Paid Summer Research Positions & Internships
If you're interested in a career in physics, astronomy, and/or
engineering, please check out look the Careers in Physics
and Astronomy page for useful information.
Butler University Research Programs
Butler Physics and Astronomy majors are highly encourage to
apply to the Butler Summer Institute (BSI) during their sophomore
and/or junior years. Here you can find information on programs
sponsored by the university. Students should pay particular
attention to:
Internships and Summer Research Positions
Why: An internship is the best way to learn
physics, astronomy, and/or engineering The truth is, nothing can
compete with real experience.
What: You get to do real science with
world-class equipment. Internship work is often published and often
pays fairly well.
Where: You can do an internship at a federally
funded national laboratory such as Los Alamos or at a corporation
such as Raytheon. The web allows you to apply to internships all
over the country with unprecedented convenience.
When: Start hunting for summer internships in
the fall. The application process isn't bad but it can stretch out
a bit as you gather your materials and decide what you are looking
for. You can also do local internships for credit or pay during the
semester on a part-time basis. You can even take a semester off and
spend it in the lab.
How: Point and click. Many of the sites below
have downloadable applications. Fill them out and send them off.
The hard part is deciding where you want to go and what sort of
work you want to do.
Visit the Past Paid Summer Research
Positions & Internships page in order to learn
more about paid summer research and internship opportunities for
Butler University Physics majors.
Butler Summer Institute
The Butler Summer Institute has been developed to provide an
opportunity, and privilege, for "the best and brightest" of
Butler's students to engage in learning that is creative,
experiential, and investigation oriented, interact with Butler
faculty, and to build a community of learners. Physics majors can
apply for this program at the end of either their sophomore and/or
junior years.
National Science Foundation Research Experiences for
Undergraduates (REU)
Visit the NSF
Research Experiences for Undergraduates page for more
information. It is suggested that Butler Physics and Astronomy
majors apply to the (REU program for the summers after their junior
year.
Department of Energy
Internships for physics majors are also available at DOE. Visit
the DOE Scholarships
& Internships page to learn more.
Other Possibilities
Here are several very good web sites for summer research and
internships:
http://www.auburn.edu/cosam/students/career/career-physics.htm
http://www.seas.upenn.edu/be/undergrad/SummerInternships.html
GRE Preparation
For any students interested in going onto graduate school you
must take the
Graduate Record Examination (GRE). This test is put on by the
same people who give the SAT. The test consist of a
GRE® General Test and a
GRE® Subject Test. The general test measures verbal,
quantitative, and analytical skills that have been acquired over a
long period of time and that are not related to any specific field
of study. The subject test consists of approximately 100 questions
most of which relate to the first three years of undergraduate
physics. Topics include classical mechanics (20%), fundamentals of
electromagnetism (18%), atomic physics (10%), physical optics and
wave phenomena (9%), quantum mechanics (12%), thermodynamics and
statistical mechanics (10%), special relativity (6%), and
laboratory methods (6%). The remaining 9% of the test covers
advanced topics such as nuclear and particle physics, condensed
matter physics, and astrophysics.