undergraduate

Tag: undergraduate

Do scientists get bad grades?

Posted August 28, 2021 by Taylor Woodward

[A cartoon drawing of a stick figure in the fetal position ruminating about a failed chemistry exam.]

I wasn’t accepted into grad school when I first applied during my final year of college. The emails beginning with “We’re sorry to inform you” trickled one by one into my inbox, and I spent time frantically trying to figure out my post-graduation plans, since they were previously just ‘grad school.’ Fortunately, most of these emails had good suggestions about actions to take over the next couple of years, but one piece of feedback stung a little more than the rest. One program noted that while I had spent time doing research, my science grades were ‘quite poor.’ Honestly, they weren’t wrong…

Particle physics goes virtual through pandemic difficulties

Posted March 20, 2021 by Guest Contributor

[A scientist in white clothes on a lift surveys the inside of a gold-coated and box-shaped detector for neutrinos.]

Phineas and Ferb (in the funny Disney cartoon) had it right when they wondered what could be done over a 104-day summer vacation. There is a lot to do, such as go on a trip, get ice cream, spend weeks on end floating in a pool, or doing particle physics research. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted everything in life, resulting in many of these plans being canceled this past summer. Wait! Go back! Why would any student want to spend their summer, their solitary free time during the year, doing particle physics research? Moreover, how would that work during a pandemic, when the university is completely shut down?