Statistics” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Michael Moody | “Vertical Distribution of Urban Pollution over the Amazon Rainforest” Advisor: Dr. Barbosa 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Jackson Moore | “Diurnal cycle of cloud cover in the Amazon rainforest from an all-sky imager” Advisor: Dr. Barbosa 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Azzan Porter | “Comparison of Foreshock Magnetic Fluctuations Observed by MMS, Juno, MAVEN, and Cassini” Advisor: Dr. Brandon Burkholder, GPHI 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Kevin Carbajal Rodriguez | “Shortcuts to Adiabaticity with an Adiabatic Gauge Potential” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Aria Tauraso | “Thermodynamics of an Entangled Photon Gas in an Engine Cycle” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2024 | Paul Wampler | “Relative Velocity Distribution of Spectroscopic Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Major Mergers” Advisor: Dr. Foord 2024-2025 URA Scholar |
| 2023 | Max Hartley | “Stochastic Thermodynamics of Music” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2023-2024 URA Scholar |
| 2023 | Dahne-More Pluck | “Retrieval of Planetary Boundary Layer Heights Using Radar Wind Profiles” Advisor: Dr. Demoz 2023-2024 URA Scholar |
| 2023 | Katie Slotten | “Circular Polarization: Extraterrestrial Life Within Our Solar System” Advisor: Dr. Meyer 2023-2024 URA Scholar |
| 2023 | Maggie Williams | “Stochastic Thermodynamics of Aging” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2023-2024 URA Scholar |
| 2022 | Asimit Bhattarai | “Data-Driven and Multiscale Investigation of Metal-Air/Sulphur Cathodes at Chemical Accuracy” Advisor: Dr. Ataca 2022-2023 URA Scholar |
| 2022 | Sergio Diaz | “Neural Network Enhanced DEER Spectroscopy for Optoelectronic Materials” Advisor: Dr. Kestner 2022-2023 URA Scholar |
| 2022 | Amanze Ejiogu | “Development of a Ozonesonde Telemetry Reception Station Using Software Defined Radio (SDR)” Advisor: Dr. Delgado 2022-2023 URA Scholar |
| 2022 | Emily Ferketic | “Endoreversible Otto Engines in Curved Space-time” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2022-2023 URA Scholar |
| 2022 | Elizabeth Kane | “Bonding Rates of Charge Accepting Molecules on Quantum Dots” Advisor: Dr. Pelton 2022-2023 URA Scholar |
| 2022 | Brian Lynch | “Optimal Measurements for Quantum Euler Relation” Advisor: Dr. Deffner 2022-2023 URA Scholar |
| 2021 | Jacob Brown | “Constructing a Microscopy Interface in LabVIEW” Advisor: Dr. Pelton 2021-2022 URA Scholar |
| 2021 | Sergio Diaz | “Investigating dynamical error correction with shaped pulses on the IBM Quantum Experience using the Qiskit Pulse package” Advisor: Dr. Kestner 2021-2022 URA Scholar |
| 2021 | Rohan Mandayam | “Detection of algal blooms on the surface of Lake Erie using spaceborne radiometric measurements” Advisor: Dr. Zhai 2021-2022 URA Scholar |
| 2021 | Mansoor Shehzad | “Creating an Asynchronous Optical Sampling-Based THz-Imaging System to Detect Defects on Metal Armor” Advisor: Dr. Hayden 2021-2022 URA Scholar |
| 2021 | Brenna Turnbull | “Studying Toxin Adsorption on MoSSe Variants Using Density Functional Theory” Advisor: Dr. Ataca 2021-2022 URA Scholar |