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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