The CaSTL Center is committed to an expansive educational program that targets K12 students, undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
K-12 Programs
- COSMOS Summer School
- Science Fair Initiative
- Ask-a-Scientist
Undergraduate Student Programs
- Undergraduate Research Projects
- Undergraduate Classroom courses
Graduate Student Programs
- Graduate Research Projects
- Graduate Classroom Course
K-12 Programs
COSMOS Summer School
Our Summer School
is intended to bring talented high school students in close contact
with academic researchers and to let them participate in real
scientific experiments. During a period of four weeks, the students
daily attend special lectures revolving around the theme ‘understanding
molecules’, and take part in hands-on lab courses that illuminate
state-of-the-art techniques in physical chemistry. The scientific
program of the Summer School is entirely designed by CaSTL PIs with the
help high school teachers. Housing, meals and daily supervision is
coordinated through the California State Summer School for Mathematics
and Science, University of California (COSMOS) organization in Irvine.
Through this program we have brought 20 talented high school students
from California to the UCI campus in 2006 and 2007 editions of the
Summer School, which has now become an annual event.
Science Fair Initiative
The CaSTL Center actively invites K-12 students of community high
schools to conduct Science Fair projects in CaSTL laboratories under
supervision of CaSTL PIs. The Center has developed strong ties with
Costa Mesa High School and University High School in Irvine, and has
assisted K-12 students with three Science Fair projects so far.
Ask-a-Scientist
Members of the CaSTL Center visit community high schools to promote a
career in the physical sciences through the Ask-a-Scientist program.
The Center has engaged in a yearly Ask-a-Scientist meeting at Costa
Mesa High School, and is currently expanding the program to other high
schools.
Undergraduate Student Programs
Undergraduate Research Projects
The Center actively recruits undergraduate students for participation
in the Center’s research projects. Students can sign up through the
Department wide Undergraduate Research Studies (Chem 180). Furthermore,
the Center is firmly connected to UCI’s Undergraduate Research
Opportunities Program (UROP), a
program through which many students successfully find research
positions at UCI.
Undergraduate Classroom courses
The Center offers the following two undergraduate level courses:
- • Go Photon!
- This course addresses questions like: What is a photon? Why do molecules have color? What is a laser?
- • Nanotechnology – Present, Future
- A course that zooms into the sense and nonsense in the emerging field of nanotechnology.
Graduate Student Programs
Graduate Research Projects
Graduate research training is one of the core missions of the Center.
Graduate students are recruited through Chemistry and Physics graduate
programs at UCI in general and the Chemical and Material Physics (ChaMP) program in particular. All
the CaSTL PIs are active within ChaMP, an elaborate graduate training
program for chemistry and physics students.
Graduate Classroom Course
We offer a special course entitled ‘Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit’
for graduate students (Spring Quarter). The course is also accessible
to postdocs. In this course, the behavior of molecules on the ultrafast
timescales is explained through vivid examples of the latest
experimental and theoretical insights acquired by the Center.