Research opportunities

Hyperfine Interactions Group, Department of Physics, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-2814, USA
Professor Gary S. Collins, +1-509-335-1354, Webster 554, collins-at-wsu.edu.

Join a dynamic group working at the frontiers of atom-scale materials science! 

Graduate students

My goal is to help students become competent, independent researchers through a successful research experience, all the way from formulating a research problem through measurement, analysis, and presentation of results at professional meetings, and to publication in the scientific literature.  Contact me to discuss possible MS or PhD research projects.  Summer support is sometimes available for new students.  Progressing students are supported to carry out thesis or dissertation research as graduate research assistants with support of my NSF grant and the Praveen Sinha Fund for Physics Research, funded by a former Ph.D. student in the group.  Departmental fellowships and assistantships are also available, as next described. 

Departmental fellowships and assistantships.  Starting in the 2009 -10 academic year, the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Program in Materials Science were each granted several Millennium Research Fellowships to be awarded annually to newly enrolled as well as current graduate students (a total of ten fellowships per year).  Millennium Fellows on a nine-month appointment can make up to $16,000 in salary.  (Living costs in Pullman are modest, so this amount stretches further than at many other universities!)  There are no teaching duties; Millennium Fellows are encouraged to get experience in several research groups soon upon arrival.   GAANN Fellowships are available for financially-needy US students with excellent academic records; five or more are awarded per semester, each year by the physics and astronomy department.  Be sure to indicate interest in either of these fellowships when applying for financial support and let me know separately if you are interested in working in my group.  For general information about scholarships and fellowships in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, click here.  In addition, the Department offers 15-20 teaching assistantships annually. To apply for admission to graduate study and for financial support, click here.

Any student interested in Collins group research is welcome and encouraged to attend weekly group meetings where he/she can learn about our methods, current research interests and hear discussions of upcoming plans.  Contact me for time and location.

Visiting students from abroad

An overseas student may carry out a research project in the group as part of a program of study at his/her home institution. Three graduate-level students from the Netherlands and France have done so in recent years.  Contact me for more information.  It may even be possible to arrange for a joint degree from WSU and your home institution.   Exchange student agreements exist with foreign univerisities that include the Universities of Bonn, Leuven, Copenhagen, Stirling, Swansea, La Trobe, Univ of New England, and Technical Univ of Denmark;  see others.

Undergraduates

A meaningful research experience gives a taste of the satisfactions of creative design of experiments and first-time discovery of completely new phenomena.   I will help you frame an individual research project with the expectation that it can be completed in the time available to you.  My goal will be to guide you through steps from measurements to interpretation of results to writing them up for publication in a scientific journal.  Academic credit can be obtained by enrolling in Physics 499, Special Projects  for variable credit.  Financial support is sometimes available during the school year or summer; contact me for further information.  Undergraduates at WSU who have completed Modern Physics 303-304 or equivalent have a good basic preparation for working in my group.  Quantum Physics Laboratory 415, originally developed by me twenty years ago, provides an excellent introduction to instrumentation and methods used in our research.  Good grades in Solid-State Physics 463 or Electronics Laboratory 410 are additional plusses, but not essential.   Interested students from freshmen to seniors should contact me to explore possibilities.  Any interested student is encouraged (without obligation) to attend weekly group meetings to learn about our methods, current research interests, and immediate experimental plans.  Contact me for current time and location.

REU summer school for undergraduates

The Physics Department and  Materials Science and Engineering Program each has an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) summer school program, running from about June 1 to August 1, supported by the National Science Foundation and Air Force Office of Scientific Research.  The programs are available to US citizens, and provide the opportunity for a meaningful research experience.  The physics program, "Extreme Matter", has a web site at  http://www.physics.wsu.edu/reu.htm.  and the MSE program "Characterization of Advanced Materials"  has a site at http://reu.mme.wsu.edu/.   Students accepted in either program could work with me. 

High school students

Students from local high schools (Pullman and Moscow) may satisfy "senior projects" at their schools as they participate in group research.  Three have done so in recent years.  Please contact me if you are interested.

Postdocs

Monies are sometimes available to support postdoctoral research associates.  Experience with PAC spectroscopy is especially desirable, but persons having related experience, for example with Mössbauer or positron lifetime spectroscopies, should also apply.   Contact me to leave a résumé on file.

Visiting Scientists

Senior scientists interested in visiting in the group are encouraged to contact me.  We love visitors!
August 2009.  Gary S. Collins (collins-at-wsu.edu). Return to the Hyperfine Interaction Group's Home Page.