FRIB/NSCL remotely hosted 16 undergraduate students from across the country for the 2021 Nuclear Science Summer School (NS3) from 2-6 August. NS3 introduces the field of nuclear physics to science students enrolled in smaller institutions that do not offer dedicated courses on this topic.
For the past two years, the school has been funded as part of a National Science Foundation grant. NS3 focuses on the connections between nuclear physics and astrophysics. Topics included the properties of atomic nuclei, rare isotope experiments, the Big Bang and the evolution of the cosmos, and element synthesis in stars and stellar explosions. Laboratory faculty and graduate-student and research-associate volunteers from FRIB/NSCL served as instructors.
Participants remotely engaged in interactive group activities and discussions with instructors especially designed for the online-format. NS3 also offered three special sessions, including a virtual tour of the laboratory, advice on applying to graduate school, and a lecture on mesoscopic nuclear physics.