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Activities

Materials research is a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative enterprise. As a result, no undergraduate curriculum—be it in chemistry, physics, materials science or engineering—can hope to expose students to all of the opportunities and techniques in the field. For this reason, our summer program includes a number of scientific activities designed to broaden your horizons. These activities include:

Housing (Ganędagǫ: Hall)

This information sheet will help you with questions that may arise on campus during your stay.

Out-of-Lab Experience

A full day will be spent visiting Corning Inc. The first half of the day will include a tour of the manufacturing facility and a Q&A session, with a panel of Corning Executives. The second half will consist of a self guided tour of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Scientific Presentation Skills

All students will attend an interactive workshop on public speaking and scientific presentation. Topics covered include: how to improve your communication skills, how to give a presentation that effectively illustrates the focus of your research, and how to avoid common pitfalls. [Presentation PDF]

Graduate School: A View from the Trenches

Current Cornell graduate students and faculty will present a forum on graduate school. Topics of discussion will include:

  • Is graduate school for you?
  • Career possibilities in materials
  • Tips and tricks for graduate school admissions

Ethics Presentation

Starting from a case study of scientific misconduct uncovered by a Cornell professor, the Hendrik Schön case at Bell Labs, the human and intellectual cost of scientific misconduct will be discussed in a group setting. The workshop will also discuss how scientists can give back to society—issues ranging from choosing research that is meaningful to conveying science to the government and society at large.

2023 Research Colloquium

At the end of the program, each student will present a formal talk on his/her research project at the 2023 Research Colloquium.

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