Collaborative Research in Physics at Houghton

The best way to learn physics is by doing physics.  To this end, at Houghton we offer a curriculum that, in addition to solid coursework, emphasizes the practical laboratory experience.   Our goal is to provide a much broader experience for our students by having them spend several years becoming deeply involved in a "real-world" research problem -- a problem that requires them to use all of the skills, tools and knowledge they have accumulated throughout their educational career, from electronic design to quantum mechanics to machine shop.  Students present their work at professional scientific meetings, as well as prepare a thesis.  Summers are often spent working on research with Houghton faculty as well, most recently on nuclear physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory and nanotechnology research at Cornell University.

Students get the chance to work on a wide variety of problems which require them to integrate the skills they have mastered in their traditional coursework, as well as learn new techniques. They also show posters and give oral presentations at scientific meetings.  Finally, at the end of their senior year, they prepare a thesis detailing their work.

The following links contain some of the projects our students have done in the past, as well as some currently underway.

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