{"id":39,"date":"2019-02-06T11:43:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T16:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/template-example\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2025-09-02T10:35:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:35:56","slug":"undergraduate-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Opportunities to Pursue Research<\/h2>\n<p>We believe it is important for undergraduates to make an early transition from classroom work to the more direct and active learning process involved in research. By becoming involved in research and collaborating with others, you&#8217;ll acquire a high degree of exposure and self-reliance.<\/p>\n<p>How soon should you get involved in research? It depends on your level of ability and your motivation. However, the earlier you begin, the more rewarding your project will be. Most physics majors start in their junior year, but some have been known to begin in their first or sophomore year.<\/p>\n<h3>What Might You Research?<\/h3>\n<p>Your research usually will connect to the work of a faculty mentor. Research in the department is broadly concentrated in the experimental and theoretical study of condensed matter physics \u2014 a term for the physics of solids, gases, and liquids.<\/p>\n<p>Our faculty&#8217;s experimental research focuses on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Granular matter<\/li>\n<li>Fluid dynamics<\/li>\n<li>Applied mechanics<\/li>\n<li>Scanning tunneling microscopy<\/li>\n<li>Correlated electron systems<\/li>\n<li>Superconductivity<\/li>\n<li>Renewable energy technology<\/li>\n<li>Complex microbial ecosystems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our faculty&#8217;s theoretical research includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Computational physics<\/li>\n<li>Computer simulation studies of phase transitions<\/li>\n<li>Investigating theoretical and computational problems at the interface of physics and biology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Collaboration<\/h3>\n<p>Although the stereotype of a scientist might be that of a solitary worker working in a laboratory late at night, the reality is that researchers collaborate with other scientists from all over the world and across disciplines.<\/p>\n<p>Our faculty regularly collaborate with colleagues at other institutions, and are involved in interdisciplinary research on active matter, environmental issues, physics education, and the technology of renewable energy.<\/p>\n<h3>Additional Opportunities<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Publications:<\/strong> Our undergraduates often publish papers in refereed journals along with their faculty advisers and other collaborators.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Presentations:<\/strong> Share your research at Clark\u2019s annual undergraduate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/clarkfest\/\" aria-label=\"ClarkFEST\">ClarkFEST<\/a> event.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Student Journal:<\/strong> Submit your research for publication in Clark&#8217;s student-run <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.clarku.edu\/surj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-label=\"Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal\">Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Opportunities to Pursue Research We believe it is important for undergraduates to make an early transition from classroom work to the more direct and active learning process involved in research. By becoming involved in research and collaborating with others, you&#8217;ll acquire a high degree of exposure and self-reliance. How soon should you get involved in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"parent":17,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-39","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.7 (Yoast SEO v24.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research | Department of Physics | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As a physics major or fifth-year master\u2019s student, you have numerous ways to get involved in research. See examples and learn more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research | Department of Physics | Clark University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a physics major or fifth-year master\u2019s student, you have numerous ways to get involved in research. See examples and learn more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Physics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-02T14:35:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/\",\"name\":\"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research | Department of Physics | Clark University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-06T16:43:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-02T14:35:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"As a physics major or fifth-year master\u2019s student, you have numerous ways to get involved in research. See examples and learn more.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Research\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/\",\"name\":\"Department of Physics\",\"description\":\"Clark University\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research | Department of Physics | Clark University","description":"As a physics major or fifth-year master\u2019s student, you have numerous ways to get involved in research. See examples and learn more.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research | Department of Physics | Clark University","og_description":"As a physics major or fifth-year master\u2019s student, you have numerous ways to get involved in research. See examples and learn more.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/","og_site_name":"Department of Physics","article_modified_time":"2025-09-02T14:35:56+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/","name":"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research | Department of Physics | Clark University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-02-06T16:43:12+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-02T14:35:56+00:00","description":"As a physics major or fifth-year master\u2019s student, you have numerous ways to get involved in research. See examples and learn more.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/undergraduate-research\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Research","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/research\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Undergraduate and Fifth-Year Research"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/","name":"Department of Physics","description":"Clark University","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1160,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/1160"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}