A GAANN Fellowship Program in the Department of Physics and Astronomy

We request Department of Education funding to establish a GAANN fellowship program in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kentucky. This funding is sought for six fellows; an additional matching fellowship will be contributed by the Graduate School of the University. We will use these fellowships to recruit and support talented students with demonstrated financial need who wish to complete a Ph.D. degree in physics. Also, we will provide GAANN fellows with a one-year supervised teaching experience in our department. We are especially interested in recruiting and enrolling talented students trom underrepresented groups. Targeted groups include African-Americans, students trom Appalachia and women. The Department of Physics & Astronomy is a research-active unit composed of29 regular faculty members, 51 graduate students, 15 postdoctoral researchers and support staff The Department is the only physics Ph.D. granting unit in Kentucky. It supports research in five principal physics subfields -astrophysics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics and particle physics. All subfields have experimental and theoretical components except particle physics, which is theoretical only. Theoretical research makes use of the extensive computing facilities of the University and the Department. Experimental research is based upon a wide range of departmental laboratory facilities for atomic, condensed matter and nuclear physics. Experimental nuclear physics research and observational astrophysics research make use of a variety of national and international laboratories and observatories. In light of its broad range of research fields and its successful and long-standing physics graduate program, the Department can provide GAANN fellows with a meaningful and successful Ph.D. experience. The principal outcomes expected of our GAANN fellowship program include the training of talented students to the Ph.D. level in physics and their successful entrance into the workforce in physics or physics-related fields. Other important outcomes include an enhancement in the representation of African-Americans, students trom Appalachia and women in the Ph.D. physics community and an increase in the number of Ph.D. trained physicists in Kentucky. This latter outcome, we hope, will help to enhance the research and technology capabilities of the state. The University of Kentucky Graduate School is prepared to make a matching contribution to the project amounting to 43% of the requested Department of Education funds. This matching contribution will provide out-of-state tuition scholarships and an additional physics department graduate fellowship. The proposed GAANN fellowship project will be coordinated by the GAANN Project Director, T. Troland, who is also the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department. Troland will be joined by a GAANN Advisory Committee consisting of himself and four other faculty members. All members ofthis committee are tenured faculty members and active researchers. All have experience mentoring graduate students at the Ph.D. level. Therefore, they will be in a position to ensure the successful completion of the project.