Manuel Calderón de la Barca Sánchez Professor of Physics

September 17, 2013, Videoconference at ITESM for IFI students

Physics Department

Opportunities for Mexican Students at

Graduate Program

Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

UC Davis: One of the best public universities

• UC Davis’ reputation continues to grow as one of the nation’s elite public universities, where innovative research is addressing the world’s most critical issues and students are equipped for productive, meaningful lives.

• Chancellor Linda Katehi

U.S. News & World Report.“America’s Best Colleges 2013”#8 Public Research Universities

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Physics Graduate Program

• Physics: Ranked #26 in the US• U.S. News & World Report, America’s Best Graduate Schools

2012-2014• Research Areas

• Cosmology and Astrophysics, Observational and Theoretical• Condensed Matter, Theory and Experiment• High-Energy/Particle, Theory and Experiment• Nuclear Physics, Experiment• Complex Systems• Biological Physics• Physics Education

• Total Faculty: 46

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Active, Engaged, and Effective Faculty

• Physics Department• Half of the department

hired after 2000.• 138 Graduate students• 40 research staff and

postdocs• The graduate program:

• ~2 years of graduate courses

• One written and one oral exam

• ~3 years of graduate research

• Writing of Ph.D. Thesis• Mentoring:

• Graduate Advisors• Thesis Advisors

Profs. Robin Erbacher and Marusa BradačGraduate Students: Ralph Edezhath and Michael Gardner

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Research at Davis and Beyond

• Research conducted on Campus, but through international collaborations.

• At Davis: • Condensed Matter Experiment,

Theoretical research, Complexity, Detector development.

• International collaborations:• Collider experiments

(High-Energy/Nuclear)• CMS at the LHC, CERN• STAR at RHIC, Brookhaven Natl.

Lab• Neutrino and Dark Matter

• LUX, South Dakota• Double Chooz, France

• Cosmology• LSST, at Chile• Keck telescope, Hawaii

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Working at CERN for CMS

• Testing the electronics for the Cathode Strip Chambers.

• At the CMS center during heavy-ion data taking.

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

At the STAR experiment, Brookhaven Natl. Lab

• The “Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC” is a collider detector for studying heavy-ion and polarized proton collisions.

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Cosmology

Telescope time in Chile

Department Chair, Andy Albrecht

Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Building the Large Underground Xenon experiment

• Cavern to house the Xenon tank, to be surrounded by photomultiplier tubes.• LUX experiment

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Funding for Mexican Students

• UC MEXUS (ucmexus.ucr.edu)• University of California Institute for Mexico

and the United States• UC MEXUS-CONACYT Doctoral Fellowships

for Mexican students• http://ucmexus.ucr.edu/funding/prospective-fellows-in

fo/doctoral_prospective.html

• Five years of funding• Any of the UC Campuses• Physical Sciences is one of the eligible

fields of study

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Susana HidalgoAcademic Programs OfficerWendy DeBoerDirector, Academic Programs

Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

UC MEXUS: Tips on How to Apply

• Research possible campuses and programs • 1 year in advance (Fall)• Contact departments, Identify deadlines for application (Dec-Jan)• Contact faculty conducting research in your area of interest

• Take the necessary exams• TOEFL, GRE, Physics GRE

• Obtain preparation materials, use practice tests.• Find out dates for taking them near you.

• Submit your applications in Dec-Jan• Possible (and encouraged) to apply to many campuses• Make it clear in your application that you are eligible for UC

MEXUS funding• Dec-Feb: Submit application to CONACYT

• April: Submit short UC MEXUS “Formato de Solicitante”• This step is essential in their application process• Enables UC MEXUS to communicate directly with the

campuses regarding their solicitation of a UC MEXUS-CONACYT doctoral fellowship.

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Physics Department http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu

Career Prospects

• Excellent job opportunities.• Academic positions, postdoctoral research, National Labs,

Industry, Finance, Consulting, Manufacturing, Engineering, etc.

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