2024 USRA Projects

1.Gravitational Wave Astronomy with LISA
Contact: Jess McIver & Scott Oser | Emails: mciver@phas.ubc.ca and oser@phas.ubc.ca

LISA is a proposed spaced-based gravitational wave detector that will consist of three spacecraft flying in an equilateral triangular configuration with a side length of 2.5 million kilometers. Each spacecraft shines a laser at the other two, and all three measure the interference between incoming and outgoing beams of light. These interferometric measurements will allow LISA to measure the miniscule modulation of the separation distances between spacecraft caused by gravitational waves produced by distant sources such as massive black holes, binary star systems, or even the aftermath of the Big Bang itself.  We will examine analysis techniques for how LISA can distinguish gravitational wave signal events ("glitches"), with a focus on signal and noise modelling.  Familiarity with Python and/or C++ is strongly preferred.  The awardee will learn signal processing, time series analysis, Fourier methods, and gain experience with applications to gravitational-wave astrophysics. 

2. Earth-Space Sustainability
Contact: Aaron Boley | Email: acboley@phas.ubc.ca 

Humanity’s rapid and accelerating expansion into space benefits society, opens pathways to scientific discoveries, and advances economic opportunities. Satellites already play vital roles in weather forecasting, food production, forest fire detection, climate science, communications, navigation, search and rescue, disaster relief, military operations, and arms control verification. There are also negative consequences, from the loss of dark and radio-quiet skies, to space debris and collision risks on orbit, casualty risks from reentering rocket bodies and satellites, and changes to the atmosphere from both launches and reentries.
These negative consequences arise because space is generally not regarded as an environment in need of protecting, nor is it seen as being closely connected to Earth’s environment. In reality, the two are so closely related that we need to speak of the Earth-Space system. Adding to the challenges, the expansion into space is driven by a handful of powerful states and large private companies who see themselves competing for national, economic, and military advantage in an “area beyond national jurisdiction” that is largely devoid of clear, widely agreed, enforceable rules. Yet the negative consequences of their actions are borne by everyone on Earth, including succeeding generations.  

Positions are available under this theme that would explore one or more of the following:
* Calculations of orbital carrying capacities
* Observations of satellites and debris
* Upper atmosphere impacts arising from spacecraft launch and reentries
* Disarmament and space weapons

3. Exoplanet Studies
Contact: Aaron Boley | Email: acboley@phas.ubc.ca 

Positions are available under this theme for conducting exoplanetary system observations and/or dynamics.

For example, planet-planet and planet-star interactions create variations in the transit times of planets. Such variations lead to observable signatures of planetary orbital evolution and offer constraints on planet formation and planetary system models. So-called Hot Jupiters, which are giant planets that orbit their host star with periods ranging from days to about two weeks, may be particularly prone to orbital evolution arising from tidal orbital decay or orbital precession, as well as apparent variations due to relative motions between Earth and the planetary system.

Tasks may include one or more of the following:
* Follow up exoplanet transit observations using Thunderbird South (the UBC Southern Observatory)
* Dynamics or hydrodynamics calculations 
* Statistical analyses of exoplanet data

4. Single-molecule investigations of competition among DNA secondary structures and consequences for biomolecular interactions
Contact: Sabrina Leslie | Email: leslielab@msl.ubc.ca | Web: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

DNA, as a long, double-stranded polymer, can take on a variety of secondary structures. Several of these structures can be induced by DNA supercoiling – how twisted the DNA is compared to its relaxed state. The total amount of supercoiling in a DNA molecule is fixed, so when there are multiple sites within a single molecule susceptible to secondary structures, the sites will compete among each other to form. 

In this project, the student will study the competition among secondary structures in a DNA molecule and compare their results to predictions from a statistical mechanics model. The student will learn how to genetically modify DNA in order to introduce new structures, and study the presence of structures using molecular biology and single-molecule microscopy techniques. Specifically, she will study the competition between two ‘unwinding sites’, regions of DNA that become single-stranded when subject to negative supercoiling.

The student will receive hands-on training and guidance from the Leslie Biophysics Research Group, including day-to-day guidance from a senior graduate student in the lab, regular meetings with the research team and principal investigator, and surrounding interdisciplinary environment at the Michael Smith Labs. Through the course of the summer, the student will hone her oral communication skills through opportunities to present at group meetings and interact at local events such as the SBME and Michael Smith Labs Summer Poster Fairs. 

5. Single-particle microscopy of mRNA lipid nanoparticle complexes

Contact: Sabrina Leslie | Email: sabrina.leslie@msl.ubc.ca | Web: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

Nanoparticles are increasingly used in pharmaceutical applications. This research project will use single-particle confinement microscopy to investigate the biophysical properties, stoichiometry and kinetics of nanoparticle assemblies and their interactions. This technique entraps particles in femto-liter reaction wells and allows prolonged monitoring of reactions. It also enables direct visualization of interactions between chemical species and nanoparticles.

For this project, the student will perform single-particle experiments to investigate and quantify probe-nanoparticle interactions. For example, particle tracking algorithms can be used to extract valuable information such as diffusion coefficients and fusion kinetics. This project is best suited for engineering physics students with an interest in computer science and biology since we will be applying physical tools to understand out data.

The student will receive training in quantitative image analysis as well as hands-on microscopy and will work closely with a research fellow and graduate student. Weekly meetings with the supervisor and collaborators, and daily interactions with members of our interdisciplinary research group including the nanomedicine network, will support and guide the project. In addition to gaining hands-on research experience, anticipated outcomes of this summer research project include virtual presentations with lab members, providing key training in writing and oral communication.

6. Single-molecule microscopy of oligo-oligo and oligo-enzyme kinetics

Contact: Sabrina Leslie | Email: sabrina.leslie@msl.ubc.ca | Website: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics is an emerging technology capable of altering mRNA expression by targeted cleaving via RNase H1. The molecular mechanisms and interactions by which this process works are not well understood, and secondary structures of the ASO and/or RNA target can have a strong impact on the interaction rates. In this research project, the student will use fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (FLCS) to detect and measure oligo-oligo and oligo-enzyme reactions, and write data analysis code in PYTHON to quantify kinetic rates from microscopy data.

The student will receive training in single-molecule fluorescence microscopy and quantitative FLCS analysis and will work closely with a research fellow in the lab. Weekly meetings with the Leslie biophysics team, and daily interactions with members of our interdisciplinary colleagues in the Michael Smith Labs, will support and guide the researcher’s training and development. In addition to gaining hands-on research experience, anticipated outcomes of this summer research project include oral presentations for lab members and poster presentations at the Michael Smith Labs Summer Poster Fairs and SBME Summer Poster Fairs, providing key training in written and oral communication.

This project is ideally suited to an undergraduate student in the UBC Biophysics program who is interested in continuing towards a senior thesis with the Leslie Lab the following year.
 

7. Looking for New Physics with ATLAS Precision Measurements

Contact: Alison Lister and Colin Gay| Emails: alister@phas.ubc.ca and cgay@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

Q: How do we learn something about new physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) without measuring it directly? A: We look for its impact on things we can measure! The UBC ATLAS group is working to constrain new physics using precision measurements of Standard Model particles. Different hypothetical BSM particles can cause subtle changes to what we see in the detector. By putting together these measurements we can look for any anomalies that could hint at new physics.

The student will work on translating individual measurements into a combined framework, and optimizing variables to maximize sensitivity. See more information about ATLAS and new physics here.

8. Constructing Silicon Inner Tracker (ITk) for ATLAS Detector Upgrade

Contact: Alison Lister and Colin Gay| Emails: alister@phas.ubc.ca and cgay@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

The UBC ATLAS group is among several institutions around the world participating in the construction of the new, all silicon, Inner Tracker (ITk) for the upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at CERN. Each module of the silicon strip tracker must undergo a series of thermal and electrical quality control measurements before they are installed in the ATLAS detector. Here at UBC, we are performing these critical tests in our newly commissioned cleanroom.

The student will work on building and improving the test setup, optimizing and automating the testing procedure, and analyzing and presenting the results from electrical tests to the wider ATLAS community. See more information about the ATLAS silicon Inner Tracker here.

9. Deep Learning with ATLAS

Contact: Alison Lister and Colin Gay| Emails: alister@phas.ubc.ca and cgay@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

The ATLAS UBC Group is developing new deep learning techniques for both signal vs. background classification problems as well as inference problems (given what we see in our detector, what are the most likely properties of the particles that produce that signature). The students will work on further improvements of the method as well as develop techniques for mitigation of the impact of the systematic uncertainties on the deep learning model.

Experience and familiarity with Python is required.

10. AI-Driven Advancements in Nuclear Medicine: Optimizing Language Models for Clinical Reporting for PET scan

Contact: Arman Rahmim | Email: arman.rahmim@ubc.ca | Web: http://qurit.ca/

Outline of Research Project:
In our interdisciplinary lab, our primary focus is to advance image analysis for positron emission tomography (PET) scans to improve cancer diagnosis, staging and therapy response assessment in close collaboration with nuclear medicine physicians. Artificial Intelligence (AI) large language models (LLMs), similar to chatGPT, are emerging in radiology, excelling in tasks such as label extraction, summarization, and report generation from medical images. Despite the success of LLMs in various domains, their optimization for nuclear medicine applications remains a relatively unexplored area and additional training on domain-specific text, such as clinical reports in radiology, has proven effective. However, adapting these models to the relatively unique vocabulary of nuclear medicine reports presents challenges in accurate interpretation. Furthermore, in the context of imaging examinations, nuclear medicine physicians meticulously review prior reports to write a comprehensive report. Advanced LLMs offer the potential to enhance efficiency for physicians by summarizing these sources and generating concise clinical histories.

Our long term proposed plan at the Quantitative Radiomolecular Imaging & Therapy (Qurit) lab (Qurit.ca) for evaluating LLMs involves (i) evaluating language models performance in interpreting PET text reports for lymphoma cases, specifically focusing on generating assessments of therapy (Deauville score); (ii) assessing the ability of fine-tuned LLMs, in generating accurate and personalized impressions for multi-institutional whole-body PET reports; (iii) producing a text report based on 2D maximum intensity projections of 3D PET scans. The co-op student will work selectively on one of these steps, contributing to our ongoing research with the help of our researchers.

The Student's Role:
Upon joining the Qurit lab, the student will acquire proficiency in AI-based techniques, delving into fundamental concepts of deep learning approaches mainly by self-study of the existing materials in our lab. Through self-study and active discussion, the student will focus on exploring language models and engaging with patient imaging data (PET/CT) alongside their corresponding imaging reports. This immersive learning experience will be facilitated by collaborative efforts with researchers within the lab. Subsequently, the student's involvement in the proposed plan will be dynamic, with sub-projects tailored based on their capabilities and interests in any of the three stages. The primary objective involves assisting in refining existing language models for interpreting imaging reports and generating response-to-treatment assessments (Deauville Score for treatment assessment of lymphoma patients). This process will employ fine-tuning or possibly retrieval augmented generation (RAG), enhancing language model output by incorporating information from external knowledge sources. Additionally, the student will contribute to generate text reports based on PET scans.

The student's contributions will extend to one or more clusters within our lab, focusing on lymphoma, cervical, prostate, and/or lung cancers. The student will actively participate in an exciting research program and may have opportunities to engage in AI competitions or contribute to conference/journal publications alongside team members.

Throughout the program, the co-op student will gain valuable insights through daily/weekly mentorship, complete immersion in a multi-disciplinary environment, and a profound understanding of the latest developments in imaging and AI. Collaborative interactions with clinical and technical collaborators will further enrich the learning experience. The trainee will actively participate in presenting and discussing research ideas in a secure yet intellectually stimulating environment. This emphasis on effective communication skills aligns seamlessly with our lab's mentorship approach, which is entirely driven by the student's eagerness to learn and excel.
 

11. Statistics of CMB Polarization

Contact: Dr. Douglas Scott | Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/basic.html

The cosmic microwave background allows us to probe the Universe on the largest length scales possible. There are several hints or "anomalies" that may suggest modifications to physics on large scales or at very early times in the history of the Cosmos. In order to assess if such anomalies are real or just mild statistical excursions in the data, it is necessary to find new ways to probe the large-scale Universe. One such new probe is provided by sensitive measurements of CMB polarization, which comes from new modes in the early Universe. The latest maps of large-angle polarization have been provided by the Planck satellite. In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the cosmological signals and to test for deviations from statistical anisotropy. Additionally, it will be useful to assess the power of future (more sensitive) polarization measurement using simulations.

12. Deep Learning in Astronomy

Contact: Dr. Douglas Scott | Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/basic.html

There are many data analysis problems in astronomy that are best approached using simple likelihood function methods. However, there are other questions (involving non-linear selection tasks, or pattern-matching in huge databases) that are more efficiently performed with "machine-learning" (ML) methods, such as neural networks. One downside to the use of ML approaches is that it is often difficult to determine robust uncertainties on derived parameters. Another unresolved issue is how to combine traditional and ML methods in tasks that use both approaches for different parts. We will investigate these topics by looking at the use of ML in astronomy, combining data at multiple wavelengths to identify and categorize distant galaxies and assess their statistical properties.

13. New phases of matter in Twisted Bilayers

Contact: Marcel Franz | Email: franz@phas.ubc.ca
 

Electronic properties of crystals depend strongly on the periodicity of the underlying crystalline lattice. In two-dimensional systems such as graphene or high-Tc cuprate monolayers the periodic structure can be controlled to a remarkable degree by "moire engineering" whereby two monolayers are assembled with a small twist. This generally leads to a superlattice with much longer period than the original crystal which in turn gives rise to novel electronic phases including correlated insulators, Chern insulators and exotic topological superconductors.  

In this USRA project based at the Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, the student will help identify such novel phases of matter by performing theoretical calculations on a range of models describing interacting electrons in moire materials. Exchange of ideas with QMI experimental groups will be strongly encouraged. The student will receive training in computational methods that are commonly used in solid state physics. Some prior knowledge of computational methods and experience with Python/Matlab/Unix OS would be very helpful.

 14. PIONEER: Studies of Rare Pion Decays

Contact: Douglas Bryman | Email: doug@triumf.ca

PIONEER is a new particle physics experiment designed to delve deeply into the Standard Model (SM) generation puzzle: why are there precisely three generations or flavors of ordinary matter particles electrons, neutrinos, and quarks.  PIONEER will make measurements of unprecedented precision and will confront the extraordinarily accurate SM prediction for the charged-pion branching ratio to electrons vs. muons which is extremely sensitive to the SM hypothesis of Lepton Flavor Universality;  LFU states that each lepton flavor (e, µ, τ and their neutrinos) has identical couplings to the weak force carriers, whereas many hypothetical new physics scenarios involving high mass scales not included in the SM or directly reachable with colliders would result in deviations from the SM expectations. At UBC and TRIUMF, we are concentrating on the design and development of the PIONEER liquid xenon scintillating calorimeter which will measure the energies of the pion and muon decay product positrons. Work on this URSA project may involve hands-on testing and evaluation of photosensors and a liquid xenon purity monitor, as well as simulations. Experimental laboratory and electronics experience, and knowledge of Python, C++, and simulation codes would be assets.

15. Charting the Growth of Galaxies

Contact: Allison Man | Email: aman@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/allison-man

Galaxies evolve on astronomical timescales of millions or even billions of years. The study of galaxy evolution is therefore based on inferring connections between various galaxy populations across cosmic time. This requires knowledge of galaxy properties, such as distances, sizes, masses, ages, and star formation rates. The student will learn now to extract such information from galaxy images and spectra. Driven by the student's interest, the project will tackle these important scientific questions: What triggers or shuts down star formation in galaxies? How do active supermassive black holes influence star formation of their host galaxies? What happens to galaxies when they collide with each other?

The student will apply their Python computing skills to handle large datasets and images, to visualize and to present findings. These skills are relevant for a variety of projects in astronomy, other research disciplines and beyond academia.

Experience with Python programming is required. Knowledge of physics, astronomy, statistics, data analysis, LaTeX and Git will be considered a plus. The ideal candidate will have taken at least one ASTR course at the 200-level and above.

16. Magnetic Resonance with Non-Aqueous and Water Protons in the Brain

Contacts: Alex Mackay & Carl Michal | Email: mackay@phas.ubc.ca & michal@phas.ubc.ca Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/alex-mackay & https://phas.ubc.ca/~michal/

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is heavily used in medicine because it produces images with high contrast between different soft tissue types and between healthy and pathological tissue.

The physical mechanisms which determine this exquisite tissue contrast are still not clearly understood. MR images from the brain are generated from signals coming from hydrogen nuclei in water in the brain; however, the signal from the water protons are influenced by interactions between water and non-aqueous protons attached to lipids and proteins. The proposed project will involve in vitro and ex vivo NMR experiments designed to enable us to better understand the interactions between non-aqueous protons and water protons in the brain. Having a clearer understanding of these interactions may enable us to extract more specific and quantitative information about brain microstructure using MRI.
 

17. Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy in the Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research

19. Crystal Clear: Developing outreach material related to the crystal growth of quantum materials

Contact: Alannah Hallas (alannah.hallas@ubc.ca)

Project description: The overarching goal of this project is to make the concepts of crystal growth more accessible to learners of every level. The successful candidate will join the Hallas group and will work in our state-of-the-art crystal growth laboratories at Blusson QMI. Their research project will involve learning a broad set of crystal growth methods, including solid-state synthesis, floating zone crystal, and flux crystal. Then, using the knowledge gained through this training, the student will work with the team to accomplish three aims:

Contacts: Jess McIver & Raymond Ng | Email: mciver@phas.ubc.ca and rng@cs.ubc.ca | Web: https://gravitational-waves/phas.ubc.ca

Gravitational-wave detector data, including the LIGO detectors, contains a high rate of instrumental artifacts that mask or mimic true astrophysical gravitational wave (GW) signals. This project will characterize noise sources in the Advanced LIGO detectors with the goal of reducing the number of 'false alarm' GW candidates and improving the reach of GW searches for the current observing run. Students will work with a team of physicists and data scientists, and gain transferable skills in data visualization, Python programming, gravitational-wave astrophysics, large-scale physics experimental instrumentation, and potentially machine learning (if desired). Familiarity with Python is preferred.

2023 USRA Projects

1. Machine learning with SuperCDMS SNOLAB
Contacts: Prof. Scott Oser  & Dr. Yan Liu | Email: oser@phas.ubc.ca and yanliusp@gmail.com 

After decades’ search of what accounts for about 75% of the total mass in the universe, dark matter still remains to be discovered. SuperCDMS SNOLAB aims to detect tiny scattering or absorption signals from dark matter particles. The student will participate in the software and computing development of the experiment.  
 

1.) In searching for new discoveries, it is important for experimenters to avoid (sometimes subconsciously) biases towards false positives and this is commonly done by blinding potential signals during the initial analysis stage. The student will help develop the blinding scheme for the upcoming SuperCDMS data analyses using generative adversarial network (GAN).

2.) We are currently developing an advanced signal extraction technique based on the pulse shape differences of the signal. The student will be involved with the effort of categorizing different groups of signals using machine learning techniques such as auto encoder.  
Experience with python is required.

2. Statistics of CMB Polarization

Contact: Dr. Douglas Scott | Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/basic.html

The cosmic microwave background allows us to probe the Universe on the largest length scales possible. There are several hints or "anomalies" that may suggest modifications to physics on large scales or at very early times in the history of the Cosmos. In order to assess if such anomalies are real or just mild statistical excursions in the data, it is necessary to find new ways to probe the large-scale Universe. One such new probe is provided by sensitive measurements of CMB polarization, which comes from new modes in the early Universe. The latest maps of large-angle polarization have been provided by the Planck satellite. In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the cosmological signals and to test for deviations from statistical anisotropy. Additionally, it will be useful to assess the power of future (more sensitive) polarization measurement using simulations.

3. Deep Learning in Astronomy

Contact: Dr. Douglas Scott | Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/basic.html

There are many data analysis problems in astronomy that are best approached using simple likelihood function methods. However, there are other questions (involving non-linear selection tasks, or pattern-matching in huge databases) that are more efficiently performed with "machine-learning" (ML) methods, such as neural networks. One downside to the use of ML approaches is that it is often difficult to determine robust uncertainties on derived parameters. Another unresolved issue is how to combine traditional and ML methods in tasks that use both approaches for different parts. We will investigate these topics by looking at the use of ML in astronomy, combining data at multiple wavelengths to identify and categorize distant galaxies and assess their statistical properties.

4. Multi-Task Deep Learning for Segmentation and Outcome Prediction in PET/CT Images of Cancer Patients

Contact: Arman Rahmim | Email: arman.rahmim@ubc.ca | Web: http://qurit.ca

Outline of Research Project:

We aim, in our multidisciplinary lab, to perform advanced image analysis on PET and PET/CT images to improve and simplify diagnosis, cancer staging, therapy response assessment and prediction of outcome for cancer patients, in close collaboration with nuclear medicine physicians. Thorough analyses on medical images, leading to the field of radiomics, often rely on accurate segmentations of tumors; meanwhile, a fully automated segmentation step is a bottleneck for applying radiomics studies on large datasets.

Deep learning especially via Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) has enabled improved performance in different medical imaging tasks. In particular, improved outcome prediction for cancer patients can enable better personalization of therapies, though it has been less frequently considered via CNNs since they were not as efficient compared to alternative non-deep-learning frameworks. The deep features learned by (convolutional) layers of CNNs for tumor segmentation (i.e., U-net) have the potential to guide the outcome prediction network by exploiting the scarce and precious radiomics features. We aim to evaluate this potential by suggesting and evaluating the models for simultaneous tumor segmentation and outcome prediction from PET/CT images of patients with different cancers.

Our proposed plan at the Quantitative Radiomolecular Imaging & Therapy (Qurit) lab (Qurit.ca) is to develop multi-task learning approaches for segmentation and outcome prediction in parallel. This innovative idea has only once been applied to PET/CT radiomics and we aim to propose different multi-task frameworks. Studies have shown that multi-task learning, when the tasks are related, could improve the efficiency of the individual tasks. In other words, the deep features that are learned for segmenting tumor regions and the relevant features from tumor regions in outcome prediction can co-facilitate learning. We aim to develop and validate such deep learning frameworks for the analysis of PET/CT images of cancer patients.

The Student's Role:

After joining Qurit lab, the student will gain familiarity with AI-based techniques including deep learning approaches especially for segmentation and outcome prediction by studying reading material and test data provided by Qurit lab, and with the help of the post-doctoral researchers and PhD students in the lab. In the next step, sub-projects that the student is supposed to work on (in collaboration with other lab members) will be refined adaptively based on student capabilities and interests. The main part of the student's project is to provide help to develop and improve the deep models for simultaneous segmentation and outcome prediction. The student will contribute to one or more clusters (research sub-groups within our lab for lymphoid, cervical, prostate and/or lung cancers) to evaluate the capability of the developed multi-task models in different cancers. The student will experience an exciting research program and may have the opportunity to participate in AI competitions and/or conference/journal works by team members.

The trainee will be (i) mentored on a daily/weekly basis, (ii) immersed in a multi-disciplinary environment, (iii) provided with in-depth understanding of recent developments in imaging & AI, and (iv) the opportunity to interact with our clinical and technical collaborators. The trainee will present and discuss research ideas to the team and respond to questions in a safe yet intellectually inspiring environment. The program will also emphasize the trainee's communication skills, a strong area of mentorship in our lab.

5. Looking for New Physics with ATLAS Precision Measurements

Contact: Alison Lister | Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

Q: How do we learn something about new physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) without measuring it directly? A: We look for its impact on things we can measure! The UBC ATLAS group is working to constrain new physics using precision measurements of Standard Model particles. Different hypothetical BSM particles can cause subtle changes to what we see in the detector. By putting together these measurements we can look for any anomalies that could hint at new physics.

The student will work on translating individual measurements into a combined framework, and optimizing variables to maximize sensitivity. See more information about ATLAS and new physics here.

6. Constructing Silicon Inner Tracker (ITk) for ATLAS Detector Upgrade

Contact: Alison Lister | Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

The UBC ATLAS group is among several institutions around the world participating in the construction of the new, all silicon, Inner Tracker (ITk) for the upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at CERN. Each module of the silicon strip tracker must undergo a series of thermal and electrical quality control measurements before they are installed in the ATLAS detector. Here at UBC, we are performing these critical tests in our newly commissioned cleanroom.

The student will work on building and improving the test setup, optimizing and automating the testing procedure, and analyzing and presenting the results from electrical tests to the wider ATLAS community. See more information about the ATLAS silicon Inner Tracker here.

7. Deep Learning with ATLAS

Contact: Alison Lister | Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

The ATLAS UBC Group is developing new deep learning techniques for both signal vs. background classification problems as well as inference problems (given what we see in our detector, what are the most likely properties of the particles that produce that signature). The students will work on further improvements of the method as well as develop techniques for mitigation of the impact of the systematic uncertainties on the deep learning model.

Experience and familiarity with Python is required.

8. Quantum Coherent Control

Contact: V. Milner | Email: vmilner@phas.ubc.ca | Web: http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca/

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecular "super-rotors" and their interaction with quantum media, such as helium nanodroplets or ultracold plasmas. Super-rotors are extremely fast rotating molecules produced in our laboratory (and not available anywhere else!) using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been already shown by our group in the last five years, but many more await discovery.

In the summer of 2023, the USRA student will help a senior PhD student with an ongoing experiment on the laser centrifugation of molecules captured by the beam of helium nanodroplets. For specific tasks and projects, please contact Dr. Milner at vmilner@phas.ubc.ca.

9. Magnetic Resonance with Non-Aqueous and Water Protons in the Brain

Contacts: Alex Mackay & Carl Michal | Email: mackay@phas.ubc.ca & michal@phas.ubc.ca                                                               Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/alex-mackay & https://phas.ubc.ca/~michal/

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is heavily used in medicine because it produces images with high contrast between different soft tissue types and between healthy and pathological tissue.

The physical mechanisms which determine this exquisite tissue contrast are still not clearly understood. MR images from the brain are generated from signals coming from hydrogen nuclei in water in the brain; however, the signal from the water protons are influenced by interactions between water and non-aqueous protons attached to lipids and proteins. The proposed project will involve in vitro and ex vivo NMR experiments designed to enable us to better understand the interactions between non-aqueous protons and water protons in the brain. Having a clearer understanding of these interactions may enable us to extract more specific and quantitative information about brain microstructure using MRI.

10. Moire effects in 2D quantum materials

Contacts: Ziliang Ye | Email: zlye@phas.ubc.ca | Web: http://ye.physics.ubc.ca 

MoS2 is a 2D quantum material exhibiting a series of fascinating optical properties such as direct bandgap at Brillouin zone corners, optically accessible valley degree of freedom, and strong excitonic effects. Recently, these new properties are found to be modifiable by making heterostructures with other 2D quantum materials, where electronic and optical properties can be altered on the nanometer scale by forming so-called Moire superlattices. As a result, a range of exotic phases including Mott insulator and unconventional superconductor arise out of such an emergent order. This summer, we would like to invite students interested in experiencing experimental condensed matter research to join us to study the emerging property of the Moire superlattice formed by twisted 2D materials. The intern will have the opportunity to learn hands-on skills of making high-quality heterostructures as well as advanced optical spectroscopy and data analysis techniques.

11. Improving the Performance of the Advanced LIGO Gravitational Wave Detectors

Contacts: Jess McIver & Raymond Ng | Email: mciver@phas.ubc.ca and rng@cs.ubc.ca | Web: https://gravitational-waves/phas.ubc.ca

Gravitational-wave detector data, including the LIGO detectors, contains a high rate of instrumental artifacts that mask or mimic true astrophysical gravitational wave (GW) signals. This project will characterize noise sources in the Advanced LIGO detectors with the goal of reducing the number of 'false alarm' GW candidates and improving the reach of GW searches for the next observing run. Students will work with a team of physicists and data scientists, and gain transferable skills in data visualization, Python programming, gravitational-wave astrophysics, large-scale physics experimental instrumentation, and potentially machine learning (if desired). Familiarity with Python is preferred.

Find out more about the UBC LIGO Group and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

12. Satellite Observations for the Protection of the Dark Sky 

Contact: Aaron Boley | Email: aaron.boley@ubc.ca | Web: acboley | UBC Physics & Astronomy

Large constellations of satellites are poised to cause major interference with astronomy. Astronomers are engaged in discussions with governments and industry to identify mitigations for existing interference and to establish paths toward minimizing interference by future satellite constellations. As part of this effort, observations of so-called megaconstellation satellites and large debris are needed in astronomical observing bands to establish the brightness distribution of satellites and their variability, as well as to assess the effectiveness of mitigations. Such observations are further needed to emphasize the different ways that satellites will impact astronomy.

This project will observe megaconstellation satellites and large debris in different observing bands and assess their brightness range. The project will further compare the results with satellite brightness modelling and assess intrinsic variability.

13. Orbital Evolution of Hot Jupiters

Contact: Aaron Boley | Email: aaron.boley@ubc.ca | Web: acboley | UBC Physics & Astronomy

Planet-planet and planet-star interactions create variations in the transit times of planets. Such variations are observable signatures of planetary orbital evolution and offer constraints on planet formation and planetary system models. So-called Hot Jupiters, which are giant planets that orbit their host star with periods ranging from days to about two weeks, may be particularly prone to tidal orbital decay. The decay leads to a decrease in the planet’s semi-major axis, and increase in its period, and quite possibly, the eventual destruction of the planet. 

This project will analyze citizen science data and archival data from national facilities to search for timing signatures of planetary orbital decay. 

14. A 2D Material Workstation to Stack Membranes for the Quantum Materials and Device Foundry.

Contact: Ke Zou | Email: kzou@phas.ubc.ca | Web: kzou | UBC Physics & Astronomy

The student would work with an integrated nanofabrication workstation, based on a precision inert-atmosphere glovebox with a computer-controlled microscope interfaced to our existing molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) systems in the Quantum Materials and Devices Foundry (QMDF), part of the Quantum Materials Institute (QMI) at UBC. MBE, used widely both in research and industry, is the most advanced technique for thin-film growth because it can provide atomic-level control of new crystalline phases of materials. Because MBE can produce layered phases of quantum materials not possible by any other method, this workstation promises the fabrication of previously unavailable freestanding two-dimensional (2D) membranes that possess new and unexpected electronic properties, providing highly valuable samples to a large number of groups at QMI and other institutes. 

15. Charting the Growth of Galaxies

Contact: Allison Man | Email: aman@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/allison-man

Galaxies evolve on astronomical timescales of millions or even billions of years. The study of galaxy evolution is therefore based on inferring connections between various galaxy populations across cosmic time. This requires knowledge of galaxy properties, such as distances, sizes, masses, ages, and star formation rates. The student will learn now to extract such information from galaxy images and spectra. Driven by the student's interest, the project will tackle these important scientific questions: What triggers or shuts down star formation in galaxies? How do active supermassive black holes influence star formation of their host galaxies? What happens to galaxies when they collide with each other?

The student will apply their Python computing skills to handle large datasets and images, to visualize and to present findings. These skills are relevant for a variety of projects in astronomy, other research disciplines and beyond academia.

Experience with Python programming is required. Knowledge of physics, astronomy, statistics, data analysis, LaTeX and Git will be considered a plus. The ideal candidate will have taken at least one ASTR course at the 200-level and above.

16. Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research

Contact: Sarah Burke & Doug Bonn | Email: saburke@phas.ubc.ca; bonn@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://lair.phas.ubc.ca 

The "Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research" run by profs Burke and Bonn offers projects focused on design, analysis and experiment in atomic scale characterization of the structure and electronic states, of surfaces, molecules, and quantum materials by scanning probe microscopy. Interested students may wish to reach out to discuss particular interests. 

17. Single-molecule investigations of competition among DNA secondary structures and consequences for biomolecular interactions

Contact: Sabrina Leslie | Email: leslielab@msl.ubc.ca | Web: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

DNA, as a long, double-stranded polymer, can take on a variety of secondary structures. Several of these structures can be induced by DNA supercoiling – how twisted the DNA is compared to its relaxed state. The total amount of supercoiling in a DNA molecule is fixed, so when there are multiple sites within a single molecule susceptible to secondary structures, the sites will compete among each other to form. 
In this project, the student will study the competition among secondary structures in a DNA molecule and compare their results to predictions from a statistical mechanics model. The student will learn how to genetically modify DNA in order to introduce new structures, and study the presence of structures using molecular biology and single-molecule microscopy techniques. Specifically, she will study the competition between two ‘unwinding sites’, regions of DNA that become single-stranded when subject to negative supercoiling.

The student will receive hands-on training and guidance from the Leslie Biophysics Research Group, including day-to-day guidance from a senior graduate student in the lab, regular meetings with the research team and principal investigator, and surrounding interdisciplinary environment at the Michael Smith Labs. Through the course of the summer, the student will hone her oral communication skills through opportunities to present at group meetings and interact at local events such as the SBME and Michael Smith Labs Summer Poster Fairs. 

18. Single-molecule microscopy of oligo-oligo and oligo-enzyme kinetics

Contact: Sabrina Leslie | Email: leslielab@msl.ubc.ca | Website: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics is an emerging technology capable of altering mRNA expression by targeted cleaving via RNase H1. The molecular mechanisms and interactions by which this process works are not well understood, and secondary structures of the ASO and/or RNA target can have a strong impact on the interaction rates. In this research project, the student will use fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (FLCS) to detect and measure oligo-oligo and oligo-enzyme reactions, and write data analysis code in MATLAB to quantify kinetic rates from microscopy data.

The student will receive training in single-molecule fluorescence microscopy and quantitative FLCS analysis and will work closely with a research fellow in the lab. Weekly meetings with the Leslie biophysics team, and daily interactions with members of our interdisciplinary colleagues in the Michael Smith Labs, will support and guide the researcher’s training and development. In addition to gaining hands-on research experience, anticipated outcomes of this summer research project include oral presentations for lab members and poster presentations at the Michael Smith Labs Summer Poster Fairs and SBME Summer Poster Fairs, providing key training in written and oral communication.

This project is ideally suited to an undergraduate student in the UBC Biophysics program who is interested in continuing towards a senior thesis with the Leslie Lab the following year.

19. Single-particle microscopy of mRNA lipid nanoparticle complexes

Contact: Sabrina Leslie | Email: leslielab@msl.ubc.ca | Web: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

Nanoparticles are increasingly used in pharmaceutical applications. This research project will use single-particle confinement microscopy to investigate the biophysical properties, stoichiometry and kinetics of nanoparticle assemblies and their interactions. This technique entraps particles in femto-liter reaction wells and allows prolonged monitoring of reactions. It also enables direct visualization of interactions between chemical species and nanoparticles.

For this project, the student will perform single-particle experiments to investigate and quantify probe-nanoparticle interactions. For example, particle tracking algorithms can be used to extract valuable information such as diffusion coefficients and fusion kinetics. This project is best suited for engineering physics students with an interest in computer science and biology since we will be applying physical tools to understand out data.

The student will receive training in quantitative image analysis as well as hands-on microscopy and will work closely with a research fellow and graduate student. Weekly meetings with the supervisor and collaborators, and daily interactions with members of our interdisciplinary research group including the nanomedicine network, will support and guide the project. In addition to gaining hands-on research experience, anticipated outcomes of this summer research project include virtual presentations with lab members, providing key training in writing and oral communication.
 

20. Particle Physics research with the DarkLight Collaboration at TRIUMF

Contact: Prof. Michael Hasinoff | Email: hasinoff@physics.ubc.ca | Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/michael-hasinoff
               Dr. Katherine Pachal     | Email: kpachal@triumf.ca             | Web: http://darklightariel.mit.edu

We are preparing a new experiment at the TRIUMF/ARIEL e-linac accelerator to search for a possible new particle that could be the mediator of a new short range 5th force in Particle Physics. The student will participate in measurements of the timing and energy response of a prototype scintillation counter using a solid state PMT. She/He will learn to use the sophisticated CERN data analysis program ROOT as well as hone their skills in both C++ and Python based analysis. All the work will take place at TRIUMF and the student will be able to participate in all the activities planned for the other ~30 Co-op/USRA students working at TRIUMF.

21. High Throughput Solid State Synthesis for Machine Learning Applications

Contact: Alannah Hallas | Email: hallas@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://qmi.ubc.ca/

The ultimate goal of this research project will be to generate a robust data set that will ultimately be used for machine learning.

High entropy oxides (HEOs) are a topic that have generated significant excitement in the fields of chemistry, physics, and materials science following their first report in 2015. The reason for this excitement is that HEOs, with their deliberately high configurational disorder due to the combination of many elements sharing a single crystal lattice, are a fundamentally new platform for engineering materials with tailored properties. The high configurational entropy in these materials allows new phases to be stabilized and imbues them with enhanced structural stability, a necessary characteristic for a wide-range of applications.

Recent work from the Hallas group, has led to the discovery of a highly tunable family of magnetic HEOs with the spinel crystal structure. The materials under investigation in this work are composed of six elements (Cr,Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Ga)3O4 and by tuning the concentration of only one element over a narrow range we were able to show remarkable tunability in the magnetic properties. However, due to the site selectivity of the spinel structure, these properties vary in a non-systematic manner, making the prediction of a compound with  targeted properties intractable by conventional theoretical methods. Furthermore, thoroughly surveying the phase space of different ratios of six elements is also experimentally intractable due to the millions of possible combinations. This is therefore an ideal problem for a machine learning approach.

This project will unfold in two stages. The summer research position offered here is related to the first stage, which is the development of a robust training data set to be used as an input for machine learning. Two summer students will be hired to work on this task. They will randomly survey 200+ compositions to experimentally assess their magnetic properties. This will involve developing an experimental protocol and methodology using a microwave synthesis method. The protocol will be iteratively optimized for high throughput sample preparation without compromising sample quality. Sample quality will then be assessed using x-ray diffraction. A protocol for measuring the magnetic properties will also be developed.  The output from this project will be a training data set that will be used to perform the first proof-of-principle machine learning study to predict the composition of a material with targeted magnetic properties, an experimentally intractable problem. Summer students will have the opportunity to participate in the machine learning component of the project towards the end of the work term.
 

22. Atomistic Calculations of High Entropy Oxides

Contact: Prof. Joerg Rottler, Prof. Alannah Hallas, Dr. Solveig Aamlid | Email: solveig.aamlid@ubc.ca

Web: https://qmi.ubc.ca/research/atomistic-approach-disordered-materials/

High entropy oxides are a novel class of materials that find promising applications in energy conversion and storage, thermoelectric devices, and catalysis. In these crystals, up to five elements share one crystallographic site, which leads to properties that are vastly different from their simpler building blocks. However, predicting the phase stability and crystal structure of such materials is challenging. One approach to solve this problem is to use density functional theory (DFT) to calculate pairwise interaction parameters and further use those parameters in Monte Carlo simulations.

In this USRA project based at the Quantum Matter Institute, the student will help identify relevant elements and crystal structures for high entropy materials, run and optimize calculations of the chosen combinations, and evaluate the results to guide the synthesis of new materials. The student will receive training in computational methods that are commonly used in solid state physics. Good knowledge of computational methods, ideally some experience with Python/Matlab/Unix OS would be very helpful.

23. Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Contact: Shannon Kolind | Email: shannon.kolind@ubc.ca | Web: kolind | UBC Physics & Astronomy 

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is far more reproducible and interpretable than conventional qualitative MRI. Our lab works to develop advanced MRI techniques specific to various biological components of the brain and spinal cord, such as myelin, axons, or inflammatory cells. These techniques are extremely important in the study of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

The goal of this summer project is to help develop and validate novel markers of disease progression based on conventional and quantitative MRI data, collected as part of a nation-wide study that aims to improve our understanding of disease progression for Canadians living with MS. This huge dataset provides a unique opportunity for creative application of image normalization, de-noising, machine learning, template creation, and other data analysis techniques. The student will also help with a related project, mapping characteristics of the healthy human brain based on quantitative MRI data. We are looking for a highly driven and motivated student who is keen to learn about and develop these widely applicable skills.

2022 USRA Projects

(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. Quantum Coherent Control

Contact: V. Milner | Email: vmilner@phas.ubc.ca | Web: http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca/

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecular "super-rotors" and their interaction with quantum media, such as helium nanodroplets or ultracold plasmas. Super-rotors are extremely fast rotating molecules produced in our laboratory (and not available anywhere else!) using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been already shown by our group in the last five years, but many more await discovery.

In the summer of 2022, the USRA student will help a senior PhD student with an ongoing experiment on the laser centrifugation of molecules captured by the beam of helium nanodroplets. For specific tasks and projects, please contact Dr. Milner at vmilner@phas.ubc.ca.

2. Charting the Growth of Galaxies

Contact: Allison Man | Email: aman@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/allison-man

Galaxies evolve on astronomical timescales of millions or even billions of years. The study of galaxy evolution is therefore based on inferring connections between various galaxy populations across cosmic time. This requires knowledge of galaxy properties, such as distances, sizes, masses, ages, and star formation rates. The student will learn now to extract such information from galaxy images and spectra. Driven by the student's interest, the project will tackle these important scientific questions: What triggers or shuts down star formation in galaxies? How do active supermassive black holes influence star formation of their host galaxies? What happens to galaxies when they collide with each other?

The student will apply their Python computing skills to handle large datasets and images, to visualize and to present findings. These skills are relevant for a variety of projects in astronomy, other research disciplines and beyond academia. Experience with Python programming is required. Knowledge of physics, astronomy, statistics, data analysis, LaTeX and Git will be considered a plus.

3. Atomistic Calculations of High Entropy Oxides

Contact: Prof. Joerg Rottler, Prof. Alannah Hallas, Dr. Solveig Aamlid | Email: solveig.aamlid@ubc.ca                                             Web: https://qmi.ubc.ca/research/atomistic-approach-disordered-materials/

High entropy oxides are a novel class of materials that find promising applications in energy conversion and storage, thermoelectric devices, and catalysis. In these crystals, up to five elements share one crystallographic site, which leads to properties that are vastly different from their simpler building blocks. However, predicting the phase stability and crystal structure of such materials is challenging. One approach to solve this problem is to use density functional theory (DFT) to calculate pairwise interaction parameters and further use those parameters in Monte Carlo simulations.

In this USRA project based at the Quantum Matter Institute, the student will help identify relevant elements and crystal structures for high entropy materials, run and optimize calculations of the chosen combinations, and evaluate the results to guide the synthesis of new materials. The student will receive training in computational methods that are commonly used in solid state physics. Good knowledge of computational methods, ideally some experience with Python/Matlab/Unix OS would be very helpful.

4. Lithium High Entropy Oxides for Battery Applications

Contact: Prof. Alannah Hallas, Dr. Mohamed Oudah | Email: mohamed.oudah@ubc.ca                                                                        Web: https://qmi.ubc.ca/research/atomistic-approach-disordered-materials/

High entropy oxides (HEOs) are a novel class of materials where atomic disorder leads to promising properties for applications including energy conversion and storage. The class of Li-based HEO's, where Li-ions can move in a disordered oxide lattice containing 5 or more transition metals, have potential for battery applications. Preliminary studies have shown that the Li-ion conductivity in these materials is directly related to the level of disorder and the Li content. Studying the effects of varying the ratios of transition metals and Li content on ionic conductivity can set these materials up for battery applications in the future.

In this USRA project based at the Quantum Matter Institute, the student will help synthesize Li-HEO's, characterize their crystal structure, and study the electrical/ionic conductivity of synthesized samples. The student will receive training in solid-state synthesis techniques, as well as commonly used techniques in solid state physics, such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and conductivity measurements. Prior knowledge of synthesis techniques and diffraction or completed course work in solid state physics is an asset.

5. Magic Angle in Twisted van der Waals Heterostructures

Contact: Ziliang Ye | Email: zlye@phas.ubc.ca                                                                                                                                                  Web: https://qmi.ubc.ca/research/engineering-exotic-phases-in-2d-materials/

Starting from the discovery of graphene, highly anisotropic bonds in van der Waals crystal allows us to prepare a variety of mechanically stable monolayers with only one or a few atoms in thickness. In many cases, these two-dimensional materials exhibit exotic physical properties distinct from bulk counterparts, including but not limited to relativistic particles like electrons following Dirac equation, gate-tunable Ising superconductivity, and exitons with valley degree of freedom, which enables new potentials in novel electronic and optoelectronic device application. More excitingly, these monolayers are robust to be manipulated and stacked together precisely, forming so-called van der Waals heterostructures, which opens a door to almost unlimited opportunities for new physics discovery. Recently, it has been found that unconventional superconductivity can emerge when two layers of graphene are stacked together with a small twist of 'magic' angle. It can be envisioned such a phenomenon should not be unique to the bilayer graphene.

This summer, we welcome undergraduates to join our effort to explore this direction in low-dimensional quantum materials. Students will be exposed to a range of state-of-the-art experimental techniques from 2D materials preparation to van der Waals heterostructure fabrication to nearfield optical characterization.

6. Looking for New Physics with ATLAS Precision Measurements

Contact: Alison Lister | Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

Q: How do we learn something about new physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) without measuring it directly? A: We look for its impact on things we can measure! The UBC ATLAS group is working to constrain new physics using precision measurements of Standard Model particles. Different hypothetical BSM particles can cause subtle changes to what we see in the detector. By putting together these measurements we can look for any anomalies that could hint at new physics.

The student will work on translating individual measurements into a combined framework, and optimizing variables to maximize sensitivity. See more information about ATLAS and new physics here.

7. Constructing Silicon Inner Tracker (ITk) for ATLAS Detector Upgrade

Contact: Alison Lister | Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://atlas.cern/

The UBC ATLAS group is among several institutions around the world participating in the construction of the new, all silicon, Inner Tracker (ITk) for the upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at CERN. Each module of the silicon strip tracker must undergo a series of thermal and electrical quality control measurements before they are installed in the ATLAS detector. Here at UBC, we are performing these critical tests in our newly commissioned cleanroom.

The student will work on building and improving the test setup, optimizing and automating the testing procedure, and analyzing and presenting the results from electrical tests to the wider ATLAS community. See more information about the ATLAS silicon Inner Tracker here.

8. Deep Learning with ATLAS

Contact: Alison Lister | Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca

The ATLAS UBC Group is developing new deep learning techniques for both signal vs. background classification problems as well as inference problems (given what we see in our detector, what are the most likely properties of the particles that produce that signature). The students will work on further improvements of the method as well as develop techniques for mitigation of the impact of the systematic uncertainties on the deep learning model.

Experience and familiarity with Python is required.

9. Multi-Task Deep Learning for Segmentation and Outcome Prediction in PET/CT Images of Cancer Patients

Contact: Arman Rahmim | Email: arman.rahmim@ubc.ca | Web: http://qurit.ca

Outline of Research Project:

We aim, in our multidisciplinary lab, to perform advanced image analysis on PET and PET/CT images to improve and simplify diagnosis, cancer staging, therapy response assessment and prediction of outcome for cancer patients, in close collaboration with nuclear medicine physicians. Thorough analyses on medical images, leading to the field of radiomics, often rely on accurate segmentations of tumors; meanwhile, a fully automated segmentation step is a bottleneck for applying radiomics studies on large datasets.

Deep learning especially via Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) has enabled improved performance in different medical imaging tasks. In particular, improved outcome prediction for cancer patients can enable better personalization of therapies, though it has been less frequently considered via CNNs since they were not as efficient compared to alternative non-deep-learning frameworks. The deep features learned by (convolutional) layers of CNNs for tumor segmentation (i.e., U-net) have the potential to guide the outcome prediction network by exploiting the scarce and precious radiomics features. We aim to evaluate this potential by suggesting and evaluating the models for simultaneous tumor segmentation and outcome prediction from PET/CT images of patients with different cancers.

Our proposed plan at the Quantitative Radiomolecular Imaging & Therapy (Qurit) lab (Qurit.ca) is to develop multi-task learning approaches for segmentation and outcome prediction in parallel. This innovative idea has only once been applied to PET/CT radiomics and we aim to propose different multi-task frameworks. Studies have shown that multi-task learning, when the tasks are related, could improve the efficiency of the individual tasks. In other words, the deep features that are learned for segmenting tumor regions and the relevant features from tumor regions in outcome prediction can co-facilitate learning. We aim to develop and validate such deep learning frameworks for the analysis of PET/CT images of cancer patients.

The Student's Role:

After joining Qurit lab, the student will gain familiarity with AI-based techniques including deep learning approaches especially for segmentation and outcome prediction by studying reading material and test data provided by Qurit lab, and with the help of the post-doctoral researchers and PhD students in the lab. In the next step, sub-projects that the student is supposed to work on (in collaboration with other lab members) will be refined adaptively based on student capabilities and interests. The main part of the student's project is to provide help to develop and improve the deep models for simultaneous segmentation and outcome prediction. The student will contribute to one or more clusters (research sub-groups within our lab for lymphoid, cervical, prostate and/or lung cancers) to evaluate the capability of the developed multi-task models in different cancers. The student will experience an exciting research program and may have the opportunity to participate in AI competitions and/or conference/journal works by team members.

The trainee will be (i) mentored on a daily/weekly basis, (ii) immersed in a multi-disciplinary environment, (iii) provided with in-depth understanding of recent developments in imaging & AI, and (iv) the opportunity to interact with our clinical and technical collaborators. The trainee will present and discuss research ideas to the team and respond to questions in a safe yet intellectually inspiring environment. The program will also emphasize the trainee's communication skills, a strong area of mentorship in our lab.

10. Analyzing Molecular Dynamics with Graph Neural Networks

Contact: Prof. Joerg Rottler (Physics), Prof. Chad Sinclair (Materials Engineering) | Email: jrottler@physics.ubc.ca

This projects explores the application of a novel machine learning technique based on graph neural networks for the analysis of atomic trajectories obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The network is trained to construct a so-called Markov state model, a low dimensional representation of the dynamics that captures the slowest processes in the material and provides insight into the structural features that govern them. Our groups have previously developed applications for crystals with interfaces, grain boundaries, and simple models of disordered solids (glasses). The goal of this project is to further extend this method by considering nanostructured materials, network glasses, or amorphous metals under deformation.

Good computational skills and experience with programming in Python is required.

11. Statistics of CMB Polarization

Contact: Dr. Douglas Scott | Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/basic.html

The cosmic microwave background allows us to probe the Universe on the largest length scales possible. There are several hints or "anomalies" that may suggest modifications to physics on large scales or at very early times in the history of the Cosmos. In order to assess if such anomalies are real or just mild statistical excursions in the data, it is necessary to find new ways to probe the large-scale Universe. One such new probe is provided by sensitive measurements of CMB polarization, which comes from new modes in the early Universe. The latest maps of large-angle polarization have been provided by the Planck satellite. In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the cosmological signals and to test for deviations from statistical anisotropy. Additionally, it will be useful to assess the power of future (more sensitive) polarization measurement using simulations.

12. Deep Learning in Astronomy

Contact: Dr. Douglas Scott | Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott/basic.html

There are many data analysis problems in astronomy that are best approached using simple likelihood function methods. However, there are other questions (involving non-linear selection tasks, or pattern-matching in huge databases) that are more efficiently performed with "machine-learning" (ML) methods, such as neural networks. One downside to the use of ML approaches is that it is often difficult to determine robust uncertainties on derived parameters. Another unresolved issue is how to combine traditional and ML methods in tasks that use both approaches for different parts. We will investigate these topics by looking at the use of ML in astronomy, combining data at multiple wavelengths to identify and categorize distant galaxies and assess their statistical properties.

13. Gravitational Wave Astronomy with LISA

Contacts: Jess McIver & Scott Oser | Email: mciver@phas.ubc.ca and oser@phas.ubc.ca

LISA is a proposed spaced-based gravitational wave detector that will consist of three spacecraft flying in an equilateral triangular configuration with a side length of 2.5 million kilometers. Each spacecraft shines a laser at the other two, and all three measure the interference between incoming and outgoing beams of light. These interferometric measurements will allow LISA to measure the minuscule modulation of the separation distances between spacecraft caused by gravitational waves produced by distant sources such as massive black holes, binary star systems, or even the aftermath of the Big Bang itself. We will examine analysis techniques for how LISA can extract the gravitational wave signal from noise contributions, with a focus on signal and noise modeling. Familiarity with Python and/or C++ is strongly preferred.

14. Improving the Performance of the Advanced LIGO Gravitational Wave Detectors

Contacts: Jess McIver & Raymond Ng | Email: mciver@phas.ubc.ca and rng@cs.ubc.ca                                                                    Web: https://gravitational-waves/phas.ubc.ca

Gravitational-wave detector data, including the LIGO detectors, contains a high rate of instrumental artifacts that mask or mimic true astrophysical gravitational wave (GW) signals. This project will characterize noise sources in the Advanced LIGO detectors with the goal of reducing the number of 'false alarm' GW candidates and improving the reach of GW searches for the next observing run. Students will work with a team of physicists and data scientists, and gain transferable skills in data visualization, Python programming, gravitational-wave astrophysics, and large-scale physics experimental instrumentation. Familiarity with Python is preferred.

Learn more about the UBC LIGO Group here and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration here.

15. CHIME telescope: options for Pulsar and/or FRB projects

Contact: Ingrid Stairs | Email: stairs@astro.ubc.ca

This summer project will entail Pulsar and/or FRB work with the CHIME telescope: in particular, looking at slow pulsars to measure diffractive scintillation properties as a function of frequency; CHIME's wide fractional bandwidth could allow new probes of the predicted scaling of this phenomenon. Also, this project can include an investigation of wideband profile changes in these pulsars and comparison to narrowband literature measurements and conclusions. FRB projects could involve, for example, interference-excision improvements and testing.

For more information about the CHIME telescope, see here.

16. Orbital Infrastructure Resilience after Anti-Satellite Weapon Tests

Contact: Aaron Boley | Email: acboley@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.aaronboley.com/

Debris-generating anti-satellite weapon tests create impulsive injections of trackable and lethal, non-trackable debris into the orbital environment. This debris endangers orbital infrastructure and crewed space exploration through increased risks of high speed impacts. Subsequent on-orbit collisions could lead to further fragmentation events with the potential to cause dramatic changes to the debris environment in time. The industrialization of Earth's orbit through the construction of large satellite constellations (so-called "megaconstellations") is expected to greatly increase the risk of chained fragmentation events following sudden injections of debris.

This project will use the rate equation approximation to explore the evolution and health of orbital infrastructure following a large debris-generating event, envisaged to take place in a megaconstellation environment. The debris generating event will be modelled after recent direct-ascent anti-satellite weapons tests, such as the Indian 2019 and Russian 2021 tests.

17. Observations of Satellites in Astronomical Bands

Contact: Aaron Boley | Email: acboley@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://www.aaronboley.com/

Large constellations of satellites are poised to cause major interference with astronomy. Astronomers are engaged in discussions with governments and industry to identify mitigations for existing interference and to establish paths toward minimizing interference by future satellite constellations. As part of this effort, observations of so-called megaconstellation satellites are needed in astronomical observing bands to establish the brightness distribution of satellites and their variability, as well as to assess the effectiveness of mitigations. Such observations are further needed to emphasize the different ways that satellites will impact astronomy.

This project will observe megaconstellation satellites in different observing bands and assess their brightness range. The project will further compare the results with satellite brightness modelling and assess intrinsic variability.

18. Magnetic Resonance with Non-Aqueous and Water Protons in the Brain

Contacts: Alex Mackay & Carl Michal | Email: mackay@phas.ubc.ca & michal@phas.ubc.ca                                                               Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/alex-mackay & https://phas.ubc.ca/~michal/

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is heavily used in medicine because it produces images with high contrast between different soft tissue types and between healthy and pathological tissue.

The physical mechanisms which determine this exquisite tissue contrast are still not clearly understood. MR images from the brain are generated from signals coming from hydrogen nuclei in water in the brain; however, the signal from the water protons are influenced by interactions between water and non-aqueous protons attached to lipids and proteins. The proposed project will involve in vitro and ex vivo NMR experiments designed to enable us to better understand the interactions between non-aqueous protons and water protons in the brain. Having a clearer understanding of these interactions may enable us to extract more specific and quantitative information about brain microstructure using MRI.

19. Single-Molecule Microscopy of DNA-Enzyme Reactions in Confinement

Contact: Sabrina Leslie | Email: leslielab@msl.ubc.ca | Web: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

In this research project, the student will use single-molecule Convex Lens-induced Confinement (CLiC) fluorescence microscopy to visualize interactions between DNA and enzyme molecules in confinement. The student will learn and extend image analysis code to quantify interaction kinetics such as binding and unbinding rates from the microscopy data. This research will shed new insight into DNA and enzyme interactions as a function of biophysical variables such as structure, sequence, temperature, and solution conditions.

The student will receive training in single-molecule CLiC fluorescence microscopy and quantitative image analysis and will work closely with a research fellow. Weekly meetings with the supervisor and collaborators, and daily interactions with members of our interdisciplinary research group will support and guide the project. In addition to gaining hands-on experience, anticipated outcomes of this summer research project include virtual presentations with lab members, providing key training in writing and oral communication. The student will also participate in summer research symposia gaining perspective in the fields of biophysics, biotechnology and genetic medicine.

There are two student positions available for this project.

20. High Throughput Testing of Coating Mechanical Loss for Advanced LIGO

Contact: Jeff Young | Email: young@phas.ubc.ca | Web: https://qmi.ubc.ca/team-member/jeff-young/

Researchers at UBC's Steward Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (SBQMI) are investigating low-mechanical loss (i.e., low noise), high-refractive index thin-film coatings for use in future generations of gravitational wave (GW) detectors, such as LIGO. These coatings are required to increase the sensitivity of GW detectors, allowing observation of more GW events per run, and of GW events from further away.

In our group, we are using micrometer scale devices to test candidate low-loss thin-film coatings. Specifically, we deposit the thin film of interest onto microresonators fabricated from silicon-on-insulator wafers. With this approach, we can fabricate hundreds of microdisks per chip and coat them with this films whose composition varies across the chip, enabling high throughput testing of many different thin film candidate materials. To measure the mechanical loss, a ringdown technique is utilized where the microdisks are tested in a vacuum to avoid excess air damping. Future studies will also focus on characterizing these films in a cryogenic environment.

Topics that a student could contribute to include: (1) investigating alternative resonator geometries to access lower mechanical frequencies; (2) contributing to the design of a cryogenic vacuum chamber by developing a parts list and creating CAD layouts; (3) investigating optical measurement strategies compatible with our microresonator devices.

21. Optical Cavity Stabilization on the nm Scale Using DSP Audio Processors

Contact: David Jones | Email: djjones@phas.ubc.ca                                                                                                                                    Web: https://qmi.ubc.ca/team-member/david-jones/?team-category=investigators

The UBC Ultrafast Spectroscopy Laboratory uses a femtosecond enhancement cavity to generate photons for time and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Enhancement cavities are passive resonators that achieve very high optical power circulating in the resonator using a much weaker laser source as its input. This enhancement is accomplished through the constructive interference of many low power pulses from the incident laser. To achieve a significant enhancement of these laser pulses, the length of the optical cavity must be stabilized to the nanometer scale. A fast servo control loop is employed to guard from disturbances such as acoustic and mechanical vibrations.

We currently use analog servos for these servo loops (normally a proportional-integrator^2 configuration with adjustable corner frequencies). We'd like to develop a digital alternative to these analog electronics for higher performance and more flexibility. In this particular project, we want to leverage the DIY audiophile ecosystem that has built up a tremendous knowledge (and code) of configuring audio-based Digital Signal Processors to perform servo functionality. For hardware, we will use the Sigma DSP audio processor and for software SigmaStudio (a well-documented, graphical development tool using NET based framework with no need to learn VHDL).

Supported by us and online resources, your role would be to develop capability and know-how for programming these DSPs to serve as servos and test their performance using in-house network analyzers and a test-lock apparatus in the lab (likely locking a laser to an optical cavity).

22. Particle Physics research with the UBC-DarkLight Experiment at TRIUMF

Contact: Dr. Michael Hasinoff | Email: hasinoff@physics.ubc.ca | Web: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/michael-hasinoff

We are planning a new experiment at the TRIUMF/ARIEL e-linac accelerator to search for a possible X(17) particle that could be the mediator of a new short range 5th force in Particle Physics. The student will participate in measurements of the timing and energy response of a prototype scintillation counter using a solid state PMT. She/He will learn to use the sophisticated CERN data analysis program ROOT as well as the Monte Carlo program GEANT4. All the work will take place at TRIUMF and the student will be able to participate in all the activities planned for the other 30 Co-op/USRA students working at TRIUMF.

1) Deep Learning with ATLAS

Contact: Prof. Alison Lister    Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca

The ATLAS UBC group is developing new deep learning techniques for both signal vs background classification problems as well as inference problems (given what we see in our detector, what was the most-likely properties of the particles that produces that signature) The student will work on further improvements to the method as well as developing techniques for mitigation of the impact of the systematic uncertainties on the deep learning model. Experience and familiarity with python is required.     2) Quantum Coherent Control   Contact: V. Milner     Email: vmilner@phas.ubc.ca      Webpage: http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca/

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecular "super-rotors" and their interaction with quantum media, such as helium nanodroplets or ultracold plasmas. Super-rotors are extremely fast rotating molecules produced in our laboratory (and not available anywhere else!) using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been already shown by our group in the last five years, but many more await discovery.

In the summer of 2021, we will be working on a new experiment in which an optical centrifuge will be applied for the first time to molecules inside superfluid helium. The student's main role will be to participate in setting up and testing a recently purchased helium cryostat. The student will also help a senior group member with an ongoing experiment on the laser centrifugation of molecules captured by the beam of helium nanodroplets.

3) Charting the Growth of Galaxies

Contact: Allison Man      Email: aman@phas.ubc.ca      Webpage: https://phas.ubc.ca/users/allison-man   Galaxies evolve on astronomical timescales of millions or even billions of years. The study of galaxy evolution is therefore based on inferring connections between various galaxy populations across cosmic time. This requires knowledge of galaxy properties, such as distances, sizes, masses, ages, and star formation rates. The student will learn how to extract such information from galaxy images and spectra. Driven by the student's interest, the project will tackle these important scientific questions: What triggers or shuts down star formation in galaxies? How do active supermassive black holes influence star formation of their host galaxies? What happens to galaxies when they collide with each other?   The student will apply their Python computing skills to handle large datasets and images, to visualize and to present findings. These skills are relevant for a variety of projects in astronomy, other research disciplines and beyond academia.     4) Statistics of CMB Polarization   Contact: Douglas Scott      Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca   The cosmic microwave background allows us to probe the Universe on the largest length scales possible. There are several hints of "anomalies" that may suggest modifications to physics on large scales or at very early times in the history of the Cosmos. In order to assess if such anomalies are real or just mild statistical excursions in the data, it is necessary to find new ways to probe the large-scale Universe. One such new probe is provided by sensitive measurements of CMB polarization, which come from new modes in the early Universe. The latest maps of large-angle polarization have been provided by the Planck satellite. In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the cosmological signals and to test for deviations from statistical anisotropy. Additionally, it will be useful to assess the power of future (more sensitive) polarization measurement using simulations.     5) Deep Learning in Astronomy   Contact: Douglas Scott     Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca   There are many data analysis problems in astronomy that are best approached using simple likelihood function methods. However, there are other questions (involving non-linear selection tasks, or pattern-matching in huge databases) that are more efficiently performed with "machine-learning" (ML) methods, such as neural networks.  One downside to the use of ML approaches is that it is often difficult to determine robust uncertainties on derived parameters. Another unresolved issue is how to combine traditional and ML methods in tasks that use both approaches for different parts. We will investigate these topics by looking at the uses of ML in astronomy, combining data at multiple wavelengths to identify and categorize distant galaxies and assess their statistical properties.

6) Automated Tumor Detection from PET/CT Images of Cancer Patients

Contact: Arman Rahmim, PhD   Email: arman.rahmim@ubc.ca     Website: https://qurit.ca/

PET/CT images are used to quantify metabolic tumor activity,stage cancer, and assess treatment response and/or disease progression. Tumor detection from PET/CT images is an important first step to these ends. It is however challenging: PET images, though providing significant value as they enable metabolic and functional imaging, are prone to high noise levels and have lower resolution compared to the other modalities (CT and MRI images). Besides, relatively high radiotracer uptakes occurs in both normal and abnormal regions, resulting in approximately similar appearances in PET images.

Only a few solutions have been proposed for automatic tumor detection from PET/CT images, especially in scans of lymphoma patients with high disease burden and heterogeneity in shape, size, and uptake patterns of tumors.  Physicians mostly perform assessments of patients with lymphoma visually, which is a time-consuming task (30-45 minutes per patient) and prone to variability and errors. Our proposed efforts at the Quantitative Radiomolecular Imaging & Therapy (Qurit) lab (Qurit.ca) for automated lymph node detection can be largely separated into two categories within artificial intelligence (AI): 1) Automatic detection of normal regions using state-of-the-art and robust object detection methods, and 2) Unsupervised anomaly detection (utilizing deep learning methods).

The student’s project would involve assisting development of automated tumor detection methods from the above-mentioned categories to automatically localize a bounding box around tumors. These bounding boxes will be used as inputs for the subsequent steps (e.g. delineation of tumor boundaries) to achieve a fully automated, end-to-end assessment workflow composed of detection, segmentation, and quantification of tumors in collaboration with different ongoing efforts within Qurit lab.

7) Gaia Satellite: Exploring Properties of White Dwarf Stars

Contact: Harvey Richer     Email: richer@astro.ubc.ca     Website: http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/richer

For several years now my group has been exploiting data from the Gaia satellite which has provided positions, distances and proper motions of 1.5 billion stars in our Galaxy. In late November a third data release was made public by the European Space Agency (which runs the satellite). The summer student will use this new data set to explore properties of white dwarf stars and star clusters that contain these white dwarfs.    

8) Improving the performance of the Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors

Contact: Jess McIver     Email: McIver@phas.ubc.ca

Gravitational-wave detector data, including the LIGO detectors, often contains a high rate of instrumental artifacts that can mask or mimic true astrophysical GW signals. This project will characterize noise sources in the Advanced LIGO detectors with the goal of reducing the number of 'false alarm' GW candidates and improving the reach of GW searches for the next observing run. Students will gain transferable skills in data visualization, Python programming, gravitational-wave astrophysics, and large-scale physics experimental instrumentation.

9) Monitoring the performance of LISA: the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna   Contact: Jess McIver     Email: McIver@phas.ubc.ca   LISA is a space-based gravitational wave detector mission that is expected to launch in 2032. Before it does, we will need to develop key software to monitor the status of the LISA spacecraft and quality of LISA data. This project will develop time-series analysis methods to characterize LISA Pathfinder data and visualization methods to prototype monitoring software for the LISA mission. Students will gain transferable skills in data visualization, Python programming, and time-series analysis methods, including Fourier analysis.     10) Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)   Contact: Shannon Kolind    Email: shannon.kolind@ubc.ca  

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is far more reproducible and interpretable than conventional qualitative MRI. Our lab works to develop advanced MRI techniques specific to various biological components of the brain and spinal cord, such as mvelin axons, or inflammatory cells. These techniques are extremely important in the study of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The goal of this summer project is to help develop and validate novel markers of the disease progression based on conventional and quantitative MRI data. collected as part of a nation-wide study that aims to improve our understanding of disease progression for Canadians living with MS.

This huge dataset provides a unique opportunity for creative application of image normalization, de-noising, machine learning, template creation and other data analysis techniques. The student will also help with a related project, mapping characteristics of the healthy human brain based on quantitative MRI data. We are looking for a highly driven and motivated students who is keen to learn about and develop these widely applicable skills.

11) Outer Solar System Astronomy

Contact: Brett Gladman     Email: gladman@astro.ubc.ca

I have several projects related to observational astronomy of moving targets in the outer Solar System.This involves either data reduction or dynamical modelling of known detections, so there is some room for adaptation of the student's interests. A knowledge of planetary astronomy at the level of ASTR 407 will be required.

12) CHIME telescope: options for Pulsar and/or FTB projects

Contact: Ingrid Stairs     Email: stairs@astro.ubc.ca

Pulsar and/or FRB work with the CHIME telescope. In particular, looking at slow pulsars to measure diffractive scintillation properties as a function of frequency; CHIME’s wide fractional bandwidth could allow new probes of the predicted scaling of this phenomenon. Also investigation of wideband profile changes in these pulsars and comparison to narrowband literature measurements and conclusions. FRB projects could involve for example interference-excision improvements and testing.    

13) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with Non-Aqueous and Water Protons in the Brain   Contacts: Alex Mackay (Email: mackay@phas.ubc.ca) & Carl Michal (Email: michal@phas.ubc.ca)   Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is heavily used in medicine because it produces images with high contrast between different soft tissue types and between healthy and pathological tissue. However, the physical mechanisms which determine this exquisite tissue contrast are still not clearly understood. MR images from brain are generated from signals coming from hydrogen nuclei in water in the brain; however, the signal from the water protons are influenced by interactions between water and non-aqueous protons attached to lipids and proteins. The proposed project will involve in vitro and ex vivo NMR experiments designed to enable us to better understand the interactions between non-aqueous protons and water protons in brain. Having a clearer understanding of these interactions may enable us to extract more specific and quantitative information about brain microstructure using MRI.    

14) Simulating Polymers out of Equilibrium   Contact: Joerg Rottler     Email: jrottler@physics.ubc.ca   The Rottler group offers a USRA opportunity for students with an interest in computational materials physics. Projects could involve atomistic simulations of thermal transport in solid polymers or self-assembly of block copolymer films. Some programming knowledge (python/matlab/C/C++) is required.  

15) Computer Vision Analysis of Molecular Binding Assays

Contact: Sabrina Leslie     Email: leslielab@gmail.com     Website: https://leslielab.msl.ubc.ca/

Nanoparticles are increasingly used in pharmaceutical applications. This research project will use single-particle confinement microscopy to investigate the biophysical properties, stoichiometry and kinetics of nanoparticle assemblies and their interactions. This technique entraps particles in femto-liter reaction wells and allows prolonged monitoring of reactions. It also enables direct visualization of interactions between chemical species and nanoparticles.

For this project, the student will develop analysis approaches to quantify probe-nanoparticle interactions. For example, particle tracking algorithms can be used to extract valuable information such as binding/unbinding kinetics, encapsulation dynamics and adsorption kinetics. This project is best suited for physics students with an interest in computer science since we will be applying physical intuition to understand out data.

The student will receive training in quantitative image analysis (Matlab) and will work closely with a research fellow and graduate student. Weekly meetings with the supervisor and collaborators, and daily interactions with members of our interdisciplinary research group, will support and guide the project. In addition to gaining hands-on research experience, anticipated outcomes of this summer research project include virtual presentations with lab members, providing key training in writing and oral communication.

1. Molecular "Super-Rotors"

Contact: V. Milner ( vmilner@phas.ubc.ca ; webpage: http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ )

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecules and their interaction with classical and quantum environments, e.g. beams of light, external magnetic fields or ensembles of other molecules. We are currently actively investigating new exotic molecular objects – the so-called molecular "super-rotors", produced in our laboratory using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". The centrifuge spins up molecules to extremely fast rotational frequencies, inaccessible through any other means of rotational excitation. Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been already shown by our group in the last five years, but many more await discovery. In the summer of 2020, we will be working on the combination of super-rotation with superfluidity by laser-spinning molecules inside superfluid helium. This research is at the interface between molecular and solid state physics, with unique laser tool of an optical centrifuge.

2. Searching for Very Massive White Dwarf Stars with the Gaia Telescope

Contact: Prof. Harvey Richer  (richer@astro.ubc.ca)

Gaia is an astrometric telescope - that is one that does some very simple observations, such as measuring the position of a star, its distance and its motion. We have been using the extensive Gaia database of 1.3 billion stars to search for very massive white dwarfs in the direction of young star clusters. Thus far we have found 8 new massive white dwarfs, some of which are extremely interesting as their properties are quite unusual (e.g., high magnetic field, very massive, very hot). A prospective student can become involved in the search for new massive stars or projects related to various follow up observations.

3. Statistics of CMB Polarization

Contact: Douglas Scott (dscott@phas.ubc.ca)

The cosmic microwave background allows us to probe the Universe on the largest length scales possible.  There are several hints or "anomalies" that may suggest modifications to physics on large scales or at very early times in the history of the Cosmos.  In order to assess if such anomalies are real or just mild statistical excursions in the data, it is necessary to find new ways to probe the large-scale Universe.  One such new probe is provided by sensitive measurements of CMB polarization, which comes from new modes in the early Universe. The latest maps of large-angle polarization have been provided by the Planck satellite.  In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the cosmological signals and to test for deviations from statistical anisotropy. Additional, it will be useful to assess the power of future (more sensitive) polarization measurement using simulations.

4.  Deep Learning in Astronomy

Contact: Douglas Scott (dscott@phas.ubc.ca)

There are many data analysis problems in astronomy that are best approached using simple likelihood function methods. However, there are other questions (involving non-linear selection tasks, or pattern-matching in huge databases) that are more efficiently performed with "machine-leaning" (ML) methods, such as neural networks.  One downside to the use of ML
approaches is that it is often difficult to determine robust uncertainties on derived parameters.  Another unresolved issue is how to combine traditional and ML methods in tasks that use both approaches for different parts.  We will investigate these topics by looking at the use of ML in astronomy, combining data at multiple wavelengths to identify and categorize distant galaxies and assess their statistical properties.

5. Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Contact: Shannon Kolind (shannon.kolind@ubc.ca)

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is far more reproducible and interpretable than conventional qualitative MRI. Our lab works to develop advanced MRI techniques specific to various biological components of the brain and spinal cord, such as myelin, axons, or inflammatory cells. These techniques are extremely important in the study of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The goal of this summer project is to help develop and validate novel markers of disease progression based on conventional and quantitative MRI data, collected as part of a nation-wide study that aims to improve our understanding of disease progression for Canadians living with MS. This huge dataset provides a unique opportunity for creative application of image normalization, de-noising, machine learning, template creation, and other data analysis techniques. The student will also help with a related project, mapping characteristics of the healthy human brain based on quantitative MRI data. We are looking for a highly driven and motivated student who is keen to learn about and develop these widely applicable skills.

6. Research To Improve Clinical PET Imaging

Contact: Arman Rahmim, PhD (rahmimlah.com / arman.rahmim@ubc.ca)

Positron emission tomography (PET) scans offer valuable insight into cancer disease progression, and as a result can have a significant influence on the patient’s prognosis. Therefore, imaging phantoms (specially-designed objects with pre-determined radioactivity) are highly important for testing the performance of PET scanners. Conventional phantoms allow for reproducible evaluation of scanner characteristics (i.e. resolution), but do not offer insight into how these parameters translate into accurate tumour diagnosis.

To properly evaluate tumour detectability, we utilize a life-sized phantom that realistically models both the anatomy and the physiology observed within a PET scan. We place radioactive spheres into the phantom, allowing us to simulate inhomogeneous tumours. After conducting a PET scan of the phantom, we can extrapolate the detectability of tumours to clinically-relevant scenarios. For example, we can evaluate the question: are tumours harder to spot near “hot” regions of the body, such as the bladder?

The student’s project would involve assisting in further development, quantification, and analysis of our life-sized phantom experiments. This may include developing more realistic phantom components such as organ models, as well as helping to prepare the phantom for PET scans. The student would be heavily involved in PET image analysis in order to answer key research questions (e.g. what image contrast is necessary to spot a 3mm tumour). The student will also be exposed to advanced AI-based research in our lab, and have the opportunity to collaborate on these topics, in the context of advanced clinical PET image processing. 

7. Pseudospectral Methods of Solution of the Schroedinger and Fokker-Planck Equations

Contact: Bernie Shizgal (bshizgal@gmail.com)

The time dependent solution of a large class of Fokker-Planck equations for the distribution functions of electrons and/or reactive species can be obtained numerically with an efficient pseudospectral method defined with non-classical basis polynomials. The solutions are expressed in terms of the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of the linear Fokker-Planck equation. The Fokker-Planck eigenvalue problem is isospectral with the Schroedinger equation so that the pseudospactral methods developed can be applied to both eigenvalue problems. There are large number of quantum problems of current interest that involve the Yukawa, Wood-Saxon and Hulthen potentials.

There are well defined projects for 2-4 undergraduate summer students.

A publication on the Fokker-Planck equation with a previous undergraduate student was recently published and can be found at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2019.01.146

A publication on the Schroedinger equation with a previous undergraduate student was recently published and can be found at the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comptc.2019.01.001

The pseudospectral methods have been described in the book “Spectral Methods in Chemistry and Physics”, Springer 2015 - http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789401794534

8. Contrast Enhancement for White Matter Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Contact: Carl Michal (michal@physics.ubc.ca) and Alex Mackay (mackay@physics.ubc.ca)

We are working to optimize a recently developed technique aimed at measuring the distribution of myelin in brain tissue. Myelin is the fatty insulating layer surrounding nerve axons, and plays an important role in the propagation of nerve impulses. Degradation of myelin is associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Our goal is to improve the ability of MRI to characterize the health and distribution of myelin in vivo. For this project experiments will be primarily carried out on phantom samples using a laboratory nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer.

9. Stability and Evolution of Exoplanetary Systems

Contact: Aaron Boley (aaron.boley@ubc.ca)

The candidate is envisaged to run n-body simulations to assess conditions under which planet consolidation due to dynamical stability is plausible, as well as to develop a fragmentation module for an n-body code that can treat planet-planet collisions beyond perfect merger assumptions.  The latter is an important component for understanding mixing and material transport during planet building. Other projects may be available, related to planetary astronomy.

10. Commissioning and characterization of Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy instrument connected to Scanning Tunnelling Microscope

Contact: Sarah Burke (saburke@phas.ubc.ca)

The electronic bandstructure of a material dictates how its electrons behave and determines many properties of the material. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) uses the photoelectric effect to directly visualize the bandstructure, allowing physicists to better understand the behaviour of exotic materials such as superconductors and topological insulators. The student will calibrate and characterize our newly-commissioned ARPES instrument using samples such as Au(111)/mica and graphene. There may also be opportunities to study the iron-based superconductor Ca10Pt4As8(Fe2As2)5 and/or perform experiments using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), a complementary technique which allows atomically-resolved imaging of a sample. Familiarity with Fourier analysis and MATLAB would be beneficial for this project.

11. Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy in the Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research

Contact: Sarah Burke (saburke@phas.ubc.ca)

Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy, and related Scanning Probe Microscopy techniques allow for the visualization of surface structure and probing of electronic properties on the atomic scale. These powerful techniques provide a “bottom-up” view of materials properties and their relationship to local structure. The LAIR has ongoing projects spanning single-molecule optoelectronics to superconductivity and 2D materials. Undergraduate students have opportunities to pursue projects related to specific materials under study, instrumentation and technique development, and development of analysis tools. Please contact saburke@phas.ubc.ca  for more details.

12. Improving the performance of the Advanced LIGO detectors

Contact: Jess Mc Iver (mciver@phas.ubc.ca)

A major challenge in detecting gravitational waves (GWs) is that detector data often contains a high rate of instrumental artifacts that can mask or mimic true astrophysical signals. This project will characterize noise sources in the Advanced LIGO detectors with the goal of improving the reach of GW searches into deep space. Students will gain transferable skills in data visualization, python programming, and large-scale physics experiment instrumentation. 

    IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (ICL)

**Project List 2020 from Imperial College London - for UBC-V students going to ICL for two-month exchange:

Imperial College London International Student Research Project Opportunities (Summer 2020)

Note: UBC-V students will be spending two months (May - June) at UBC on another project and then go to ICL for exchange (July - Aug.).

For previous ICL Summer research projects, please see link below:

Imperial College London International Student Research Project Opportunities (Summer 2019)

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(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. Super-rotors

Contact: Dr. V. Milner (vmilner@phas.ubc.ca ; webpage: http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca /)

(Note: Dr. Milner might not have funding to confirm the hiring until April, so if you are interested in the project anyway, please list it as your 3rd choice)

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecules and their interaction with classical and quantum environments, e.g. beams of light, external magnetic fields or ensembles of other molecules. We are currently actively investigating new exotic molecular objects – the so-called molecular "super-rotors", produced in our laboratory using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". The centrifuge spins up molecules to extremely fast rotational frequencies, inaccessible through any other means of rotational excitation. Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been shown by our group in the last two years, but many more await discovery. In the summer of 2019, we will be working on: (1) the investigation of molecular super-rotors embedded in the quantum nano-droplets of superfluid helium; and (2) the prospect of creating chiral super-rotors, i.e. ultrafast spinning chiral molecules.

2. The Hyper-Kamiokande Experiment

Contact: Dr. Scott Oser (oser@phas.ubc.ca ) and Dr. Patrick de Perio (pdeperio@triumf.ca )

Neutrino oscillation is the only observed phenomenon beyond the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics and may potentially explain why we live in a matter- instead of antimatter-dominated universe. The Japan-based T2K and Super-Kamiokande (Super-K) experiments, and the future next-generation Hyper-Kamiokande (Hyper-K) experiment, are powerful tools for exploring neutrino oscillations, as well as other phenomena such as proton decay testing Grand Unified Theories, supernovae and other multi-messenger astronomical events, and dark matter. As part of the Hyper-K program, the NuPRISM (E61) near-detector aims to maximize the sensitivity on all topics.

The student will work with the UBC/TRIUMF neutrino group, and may choose from one or more of the following projects:

• The development and characterization of a new type of single photon detector for NuPRISM: a multi-photomultiplier tube (mPMT) module including an array of 3" PMTs inside a transparent pressure vessel with digitizing electronics. These tests involve operating a remote motor-controlled 3D gantry system equipped with lasers and monitor PMTs for characterizing the response of the mPMT, and analysis of the resulting data.
• Provide readout and commissioning for NuPRISM prototype electronics. The student would help characterize all aspects of the electronics and confirm that we have met the design requirements, including minimum timing and charge resolution, and limits on cost and power dissipation. FPGA experience would be helpful with the design of the electronics firmware.
• Development of a new machine/deep learning technique to exploit the higher resolution of the 3” PMTs compared to the traditional 20” PMTs in Super-K, for improving particle identification and event reconstruction performance.
• A precise knowledge of the relative positioning of all the PMTs in a detector is necessary to achieve accurate reconstruction of a particle’s energy and direction. The student will be involved in developing a photogrammetry technique with software that analyzes high-resolution photos of the inside of a detector. The technique can be tested in a lab setting in air, in the UBC swimming pool, and the Super-K detector, towards defining a photogrammetry program for the NuPRISM and Hyper-K detectors.
• The EMPHATIC hadron production experiment aims to directly measure the hadron­-nucleus interaction processes that produce neutrinos in the atmosphere or a neutrino beamline, to make precision neutrino flux predictions.

3. Quantum Optical Source Development

Contact: Dr. Jeff Young (young@phas.ubc.ca)

Our group is developing sources of single photons that can be generated on-demand within silicon photon circuits fabricated on silicon wafers similar to those used in the semiconductor chip industry.  These single photon sources will be used in conjunction with single photon detectors we have already developed, to carry out quantum information processing functions using optimal means of encoding and decoding the information.  The project will involve working with a number of sources and spectrometer systems to characterize the emission properties of impurity centres in silicon.

4. Machine Learning and Statistical Mechanics

Contact: Dr. Moshe Rozali

Machine learning shows much promise as a tool in analyzing many-body systems. For example, neural networks have been trained to identify the phases of simple spin chains. In turn, the effectiveness of such analyses is an important benchmark on the resources used by neural networks, shedding light on how neural networks store and process information. In the suggested project we will look at simple examples of neural networks performing physics computations. We will use these results to study the capacity of neural networks and the relationship with network architecture and depth.

5. CHIME

Contact - Mark Halpern and Gary Hinshaw    Email - halper@phas.ubc.ca, hinshaw@phas.ubc.ca

We are building a novel radio telescope designed to measure the recent dark energy-driven acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.  It is called CHIME, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity-Mapping Experiment and it consists of radio interferometers sitting along the focal lines of large cylindrical reflectors.  The instrument, which has no moving parts, will map half the sky as the Earth turns.

CHIME is fully assembled and the team is commissioning it and getting a first look at the data.  A student joining the team would help look at data and could also work at the site testing and optimizing aspects of instrument performance.  High performance computing skills and electronics skills would be assets.

6. CGEM

Contact - Mark Halpern and Gary Hinshaw    Email - halpern@phas.ubc.ca, hinshaw@phas.ubc.ca

Our group is starting to construct the Canadian Galactic Emission Mapper (CGEM) to map the northern sky at 10 GHz with ~0.5 degree angular resolution for the purposes of measuring the polarized synchrotron emission in our galaxy.  These data will be used to aid in modelling foreground emission for cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization studies, and for better understanding interstellar structure in the Milky Way.  The student will have the opportunity to develop CGEM hardware and/or software and some travel to the observatory site in Penticton BC will be possible. 

7. Evaluating the risks of human-induced asteroid impacts

Contact - Aaron Boley    Email - acboley@phas.ubc.ca

Asteroid mining is a near-future prospect for in situ resource utilization, scientific discovery, and a new space commerce.  While such resource extraction carries significant promise for expanding deep space activity, there are also considerable risks.  For example, extracting even a few percent of mass from an asteroid could alter its trajectory and lead to a human-induced asteroid impact.  The purpose of the proposed work is to evaluate which asteroids of interest would pose considerable mining risks and to determine to what extent limited extraction is possible.  The results will ultimately be used in collaboration with political scientists to construct a model international legal framework for space mining.

8. Plotkin Research Group

Contact: Steve Plotkin    Email: steve@phas.ubc.ca

Job Description:

My laboratory has recently undertaken a project in evolutionary developmental biology involving the origins of animal multicellularity. For this purpose, we are establishing a stable ctenophore system—a marine invertebrate phylogenetically placed to address this evolutionary question.

This position will expose the student to several aspects of the research program, including the animal husbandry involved in maintaining multiple generations of a non-model organism, as well as quantifying novel phenotypes in transgenic strains by microscopy.

The student will have the opportunity for co-authorship on publications arising from their work, and will have opportunities to present their findings at laboratory meetings and local conferences.

Requirements:

• We are looking for a highly-motivated, industrious, senior student for a 4- or 8-month work-term to assist with experiments designed to elucidate the genetic innovations occurring in early multicellular animals. The work term may be subject to extension upon mutual agreement of the student and supervisor.
• A background in embryology, physiology, cell biology, and/or molecular biology, as well as previous hands-on experience with embryos, micro-injection, molecular genetics, and animal husbandry are assets, but not necessary.
• This work term is ideally suited for senior students with some previous lab experience, who are potentially interested in pursuing further PhD graduate training in developmental biology research. The laboratory is a highly-interactive, diverse, dynamic, intellectual and social environment. Persistence, optimism, good communication skills, and a touch of humor will go a long way towards the student’s success.

9. Hubble Space Telescope

Contact: Dr. Harvey Richer (richer@astro.ubc.ca); Dr. Jeremy Heyl (heyl@phas.ubc.ca)

Project is to use Gaia and Hubble Space Telescope data to search for young and massive white dwarf stars. We are interested in the maximum mass of a white dwarf as this has implications for galactic evolution. Also on our list of interesting projects are white dwarfs with very high velocities which could have been ejected from the Milky Way galaxy via an interaction with a black hole.   10. 13P - 1H cross polarization magnetic resonance in brain tissue   Contact: Alex Mackay (mackay@phas.ubc.ca); Carl Michal (michal@phas.ubc.ca)   Our goal is to develop new magnetic resonance techniques for MRI that are based upon transferring nuclear spin polarization from phosphorus nuclei in lipid bilayers to nearby hydrogen, allowing phosphorus to be detected indirectly in an MRI scanner. Ultimately we wish to develop new contrast mechanisms that are sensitive to the quantity and quality of the myelin that insulates nerve axons in brain. In this project, our experiments will focus on model compounds, phantoms, and ex-vivo brain tissue to develop methods and evaluate the feasibility of a future in-vivo implementation.   11. Beta-NMR experiments   Contact: Rob Kiefl (kiefl@triumf.ca)   To characterize and study with beta-NMR experiments on ferroelectric properties of thin STO films. Please see project details here.   12.Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)   Contact: Shannon Kolind (shannon.kolind@ubc.ca)   Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is far more reproducible and interpretable than conventional qualitative MRI. Our lab works to develop advanced MRI techniques specific to various biological components of the brain and spinal cord, such as myelin, axons, or inflammatory cells. These techniques are extremely important in the study of neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The goal of this summer project is to help develop and validate novel markers of disease progression based on conventional and quantitative MRI data, collected as part of a nation-wide study that aims to improve our understanding of disease progression for Canadians living with MS. This huge dataset provides a unique opportunity for creative application of image normalization, de-noising, machine learning, template creation, and other data analysis techniques. The student will also help with a related project, mapping characteristics of the healthy human brain based on quantitative MRI data. We are looking for a highly driven and motivated student who is keen to learn about and develop these widely applicable skills.   13. Magic angle in twisted van der Waals heterostructures   Contact: Ziliang Ye (zlye@phas.ubc.ca)   Starting from the discovery of graphene, highly anisotropic bonds in van der Waals crystal allows us to prepare a variety of mechanically stable monolayers with only one or a few atoms in thickness. In many cases, these two-dimensional materials exhibit exotic physical properties distinct from bulk counterparts, including but not limited to relativistic particle like electrons following Dirac equation, gate-tunable Ising superconductivity, and excitons with valley degree of freedom, which enables new potentials in novel electronic and optoelectronic device application. More excitingly, these monolayers are robust to be manipulated and stacked together precisely, forming so-called van der Waals heterostructures, which opens a door to almost unlimited opportunities for new physics discovery. Recently, it has been found that unconventional superconductivity can emerge when two layers of graphene are stacked together with a small twist of ‘magic’ angle. It can be envisioned such a phenomenon should not be unique to the bilayer graphene. This summer, we welcome undergraduates to join our effort to explore this direction in low-dimensional quantum materials. Students will be exposed to a range of state-of-the-art experimental techniques from 2D materials preparation to van der Waals heterostructure fabrication to nearfield optical characterization.

14. Data Analysis for the TREK experiment at J-PARC

Contact - Mike Hasinoff      Email - hasinoff@physics.ubc.ca 

The goal of our TREK experimental program is to search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model ( possibly SUSY ). We have constructed a 256 element scintillating fibre target at TRIUMF for a Kaon Decay experiment which we carried out at the J-PARC accelerator in Japan in 2015.  The successful student will help us analyze the multi-parameter event data using the CERN software package "ROOT". He/She should have some programming experience and a basic understanding of the LINUX operating system. The student will be located at TRIUMF and be able to participate in all the student activities organized by the TRIUMF summer students.

15. Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Solids

Contact - David Jones (djjones@phas.ubc.ca)

We employ ultrafast photoemission and optical spectroscopy to probe underlying quantum interactions and states of solids. There are both instrumentation development and scientific experiments opportunities with specific details to follow.

16. ATLAS Projects

Contact: Prof. Alison Lister; Prof. Colin Gay     Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca; cgay@phas.ubc.ca

1) Integration of ATLAS limits into Global Fits in particle and astroparticle physics  

Many different probes are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM): direct and indirect searches for dark matter (DM), accelerator searches, and neutrino experiments. Experiments such as CRESST, Fermi-LAT and PAMELA may even already show tantalizing hints of DM. To make robust conclusions about the overall level of support for different BSM scenarios from such varied sources, a simultaneous statistical fit of all the data, fully taking into account all relevant uncertainties, assumptions and correlations is an absolute necessity. This approach is commonly called a `global fit'. Such analyses exploit the synergy between different experimental approaches to its maximum potential. In this summer student project the student will integrate in a first step the latest ATLAS Run 2 results into this global-fit framework. In a second step they will perform a smaller-size global fit of a sensitive model, to see what impact their newly integrated analyses have.   The student should already have programming skills in C++/python, an understanding of statistics and a desire to do more complex math problems is a bonus.   2) Deep learning with ATLAS The ATLAS UBC group is developing new deep learning techniques for the identification of highly boosted top quarks using low level jet features. We are currently studying the performance of this method on real ATLAS data. The student will work on further improvements to the method as well as developing techniques for mitigation of the impact of the systematic uncertainties on the deep learning model through construction of purpose engineered training samples and application of adversarial training. Experience and familiarity with python is required.   17. Contact: Douglas Scott (dscott@phas.ubc.ca)   1) STATISTICS OF CMB POLARIZATION

The cosmic microwave background allows us to probe the Universe on the largest length scales possible.  There are several hints or "anomalies" that may suggest modifications to physics on large scales or at very early times in the history of the Cosmos.  In order to assess if such anomalies are real or just mild statistical excursions in the data, it is necessary to find new ways to probe the large-scale Universe.  One such new probe is provided by sensitive measurements of CMB polarization, which comes from new modes in the early Universe. The latest maps of large-angle polarization have been provided by the Planck satellite.  In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the cosmological signals and to test for deviations from statistical anisotropy.  Additional, it will be useful to assess
the power of future (more sensitive) polarization measurement using simulations.

2) DEEP LEARNING IN ASTRONOMY

There are many data analysis problems in astronomy that are best approached using simple likelihood function methods.
However, there are other questions (involving non-linear selection tasks, or pattern-matching in huge databases) that are
more efficiently performed with "machine-leaning" (ML) methods, such as neural networks.  One downside to the use of ML
approaches is that it is often difficult to determine robust uncertainties on derived parameters.  Another unresolved issue is how to combine traditional and ML methods in tasks that use both approaches for different parts.  We will investigate these topics by looking at the use of ML in astronomy, combining data at multiple wavelengths to identify and categorise distant galaxies and assess their statistical properties.

**Project List 2019 from Imperial College London - for UBC-V students going to ICL for two-month exchange

Note: UBC-V students will be spending two months (May - June) at UBC on another project and then go to ICL for exchange (July - Aug.) with one of the possible projects listed below.

(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. Integrated Quantum Optics in Silicon Chips

Contact - Dr. Jeff Young            Email: young@phas.ubc.ca

We are developing a variety of technologies required in order to realize a scalable quantum information processing platform based on photon-mediated interactions with/between spin states of impurities in silicon (quantum computer, quantum communication devices etc.).  This is a large CFI-funded collaborative project primarily involving groups from UBC and SFU.  Undergraduate research assistants will have the opportunity to get involved in the nanofabrication and/or design and/or characterization of silicon-based photonic circuits that operate at 2.9 micron wavelengths that incorporate very high Quality factor, ultra-small mode-volume microcavities.  Another focus area is in developing new light sources and single photon detectors in the 2.9 micron wavelength range specifically to allow efficient characterization of the circuits.  Here nonlinear optics, fibre optics, laser physics, and low-temperature electronics come into play.  We are looking for talented undergraduates who are motivated to work on challenging technological problems related to quantum information processing.

2. Super-rotors

Contact: V. Milner (vmilner@phas.ubc.ca; webpage: http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ )

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecules and their interaction with classical and quantum environments, e.g. beams of light, external magnetic fields or ensembles of other molecules. We are currently actively investigating new exotic molecular objects – the so-called molecular "super-rotors", produced in our laboratory using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". The centrifuge spins up molecules to extremely fast rotational frequencies, inaccessible through any other means of rotational excitation. Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been shown by our group in the last two years, but many more await discovery. In the summer of 2018, we will be working on: (1) the investigation of molecular super-rotors embedded in the quantum nano-droplets of superfluid helium; and (2) the prospect of creating chiral super-rotors, i.e. ultrafast spinning chiral molecules.  

3. Statistics of CMB polarization

Contact - Dr. Douglas Scott             Email - dscott@phas.ubc.ca

An important goal of modern cosmology is to determine if all the structure in the Universe formed through an early inflationary phase. In order to do this, exquisitely sensitive studies of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background are needed. However, the CMB signals can be confused by emission in the foreground, from dusty regions in our Galaxy. In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the signals. This will involve using data from existing experiments, such as the Planck satellite or the BLAST-Pol balloon flights, as well as simulations of the microwave sky.

4. Data Analysis for the TREK experiment at J-PARC

Contact - Mike Hasinoff      Email - hasinoff@physics.ubc.ca 

The goal of our TREK experimental program is to search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model ( possibly SUSY ). We have constructed a 256 element scintillating fibre target at TRIUMF for a Kaon Decay experiment which we carried out at the J-PARC accelerator in Japan in 2015.  The successful student will help us analyze the multi-parameter event data using the CERN software package "ROOT". He/She should have some programming experience and a basic understanding of the LINUX operating system. The student will be located at TRIUMF and be able to participate in all the student activities organized by the TRIUMF summer students.

5. Research project in computational biophysics:

Contact - Joerg Rottler ; James J. Feng @chbe.ubc.ca>@physics.ubc.ca>

We seek a summer student interested in theoretical molecular biophysics. The goal of the project is to understand how  baculovirus can break the protein gel filling the pores of the nuclear pore complex and hence enter the cell nucleus. This will be done using molecular simulations. A background in biophysics and experience in programming/scientific computing (python, C, Linux OS etc) are required.  This is a joint project between Prof. Joerg Rottler (Physics) and Prof. James Feng (Chemical Engineering).

6. GPU implementation of planetary dynamics integrators.

Contact: Prof B. Gladman        Email - gladman@astro.ubc.ca

Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) are becoming powerful enough to potentially make them useful for forefront science problems in solar system dynamics and planetary formation. The applicant for this USRA should have the following skills: (1) studied introductory hamiltonian dynamics and nonlinear dynamics, (2) programming experience in C or Fortran, (3) have at minimum novice level experience with CUDA (or some other parallel programming environment). Some familiarity with planetary astronomy is helpful but not mandatory.

7. Observing Very Hot White Dwarf Stars with the Hubble Space Telescope

Contact: Prof. Harvey Richer      Emaill - richer@astro.ubc.ca

New ultraviolet imaging observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a large number of very hot white dwarfs in the ancient star cluster 47 Tucanae. These observations can provide

information on the rate of cooling of these stars, their diffusion in the cluster and the possibility that comets or asteroids may be present around some of these stars. A prospective student can become in involved in any of these or other projects related to these observations.

8. ATLAS Projects

Contact: Prof. Alison Lister; Prof. Colin Gay     Email: alister@phas.ubc.ca; cgay@phas.ubc.ca

A) Integration of ATLAS limits into Global Fits in particle and astroparticle physics   Many different probes are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM): direct and indirect searches for dark matter (DM), accelerator searches, and neutrino experiments. Experiments such as CRESST, Fermi-LAT and PAMELA may even already show tantalizing hints of DM. To make robust conclusions about the overall level of support for different BSM scenarios from such varied sources, a simultaneous statistical fit of all the data, fully taking into account all relevant uncertainties, assumptions and correlations is an absolute necessity. This approach is commonly called a `global fit'. Such analyses exploit the synergy between different experimental approaches to its maximum potential. In this summer student project the student will integrate in a first step the latest ATLAS Run 2 results into this global-fit framework. In a second step they will perform a smaller-size global fit of a sensitive model, to see what impact their newly integrated analyses have.   The student should already have programming skills in C++/python, an understanding of statistics and a desire to do more complex math problems is a bonus.   B) Deep learning with ATLAS The ATLAS UBC group is developing new deep learning techniques for the identification of highly boosted top quarks using low level jet features. We are currently studying the performance of this method on real ATLAS data. The student will work on further improvements to the method as well as developing techniques for mitigation of the impact of the systematic uncertainties on the deep learning model through construction of purpose engineered training samples and application of adversarial training. Experience and familiarity with python is required.   C) Electronics and firmware design with the ATLAS group   The ATLAS group has current projects and commitments on a number of readout electronics projects. These include operating the current TRT detector readout, the development and design of the readout system for the future new inner tracking detector (ITk). These both could provide interesting projects for a keen student who already has previous VHDL (or Verilog) experience [through a course or hands-on experience]   9. CHIME

Contact - Mark Halpern and Gary Hinshaw    Email - halper@phas.ubc.ca, hinshaw@phas.ubc.ca

  We are building a novel radio telescope designed to measure the recent dark energy-driven acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.  It is called CHIME, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity-Mapping Experiment and it consists of radio interferometers sitting along the focal lines of large cylindrical reflectors.  The instrument, which has no moving parts, will map half the sky as the Earth turns.

CHIME is fully assembled and the team is commissioning it and getting a first look at the data.  A student joining the team would help look at data and could also work at the site testing and optimizing aspects of instrument performance.  High performance computing skills and electronics skills would be assets.

10. NSERC USRA position in Micro-Computed Tomography Lab   Note: this position is posted here for your information only. Students with an interest in medical/biophysics who are interested in this position will need to apply to Dr. Nancy Ford (nlford@dentistry.ubc.ca) directly as this will fall under Dentistry's USRA allotment.

Description

Dr. Nancy Ford is an expert in micro-CT imaging for preclinical lung research and is the Director of the UBC Centre for High-Throughput Phenogenomics (CHTP), an advanced imaging facility.  Due to her position as Director of the CHTP, Dr. Ford has various imaging equipment available to perform correlative imaging studies, where the same specimen is investigated using different equipment, including micro-CT imaging in vivo and post mortem to visualize the same structures. 

Dr. Ford and collaborators at St. Paul’s Hospital are studying the early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a rodent model.  We are using micro-CT imaging as a non-invasive means of investigating the structure and function of the lungs and associated vasculature.  To identify markers of COPD, we will image the animals prior to inducing disease, and at different time points during COPD progression to understand what changes are important and at what stage of the disease we can detect these changes.  We will be comparing measurements of lung volume, airway diameters, lung lobe size, etc. between in vivo and post mortem images of the same animal.  Simultaneously, we will investigate the pulmonary vasculature by introducing an iodinated contrast agent during in vivo scans and filling the vasculature with a lead-based resin post mortem. 

We want to develop methods to correlate the measurements between in vivo and post mortem imaging and determine the accuracy of reporting measurements of anatomical structures and tissues whose shape is easily distorted, such as the lungs.  The project will involve participation in the micro-CT image acquisition for in vivo and post mortem scans, excising and preparing tissues for post mortem imaging (primarily micro-CT, but also for histology), and micro-CT image analysis.

All measurements will be performed in the Centre for High-Throughput Phenogenomics under the direct supervision of Dr. Ford, with additional support  from collaborators and CHTP personnel as needed.  Training on the measurement software will be provided by Dr. Ford.  Training on excising tissue and sample preparation will be done with collaborators and Dr. Ford.

Qualifications

Students at any level that are registered in Science, Engineering, or related Health Sciences programs are invited to apply (prefer 3rd or 4th year).  The successful candidate will have lab bench experience working with chemicals (could include university lab courses).  The successful candidate will have basic computer skills (Word, Excel) and preferred experience in Linux OS, MicroView or be willing to learn.

Anticipated Skills and Knowledge Acquisition

The student will develop computer skills, the ability to work independently and gain experience working with micro-CT images.  The images will provide an introduction to 3D imaging datasets.  The student will develop a basic understanding of x-ray tomography, and learn to excise tissues and prepare samples.

The Centre for High-throughput Phenogenomics is a core facility, with users from different research areas and different faculties across UBC and western Canada bringing their unique expertise and research needs.  Interactions with the users of the facility may lead to improved networking skills, and connections across the university.

11. Chemistry USRA program https://www.chem.ubc.ca/ubc-chemistry-summer-research-awards

Note: the following positions are posted here for your information only (per Dr. Bernie Shizgal's request). Students who are interested in these positions will need to apply to Dr. Bernie Shizgal at Chemistry Department directly as this will fall under Chemistry's USRA  program.

Contact: Bernie Shizgal       Email: shizgal@chem.ubc.ca

1) Numerical Pseudospectral Solutions of the Schroedinger Equation for the Pseudo-harmonic and Kratzner potentials

2) Numerical Pseudospectral Solutions of the Schroedinger Equation for the Wood-Saxon and Hulthen potentials

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(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. Medical Image Analysis and Machine Learning

Contact - Dr. Vesna Sossi              Email - ves...@phas.ubc.ca

Job Description:

The successful candidate will work as part of the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) brain imaging group at the UBC’s Centre for Brain Health. The focus of our group’s research is the imaging-based investigation of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other neurological disorders. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder (after Alzheimer’s disease) with unknown origin. The disease affects several million people globally, and there is currently no cure. In our group, we investigate functional manifestations of the disease in-vivo through acquisition and analysis of 3D brain images (PET and MRI) of healthy control and PD subjects. Image analysis is performed in relation to the subject’s clinical assessments. Using machine learning and statistical techniques, clinical data and data derived from the images are used to better understand the disease progression pattern and to predict the personalized clinical outcome, with the hope to attain a progressively better understanding of the disease, which may eventually contribute to finding a cure.

In this position the student will have the opportunity to:

• Use established machine learning techniques to identify and analyze patterns in the high-resolution PET/MRI images of the brain that are related to clinical symptoms of PD.
• Investigate methods that improve the quantitative accuracy of the imaging data, such as image filtering and segmentation.
• Help in identifying image features that correlate significantly with the progression of clinical symptom severity.
• Learn about the basics of PET imaging, image processing, and quantitative image analysis techniques.
• Learn about different aspects of quantitative brain imaging and data analysis by participating in various research projects (time permitting).
• Prepare a written or oral presentation of their work.

Qualifications:

• Background in computer science, physics, statistics or related disciplines, with an interest in biological or medical applications.
• Previous programming experience (any language) is required. Familiarity with rapid scripting environments (Matlab or Python) is a plus.
• Must understand the basics of computational algorithms and data types.
• Previous experience with image segmentation, registration, and feature extraction is a plus.
• Previous experience with supervised and unsupervised machine learning, data classification and clustering is a plus.
• Able to work independently to solve problems, pay attention to details and perform quality control.
• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Upper year students preferred.
•  

2. Medical Image Analysis - Image denoising techniques

Contact - Dr. Vesna Sossi              Email - ves...@phas.ubc.ca

Job Description:

The successful candidate will work as part of the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) brain imaging group at the UBC’s Centre for Brain Health. The focus of our group’s research is the imaging-based investigation of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other neurological disorders. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder (after Alzheimer’s disease) with unknown origin. The disease affects several million people globally, and there is currently no cure. In our group, we investigate functional manifestations of the disease in-vivo through acquisition and analysis of 3D brain images (PET and MRI) of healthy control and PD subjects. In general, PET images are noisy, and image-based analyses are very sensitive to noise. Therefore, improving the signal-to-noise ratio in PET is highly desirable. Novel image reconstruction methods which incorporate de-noising directly within the reconstruction task have been developed in our group, and determining the optimal reconstruction parameters is essential for improving the accuracy and precision of the reconstructed PET images used in our imaging applications. 

In this position the student will have the opportunity to:

• Learn about the basics of PET imaging, image processing, and how quantitative PET images are reconstructed.
• Learn about the evaluation techniques for comparing different image reconstruction methods.
• Evaluate the newly developed image reconstruction methods using phantom studies and determine the optimal reconstruction parameters using bootstrapping method at various counting statistics.
• Apply the obtained optimal parameters to reconstruct clinical high resolution PET data sets.
• Learn about different aspects of quantitative brain imaging and data analysis by participating in various research projects (time permitting).
• Prepare a written or oral presentation of their work.

Qualifications:

• Background in computer science, physics, statistics or related disciplines, with an interest in biological or medical applications.
• Previous programming experience (any language) is required. Familiarity with rapid scripting environments (Matlab or Python) is a plus.
• Must understand the basics of computational algorithms and data types.
• Previous experience with image reconstruction, segmentation, and registration is a plus.
• Able to work independently to solve problems, pay attention to details and perform quality control.
• Good written and oral communication skills.
• Upper year students preferred.

3. Statistics of CMB polarization

Contact - Dr. Douglas Scott             Email - dsc...@phas.ubc.ca

An important goal of modern cosmology is to determine if all the structure in the Universe formed through an early inflationary phase. In order to do this, exquisitely sensitive studies of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background are needed. However, the CMB signals can be confused by emission in the foreground, from dusty regions in our Galaxy. In this project we will study aspects of sky polarization, and investigate statistical techniques that can be used to distinguish the signals. This will involve using data from existing experiments, such as the Planck satellite or the BLAST-Pol balloon flights, as well as simulations of the microwave sky.

4. The Quantum Degenerate Gas (QDG) Lab

Contact: Kirk W. Madison [http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~madison/]        Email: madi...@phas.ubc.ca

The quantum degenerate gas (QDG) lab [http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~qdg] is developing two experiments involving laser cooled atoms.  The first is a novel quantum sensor for detecting particles in a vacuum and the second is a device capable of generating quantum degenerate gases of Rb and Li atoms designed to experimentally observe pairing phenomena in Fermi and Bose gases (a phenomenon intimately tied to superconductivity in electronic materials).  We are therefore seeking an undergraduate physics or engineering physics student to contribute to our research program in 2016. Projects will depend on the applicant's interest and experience and may involve both hardware development (optical, electronic, and mechanical) and experimental work (data taking and data analysis).  Please contact Prof. Madison to discuss the possibilities.  Examples of previous undergraduate publications and projects (including honour's thesis projects) can be found here (http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~qdg/publications/).

5. Data Analysis for the TREK experiment at J-PARC

Contact - Mike Hasinoff      Email - hasi...@physics.ubc.ca

The goal of our TREK experimental program is to search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model ( possibly SUSY ). We have constructed a 256 element scintillating fibre target at TRIUMF for a Kaon Decay experiment which we carried out at the J-PARC accelerator in Japan in 2015.  The successful student will help us analyze the multi-parameter event data using the CERN software package "ROOT". He/She should have some programming experience and a basic understanding of the LINUX operating system. The student will be located at TRIUMF and be able to participate in all the student activities organized by the TRIUMF summer students.

6. Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research - Vibration Testing and Tuning

Contact - Doug Bonn      Email - b...@phas.ubc.ca

A new set of ultra-low vibration facilities is being completed in the Quantum Matter Institute's new building extension. These consist of massive 100 Tonne concrete slabs, some of them floating on large air-springs. As part of the process of getting these labs running, we will be doing extensive testing of vibration amplitudes in a number of these facilities, as a function of frequency, time-of-day-and other factors. The project will include a mixture of measurements and modelling, plus a chance to work on a range of hardware projects associated with the scanning Tunneling Microscopy Labs.

7. Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research - Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Projects

Contact - Doug Bonn      Email - b...@phas.ubc.ca

Several hardware development and measurement projects are available this summer. An example on he hardware side is the development of a sample holder that is compatible with both an existing ultra-low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and a molecular beam epitaxy system that will be used for in situ film growth in ulta-high vacuum.

8. Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research - SPM characterization of defects in graphene

Contact - Sarah Burke    Email: sabu...@phas.ubc.ca

The local structure and defects in graphene can have either weak or strong modifications on the electronic properties.  An ultrahigh vacuum room temperature SPM system is being commissioned for characterization of surface structure of graphene, molecular monolayers and other samples.  Completion of the commissioning of both the STM and AFM capabilities and study of defects in graphene with this instrument will be carried out this summer.  Opportunities to engage in some of our other projects and work with other instruments are also possible.

9. Super-rotors

Contact: Valery Milner (vmil...@phas.ubc.ca">vmil...@phas.ubc.ca; webpage: http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ )

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecules and their interaction with classical and quantum environments, e.g. beams of light, external magnetic fields or ensembles of other molecules. We are currently actively investigating new exotic molecular objects – the so-called molecular "super-rotors", produced in our laboratory using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". The centrifuge spins up molecules to extremely fast rotational frequencies, inaccessible through any other means of rotational excitation. Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been shown by our group in the last two years, but many more await discovery. In the summer of 2017, we will be working on: (1) the possibility of amplifying electro-magnetic (THz) waves in the gas of molecular super-rotors with a permanent electric dipole moment; (2) the prospect of spin-polarizing molecular nuclei with an optical centrifuge for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies; and (3) the investigation of molecular super-rotors embedded in the quantum nano-droplets of superfluid helium.

10. Understanding the magnetic resonance imaging signal from myelin in brain

Contact: Alex MacKay        Email: mac...@physics.ubc.ca

Our laboratory designs and implements magnetic resonance imaging techniques for the detection and characterization of brain tissue in humans. In particular, we work on magnetic resonance sequences sensitive to myelin- the insulation of nerves in brain. Loss of myelin occurs in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. Our experimental techniques involve measuring and interpreting the signal from water in brain. This summer position will involve the comparison of two magnetic resonance techniques designed to measure myelin content in brain. The student will learn about magnetic resonance imaging and about how MRI can provide specific information about myelin in brain.

11. ATLAS Project 1

Contact: Alison Lister       Email: alis...@phas.ubc.ca

The ATLAS UBC group has developed a deep learning technique for identification of highly boosted top quarks using low level jet features. We are currently studying the performance of this method on real ATLAS data. The student will work on further improvements to the method as well as developing techniques for mitigation of the impact of the systematic uncertainties on the deep learning model through construction of purpose engineered training samples and application of adversarial training.

12. ATLAS Project 2 

Contact: Alison Lister       Email: alis...@phas.ubc.ca

The ATLAS UBC group is participating in construction of the Silicon-based tracker strip detector for the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC. CMOS is very promising technology for construction of such large-scale detectors. The student will participate in the developement of firmware and software as well as the test stand for a prototype CMOS sensor - the CHESS-II and characterise module performance.

13.  Hubble Space Telescope

Contact: Harvey Richer   Email: ric...@astro.ubc.ca

Professors Richer and Heyl are interested in supporting several USRA students to work on Hubble Space Telescope data. The data consist of images of very ancient star clusters in our galaxy and the science they hope to work on involves the ages and dynamics of the stars in these systems. Additionally, they are planning for the next generation of space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and work towards projects on this telescope will also be undertaken.

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(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. CHIME

Contact - Mark Halpern, Gary Hinshaw, or Kris Sigurdson     Email - hal...@phas.ubc.ca, hins...@physics.ubc.ca, or k...@phas.ubc.ca

We are building a novel radio telescope designed to measure the recent dark energy-driven acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.  It is called CHIME, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity-Mapping Experiment and it consists of radio interferometers sitting along the focal lines of large cylindrical reflectors.  The instrument, which has no moving parts, will map half the sky as the Earth turns.

Over the spring and summer we will be installing and testing antennas, low noise amplifiers, and a digital correlator on the full CHIME instrument we are building at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, BC.  We will also be analyzing data from a Pathfinder version of the instrument that is currently being commissioned.

2. Data Analysis for the TREK experiment at J-PARC

Contact - Mike Hasinoff      Email - hasi...@physics.ubc.ca
  
The goal of our TREK experimental program is to search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model ( possibly SUSY ). We have constructed a 256 element scintillating fibre target at TRIUMF for a Kaon Decay experiment which we  carried out at the J-PARC accelerator in Japan in 2015.  The successful student will help us analyze the multi-parameter event data using the CERN software package "ROOT". He/She should have some programming experience and a basic understanding of the LINUX operating system.

3. Ultrafast Spectroscopy Lab

Contact - David Jones       Email - djjo...@phas.ubc.ca

The ultrafast spectroscopy lab has an opening for summer 2016 for an undergraduate physics or engineering physics student to contribute in our efforts of developing world-unique ultrafast (femtosecond) extreme ultraviolet laser sources and using them to probe photovoltaic devices as well as other condensed matter material devices. In the coming year some possible specific projects toward this end include:

            -building and characterizing a femtosecond pulse optical fiber amplifier as a seed for our second generation XUV femtosecond source.

            -participate in design and construction and this second generation XUV femtosecond source.

            -helping to characterize/calibrate the photoelectron spectrometer we are using for time-resolved quantum materials studies.

The first two topics are a bit more engineering based as they involve constructing instruments with both optical and electronic skills. In addition, there will be other possibilities more physics in nature (such as participating in photoemission spectroscopy of doped graphene and topological insulators) but we can’t be sure of the exact nature of them until closer to the summer.

4. Hubble Space Telescope

Contact: Harvey Richer      Email: ric...@astro.ubc.ca   Work with Hubble Space Telescope data. Professor Harvey Richer has been carrying out a series of observations of ancient star clusters with the Hubble Space Telescope. The data are imaging observations and often are the best available for any given star cluster. There are a wide range of projects that can be executed with these data: the age of the cluster, its dynamical state, how its stars evolve, tests of fundamental physics. Joining Professor Richer’s research group for the summer will expose you to this research, and who knows, you may discover something completely unexpected.  

5. The Universe on the largest scales

Contact: Douglas Scott        Email: dsc...@phas.ubc.ca

The Planck satellite has mapped the cosmic microwave background with unprecedented sensitivity, resolution and frequency coverage, mostly coming from an epoch when the Universe was only about 400,000 years old, and giving us cosmological information on the largest observationally-accessible scales.  At UBC we have been been using Planck data to investigate several different cosmology research areas, any of which could be the springboard for a self-contained undergraduate project. Examples include testing isotropy as a way of probing early Universe models, constraints on ideas for theoretical modifications to gravity, and correlations between CMB data and other cosmological data to understand large-scale structure.

6. Belle II high-energy physics experiment

Contact: Christopher Hearty        Email: hea...@physics.ubc.ca    Phone: 6048229163       Office: Hennings 268

This project is for the Belle II high-energy physics experiment. The experiment is located at the KEK laboratory in Japan, but the project will be at UBC in Vancouver. The student will work on developing new energy and time calibration techniques for the Belle II calorimeter using simulated cosmic rays. The student will develop skills in C++, python, and data analysis using the ROOT analysis package.

7. Understanding magnetic resonance signals from brain

Contact: Prof. Alex MacKay       Email: mac...@physics.ubc.ca

Our laboratory designs and implements magnetic resonance imaging techniques for the detection and characterization of brain tissue in humans. In particular, we work on magnetic resonance sequences sensitive to myelin- the insulation of nerves in brain. Loss of myelin occurs in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. Our experimental techniques involve measuring and interpreting the signal from water in brain. This summer position will involve learning about how magnetic resonance works and about techniques to analyse results from a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer and/or a magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

8. Numerical studies of strong coupled field theories

Contact: Prof. Moshe Rozali       Email: roz...@phas.ubc.ca

Investigation of gravity in asymptotically AdS spaces, dual to quantum field theory in (generally) spatially inhomogeneous and time-dependent backgrounds. Investigation of disorder and non-equilibroum conditions in strongly coupled field theories. Development of Python and C++ codes, based on a prototype Matlab code, to solve the resulting equations numerically.

9. ATLAS Experiment

Contact: Profs. Colin Gay and Alison Lister      Email: c...@phas.ubc.ca; alis...@phas.ubc.ca

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located at CERN in Geneva, has already completed an exceptional first run — recording an unprecedented amount of data at the highest energies ever achieved at a particle collider.  This has resulted in the recent discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. Last year we started taking data at almost twice the energy of the first run and we will continue to do so in 2016. This opens up previously inaccessible energy scales. The analysis of this new data may lead to several additional discoveries, such as the production and observation of Dark Matter in the lab, helping us understand the missing mass of the Universe; discovery of new types of particles; discovery of extra spatial dimensions previously unseen; or the discovery of new symmetries of nature; or something else all together. As well as analysing this new data, we need to start developing and building upgrades to the detector, in particular a new silicon tracking detector, part of which is happening at TRIUMF.  We are hiring two students to join our analysis team and take part in searching for new physics and/or building the next generation of detectors.

10. Contact: Prof. Jeremy Heyl        Email: h...@phas.ubc.ca

RHESSI Observations of the Soft-Gamma Repeater Hyperflare

The solar gamma-ray observatory RHESSI on 26 December 2004 was inundated with gamma-rays from a strongly magnetized neutron star from across our Galaxy.  This project would be to reanalyzed the data from RHESSI to understand the high-energy emission from the source in terms of theoretical models and possibly to find polarized emission from the source as well.  The student would compare the observational data with theoretical models and develop new theoretical models.  The student would also present their work at our weekly group meetings and learn about the latest results in high-energy astrophysics.  The skills that the student will develop include analysis of x-ray and gamma-ray observational data from RHESSI and Fermi and scientific computing skills.

HST Observations of Globular and Open Clusters (Stellar atmospheres)

Our group and others have observed the core regions of many globular and open clusters using the Hubble Space Telescope in the ultraviolet, visual and infrared.  These observations can provide unique and stringent tests of our theories of stellar evolution and stellar atmospheres.  The student will collaborate with our research group to include the effects of stellar atmospheres in the stellar evolution software.  The student will develop skills in modelling of stellar atmospheres, stellar evolution and the statistical interpretation of Hubble Data using their results.  The student would also present their work at our weekly group meetings and learn about the latest results in high-energy astrophysics.

HST Observations of Globular and Open Clusters (Stellar photometry)

Our group and others have observed the core regions of many globular and open clusters using the Hubble Space Telescope in the ultraviolet, visual and infrared.  These observations can provide unique and stringent tests of our theories of stellar evolution and stellar atmospheres.  The student will collaborate with our research group to develop a pipeline for stellar photometry that will provide accurate measurements of the flux of both bright and faint stars in the Hubble imagery.  The student will use the latest Hubble observations and will be able to compare their results with the standard photometric pipelines.  The goal here will be to automate the process and then use it to analyze the hundreds of images of clusters on our beowulf supercomputer.  The student would also present their work at our weekly group meetings and learn about the latest results in high-energy astrophysics.   The skills that the student will develop include analysis of observational data from Hubble, scientific computing skills and software development.

HST Observations of Globular and Open Clusters (Artificial Star Tests)

Our group and others have observed the core regions of many globular and open clusters using the Hubble Space Telescope in the ultraviolet, visual and infrared.  These observations can provide unique and stringent tests of our theories of stellar evolution and stellar atmospheres.  The student will collaborate with our research group to develop a pipeline to insert artificial stars into the Hubble images to measure the error distribution and completeness of the photometric pipeline.  The goal here will be to automate the process and then use it to analyze the hundreds of images of clusters on our beowulf supercomputer.  The student would also present their work at our weekly group meetings and learn about the latest results in high-energy astrophysics.   The skills that the student will develop include analysis of observational data from Hubble, scientific computing skills and software development.

10. The Quantum Degenerate Gas (QDG) Lab

Contact: Kirk W. Madison [http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~madison/]        Email: madi...@phas.ubc.ca

The quantum degenerate gas (QDG) lab [http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~qdg] is developing two experiments involving laser cooled atoms.  The first is a novel quantum sensor for detecting particles in a vacuum and the second is a device capable of generating quantum degenerate gases of Rb and Li atoms designed to experimentally observe pairing phenomena in Fermi and Bose gases (a phenomenon intimately tied to superconductivity in electronic materials).  We are therefore seeking an undergraduate physics or engineering physics student to contribute to our research program in 2016. Projects will depend on the applicant's interest and experience and may involve both hardware development (optical, electronic, and mechanical) and experimental work (data taking and data analysis).  Please contact Prof. Madison to discuss the possibilities.  Examples of previous undergraduate publications and projects (including honour's thesis projects) can be found here (http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~qdg/publications/).

11. Laboratory for atomic imaging research

Contact: Sarah A. Burke [http://lair.phas.ubc.ca] Email: sabu...@phas.ubc.ca

Our group uses ultrahigh vacuum low-temperature scanning probe microscopy to probe materials on atomic and molecular length scales.  This family of techniques is highly versatile and gives access to structural and electronic information for a wide range of materials: from superconductors to organic molecules.

We are starting a new effort to investigate catalytic activity of a metal-organic nanostructure.  This will require development of a gas dosing system and optical instrumentation to deliver controlled doses of gaseous reactants and expose the sample at low temperature to IR radiation.  Scanning probe microscopy experiments will then be conducted to determine if the reactants attach at the metal-organic structures, changes in structure and electronic structure, and progress of the reaction with dosing and temperature.

Other projects may also be available.  Please contact for more details and options.

12. Super-rotors

Contact: Prof. V. Milner (http://coherentcontrol.sites.olt.ubc.ca/)  Email: vmil...@phas.ubc.ca

Our research group on Quantum Coherent Control uses ultrafast lasers to control and study the behaviour of molecules and their interaction with classical and quantum environments, e.g. beams of light, external magnetic fields or ensembles of other molecules. We are currently actively investigating new exotic molecular objects – the so-called molecular "super-rotors", produced in our laboratory using a unique laser system known as an "optical centrifuge". The centrifuge spins up molecules to extremely fast rotational frequencies, inaccessible through any other means of rotational excitation. Many fascinating properties of molecular super-rotors have been theoretically predicted. A few of them have been shown by our group in the last two years, but many more await discovery. In the summer of 2016, we will be working on: (1) the possibility of amplifying electro-magnetic (THz) waves in the gas of molecular super-rotors with a permanent electric dipole moment; (2) the prospect of building an ultrafast magnetic switch in a gas of magnetic super-rotors; and (3) the design of a vacuum system in which molecular super-rotors will be embedded in the quantum nano-droplet of superfluid helium.

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(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1.  Cross-correlations in Cosmology

Contact: Douglas Scott  Email: dsc...@phas.ubc.ca

Cosmological data-sets contain information about the largest scales that are observable, giving us the opportunity to constrain the parameters that describe the cosmological background, as well as probing how structure forms within the evolving Universe. The Planck satellite has mapped the entire sky at 9 wavelengths, providing the best current constraints on cosmological parameters, but also containing a wealth of information about "secondary" anisotropies related to structure formation. By correlating Planck with other astrophysical data-sets we can learn about gravitational lensing on large and small scales, gas within and outside galaxy clusters and the star-forming galaxies comprising the cosmic infrared background. Successfully tackling these issues will require a student with analytical and numerical skills, as well as a passion for cosmology.

2. CHIME

Contact - Mark Halpern, Gary Hinshaw, or Chris Sigurdson     Email - hal...@phas.ubc.ca, hins...@physics.ubc.ca, or k...@phas.ubc.ca

We are building a novel radio telescope designed to measure the recent dark energy-driven acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.  It is called CHIME, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity-Mapping Experiment and it consists of radio interferometers sitting along the focal lines of large cylindrical reflectors.  The instrument, which has no moving parts, will map half the sky as the Earth turns.

Over the spring and summer we will be installing and testing antennas, low noise amplifiers, and a digital correlator on the full CHIME instrument we are building at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, BC.  We will also be analyzing data from a Pathfinder version of the instrument that is currently being commissioned.

3. GPU implementation of planetary dynamics integrators.

Contact: Prof B. Gladman        Email - glad...@astro.ubc.ca

Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) are becoming powerful enough to potentially make them useful for forefront science problems in solar system dynamics and planetary formation. The applicant for this USRA should have the following skills: (1) studied introductory hamiltonian dynamics and nonlinear dynamics, (2) programming experience in C or Fortran, (3) have at minimum novice level experience with CUDA (or some other parallel programming environment). Some familiarity with planetary astronomy is helpful but not mandatory.

4. Observing Very Hot White Dwarf Stars with the Hubble Space Telescope

Contact: Prof. Harvey Richer      Emaill - ric...@astro.ubc.ca

New ultraviolet imaging observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a large number of very hot white dwarfs in the ancient star cluster 47 Tucanae. These observations can provide

information on the rate of cooling of these stars, their diffusion in the cluster and the possibility that comets or asteroids may be present around some of these stars. A prospective student can become in involved in any of these or other projects related to these observations.

5. The T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) Experiment

Contact: Prof. Hirohisa A. Tanaka       Email - tan...@phas.ubc.ca

The T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) experiment studies neutrinos produced by an accelerator on one side of Japan and sent to the Super Kamiokande detector 295 km away. During this transit, it is expected that neutrinos will undergo a phenomenon called neutrino oscillations where they change type, which may shed light on the matter/anti-matter asymmetry of the universe, i.e. how the universe evolved to its current matter-dominated state.The experiment recently published its first results on neutrino oscillations, which was proclaimed one of the "Top 10 Physics Stories of 2011". With the analysis of the data underway, there are many opportunities to study the neutrino interaction data taken in the experiment and to develop new algorithms to improve the performance and sensitivity of the experiment. There are also opportunities to design, develop, and test new photon detectors  for a next generation neutrino oscillation and proton decay experiment (Hyper Kamiokande).

6. Understanding magnetic resonance signals from white matter in brain

Contact: Prof. Alex MacKay       Email - mac...@physics.ubc.ca

Our group uses magnetic resonance imaging techniques to investigate pathological processes which occur in brain diseases. In particular, we have developed a technique for measuring the myelin component of white matter in brain. Myelin makes up the ‘insulation’ around neuronal axons and plays a key role in the normal transmission of nerve signals. This summer we shall be following two lines of research into myelin measurement by magnetic resonance 1) Detailed fundamental investigation of the magnetic resonance signals from ex vivo white and grey matter samples and 2) Analysis of in vivo myelin measurements from white matter in multiple sclerosis subjects to assess relationships between myelin content and brain functional measurements. 

7. Making cold and ultra-cold molecules

Contact: Prof. Taka Momose     Email - mom...@chem.ubc.ca

A student will help constructing experimental setup to make cold and ultracold molecules, and use laser systems to perform their spetroscopy.

(Note to students: This project is posted here for your information only. You will need to apply to Chemistry Dept USRA program if you wish to apply for this project.)

8. The formation of stony meteorite parent bodies

Contact: Prof. Aaron Boley, email: acbo...@phas.ubc.ca

The StarPlanD research team is seeking a summer student to work on the formation and evolution of meteorite parent bodies.  Depending on the background of the successful candidate, the project may involve, e.g., studying the thermal evolution of parent bodies or investigating shock wave processing of Solar System dust.  In particular, the research team is keenly interested in exploring formation mechanisms of chondrules. Chondrules are 0.1-1mm igneous spherules that are found in abundance in nearly all unmelted stony meteorites (i.e., chondrites). Each chondrule formed from precursors individually melted while floating freely in the Solar Nebula (the planet-forming disk around the Sun that gave rise to the Solar System). These melts cooled and crystallized, locking in chemical, mineralogical, and petrological information. Thus, these solids provide a record of major events during the Solar System's formation and have the potential to tell us more about planet formation than the planets themselves. Experience in computational fluid dynamics or heat transfer modelling is preferred, but not required. This position is contingent on NSERC funding.

9. ATLAS Experiment

Contact: Prof. Colin Gay, Email: c...@physics.ubc.ca

 The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located at CERN in Geneva, has completed an exceptional first run — recording an unprecedented amount of data at the highest energies ever achieved at a particle collider.  This has resulted in the recent discovery of the Higgs boson, and a full analysis of the data may lead to several additional discoveries, such as the production and observation of Dark Matter in the lab, helping us understand almost 25% of the mass of the Universe; discovery of new types of particles; discovery of extra spatial dimensions previously unseen, or the discovery of new symmetries of nature.  As well as analyzing current data, we are developing new techniques to prepare for the upcoming data taking, which will have collisions of almost twice the energy of the of the existing data, opening up previously inaccessible energy scales.  We are hiring one student to join our analysis team and take part in this exciting search for new physics.

Return to top

(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. "Super Rotors"

Contact - Valery Milner        email vmilner AT phas.ubc.ca

My research is about controlling matter with laser light. More specifically, we have recently succeeded to directly observe and study a new exotic state of matter – a gas of molecular “super rotors”. Using the technique of an “optical centrifuge”, we spin up molecules to extremely fast rotation with ultrashort laser pulses. An effective temperature of such “super rotation” is more than 50,000 degrees Kelvin, yet unlike conventional hot molecules, super rotors revolve in a synchronous concerted fashion which, to the best of our knowledge, we have detected and fully characterized for the first time. It has been speculated that super rotors may exhibit a number of unique and intriguing properties, from rotation-induced nano-scale magnetism to formation of macroscopic gas vortices. Studying all these new aspects of molecular dynamics with ultrafast lasers is the primary goal of my work.

2. Detector development for the Belle-II experiment

Contact - Christopher Hearty       Email - hearty AT physics.ubc.ca

The Belle-II experiment will be located at the SuperKEKB e+e- particle collider in Japan. The heavy-flavour physics program of Belle-II is a continuation of the successful Belle and BaBar programs, with a factor of 40 increase in luminosity with respect to the original Belle experiment. Belle-II will focus on observing physics beyond the standard model (SM) through its impact on asymmetries and rare decays that can be predicted in the SM and precisely measured using the high luminosity. Although the new physics (NP) particle masses are well above the center-of-mass energy of the SuperKEKB collider, NP can produce observable effects through its inclusion in quantum loops. The Belle-II program is complementary to the direct searches for NP at the Large Hadron Collider, and the indirect searches of Belle-II can be sensitive to masses that exceed those that can be directly produced at the LHC.   The student will assist in the development of a new, high-speed calorimeter capable of achieving excellent resolution in the presence of high backgrounds. Tasks will include designing and building test equipment; data acquisition; data analysis using Root; and organizing and presenting results.

3. Molecular simulations of DNA

Contact - Joerg Rottler    email - jrottler AT physics.ubc.ca

We seek a USRA to contribute to the development of new molecular models for the computer simulation of DNA phenomena. These models involve so-called coarse-graining, i.e. a simplified description that avoids the full complexity of the molecule while retaining important atomistic features. Of particular interest to us are mechanical properties of the biomolecule. Strong computational skills, experience
with Linux, programming (C/C++, python or matlab), and visualization are required.

4. The formation of stony meteorite parent bodies

Contact - Aaron Boley     email - astro AT aaronboley.com

Chondrules are 0.1-1mm igneous spherules that are found in abundance in nearly all unmelted stony meteorites (i.e., chondrites). Each chondrule formed from precursors individually melted while floating freely in the Solar Nebula (the planet-forming disk around the Sun that gave rise to the Solar System). These melts cooled and crystallized, locking in chemical, mineralogical, and petrological information. Thus, these solids provide a record of major events during the Solar System's formation and have the potential to tell us more about planet formation than the planets themselves. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed, but so far, shock processing seems to be the most consistent with chondrule constraints. A possible candidate mechinism for driving these shocks is planetoids/planets on eccentric orbits in a gaseous disk.  We will run a suite of simulations exploring how outgassing and radiating planetoids alter the conditions around bow shocks, which will allow us to investigate whether such shocks are consistent with the meteoritic record.   5. MESA Simulations of Cooling White Dwarfs

Contact - Jeremy Heyl, Email - heyl AT phas.ubc.ca

I would like a student to use MESA and nbody6 to simulate the evolution of white dwarfs in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae and to interpret our recent observations of globular clusters with the Hubble Space Telescope.  The student would run numerical simulations of both stellar evolution and celestial mechanics and perform statistical analysis of a large observational dataset.

6. Understanding Galaxies

Contact - Douglas Scott    Tel 604-822-2802    Hennings 300A    email dscott AT astro.ubc.ca

The formation and evolution of galaxies is a complex topic, with many facets, which can be tackled using a combination of numerical analytical and observations approaches.  Observations at sub-millimetre and far-infrared wavelengths are particularly important for studying star-forming galaxies in the early Universe, since this is the waveband where the emission peaks.  Instruments such as BLAST, Herschel-SPIRE, Planck and ACT are all useful, and all have a UBC connection.  Depending on the skills and interests of the student, we will focus on one of a number of issues in this rapidly developing research area.  This will involve analysing or simulating data, requiring some computational aptitude.

7. T2K Experiment

Contact - Hirohisa Tanaka    email - tanaka AT phas.ubc.ca

The T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) experiment studies neutrinos produced by an accelerator on one side of Japan and sent to the Super Kamiokande detector 295 km away. During this transit, it is expected that neutrinos will undergo a phenomenon called neutrino oscillations where they change type, which may shed light on the matter/anti-matter asymmetry of the universe, i.e. how the universe evolved to its current matter-dominated state.The experiment recently observed the transmutation of muon neutrinos to electron neutrinos, a new form of neutrino oscillations. With the analysis of the data underway, there are many opportunities to study the neutrino interaction data taken in the experiment and to develop new algorithms to improve the performance and sensitivity of the experiment. There are also opportunities to design, develop, and test new photon detectors  for a next generation neutrino oscillation and proton decay experiment (Hyper Kamiokande).

8. Understanding magnetic resonance signals from white matter in brain

Contact - Alex Mackay     email - mackay AT physics.ubc.ca

Our group uses magnetic resonance imaging techniques to investigate pathological processes which occur in brain diseases. In particular, we have developed a technique for measuring the myelin component of white matter in brain. Myelin makes up the ‘insulation’ around neuronal axons and plays a key role in the normal transmission of nerve signals. This summer we shall be following two lines of research into myelin measurement by magnetic resonance 1) detailed fundamental investigation of the magnetic resonance signals from ex vivo white and grey matter in samples and 2) Analysis of in vivo myelin measurements from white matter in multiple sclerosis subjects to assess relationships between myelin content and brain functional measurements.   9. Student Job Title: Commissioning of TREK Scintillating Fibre Target and TOF Array   Contact - Mike Hasinoff          Email - hasinoff AT physcis.ubc.ca

Name of Project: TREK - Search for New Physics (SUSY) in K+ Decay

Overview:

     The goal of our experiment is to search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model ( possibly SUSY ). We have constructed a 256 element scintillating fibre targer at TRIUMF for a Kaon Decay experiment to be performed at J-PARC in Japan. We will complete our testing of this target using the TRIUMF beam in May and June. We will then prepare it for shipment to Japan. We are also currently  constructing a 24 scintillator array to provide a Time-Of-Flight measurement to separate muons and positrons.

    It is quite likely that we will send the student to Japan for 2-3 weeks in August to help us with the installation of our detector systems along with other subsystems being constructed by our collaborators in Japan, the US, and Russia.

Duties:

To help with the data analysis from our beam test runs at TRIUMF and/or J-PARC 

To help with the machining of the scintillator and acrylic light guides for our 24 TOF counter array.

Skills to be learned during this work experience:

- precision assembly - attention to small details

- documentation skills

- data acquisition and slow control equipment monitoring in a multi-parameter multi-detector experiment

- event-by-event multi-variable computer analysis using ROOT  ( data mining )

- basic machining and proper usage of shop tools

10. The ATLAS Experiment

Contact:  Profs. Colin Gay, Alison Lister

Email: cgay AT physics.ubc.ca, alister AT physics.ubc.ca 

Phone:  (604)822-3150, 604-822-9240

Project:
The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located at CERN in Geneva, has completed an exceptional first run — recording an unprecedented amount of data at the highest energies ever achieved at a particle collider.  This has resulted in the recent discovery of the Higgs boson, and a full analysis of the data may lead to several additional discoveries, such as the production and observation of Dark Matter in the lab, helping us understand almost 25% of the mass of the Universe; discovery of new types of particles; discovery of extra spatial dimensions previously unseen, or the discovery of new symmetries of nature.  As well as analyzing current data, we are developing new techniques to prepare for the upcoming data taking, which will have collisions of almost twice the energy of the of the existing data, opening up previously inaccessible energy scales.  We are hiring one or two students to join our analysis team and take part in this exciting search for new physics.

Return to top

(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. Understanding Galaxies

Contact - Douglas Scott    Tel 604-822-2802    Hennings 300A    email dscott AT astro.ubc.ca

The formation and evolution of galaxies is a complex topic, with many facets, which can be tackled using a combination of numerical analytical and observations approaches.  Observations at sub-millimetre and far-infrared wavelengths are particularly important for studying star-forming galaxies in the early Universe, since this is the waveband where the emission peaks.  Instruments such as BLAST, Herschel-SPIRE, Planck and ACT are all useful, and all have a UBC connection.  Depending on the skills and interests of the student, we will focus on one of a number of issues in this rapidly developing research area.  This will involve analysing or simulating data, requiring some computational aptitude.

2. T2K Experiment

Contact - Hirohisa Tanaka    email - tanaka AT phas.ubc.ca

The T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) experimen studies neutrinos produced by an accelerator on one side of Japan and sent to the Super Kamiokande detector 295 km away. During this transit, it is expected that neutrinos will undergo a phenomenon called neutrino oscillations where they change type, which may shed light on the matter/anti-matter asymmetry of the universe, i.e. how the universe evolved to its current matter-dominated state.The experiment recently published its first results on neutrino oscillations, which was proclaimed one of the "Top 10 Physics Stories of 2011". With the analysis of the data underway, there are many opportunities to study the neutrino interaction data taken in the experiment and to develop new algorithms to improve the performance and sensitivity of the experiment. There are also opportunities to design, develop, and test new photon detectors  for a next generation neutrino oscillation and proton decay experiment (Hyper Kamiokande) .

3. Correlating electrophysiology measurements of brain activations with magnetic resonance imaging measurements of brain anatomy.

Contact - Alex Mackay     email - mackay AT physics.ubc.ca

This project will compare magnetic resonance imaging measurements of myelin in brain with various electrophysiological measures of signal conduction in brain in a population of both normal volunteers and subjects suffering from multiple sclerosis. The project will involve learning about magnetic resonance measurements of myelin, about brain anatomy and function and also about the the electrical system in the brain.   4. ATLAS experiment

Contact - Prof. Colin Gay, Alison Lister  Tel - 604-822-2753, 604-822-9240   Email - cgay AT phas.ubc.ca, alister AT phas.ubc.ca

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located at CERN in Geneva, has completed an exceptional two years of recording an unprecedented amount of data at the highest energies ever achieved at a particle collider.  This has resulted in the recent discovery of the Higgs boson, and a full analysis of the data may lead to several additional discoveries, such as the production and observation of Dark Matter in the lab, helping us understand almost 25% of the mass of the Universe; discovery of new types of particles; discovery of extra spatial dimensions previously unseen, or the discovery of new symmetries of nature.  We are hiring one or two students to join our analysis team and take part in this exciting search for new physics.

5. CHIME

Contact - Mark Halpern, Gary Hinshaw, or Chris Sigurdson     Email - halper AT phas.ubc.ca, hinshaw AT physics.ubc.ca, or krs AT phas.ubc.ca

We are building a novel radio telescope designed to measure the recent dark energy-driven acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.  It is called CHIME, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity-Mapping Experiment and it consists of radio interferometers sitting along the focal lines of large cylindrical reflectors.  The instrument, which has no moving parts, will map half the sky as the Earth turns.

Over the spring and summer we will be inventing, installing and testing antennas, low noise amplifiers and a digital correlator on two cylinders we are building at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, BC.

6. Photonics and Nanostructures Laboratory

Contact - Jeff Young       Email - young AT phas.ubc.ca

Our research group is involved in several projects all related in one way or another to engineering the interaction between excitonic excitations in quantum dots or molecules, and photons.  The method of engineering involves the spatial and spectral co-location of the quantum dots or molecules, with nanostructured metals and semiconductors that are used to dramatically alter the local density of photon states experienced by the exciton.  Projects include single-molecule spectroscopic characterization, chemical synthesis, nano-manipulation, and quantum-electrodynamic modelling.  The general goal is to realize nonlinear electron-photon coupling in ways that are impossible in vacuum, with real atoms. The group currently consists of 4 PhD students, 1 postdoc, research associate and undergrad student.

7. Advanced detector development for the Belle II experiment

Contact - Christopher Hearty       Email - hearty AT physics.ubc.ca

The BaBar experiment, which collected data from 1999 to 2008, has been a tremendous success. Highlights include the observation of CP violation in B mesons, and the first direct observation of the violation of time reversal symmetry, a result that was named one of the top ten physics stories of 2012. As a continuation of this research program, the Canadian group is joining the Belle II experiment, located at the KEK laboratory in Japan. Belle II will collect 100 times the data of BaBar, enabling a wide range of precision measurements that are sensitive to new physics beyond the standard model, at mass scales that can even exceed the reach of the Large Hadron Collider. This huge increase in the data rate requires new, advanced detectors. The student will help design, build, and test components of such detectors. Given sufficient progress, we will test a prototype in a particle beam at TRIUMF in August.

8. Title: Ultra-cold atoms and molecules

Contact - Kirk Madison        Email - madison AT phas.ubc.ca

In our lab, we refrigerate atomic gases with laser light to produce the coldest matter in the universe - ten million times colder than the baseline temperature of outer space (3K).  At these temperatures, a new form of matter emerges - the properties of which depend on the quantum statistics of the atoms.  For bosonic particles (where their total spin is an integer) a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) forms in which all the particles act in unison and (in some ways) behave as a single quantum object.  For fermionic particles (total spin is a half-integer) a quantum degenerate Fermi gas (QDFG) forms in which the particles are mutually excluded (because of Pauli's exclusion principle) from occupying the same quantum state producing a sort of compartmentalization. This exclusion means that the particles behavior becomes highly correlated (i.e. entangled) and new, unexpected properties arise.  Indeed, most of the deepest and longest standing mysteries and problems across the many domains of physics are the result of the collective behavior of many particles.  One of the wonders and beauties of physics is that one's understanding of many-body collective phenomena in one field often applies equally well to another.  This motivates the experimental and theoretical study of many-body effects in cold atoms.

At UBC, we have the ability to create both a quantum degenerate Fermi gas and a Bose Einstein condensate of atoms, and we are presently working on techniques to create a BEC of molecules made from cold atoms.  To do this, we induce reversible, chemical bonding processes with laser light.  The added internal structure of the molecules broadens the class of many-body physics that can be studied.  The long-term goal is to use this matter to study fundamental questions of many-body quantum mechanics.

Another closely related project (in a technical sense) is focused on the development of a new class of sensors based on cold atoms.  This work has practical applications to metrology laboratories (this work is being done in collaboration with NIST and NRC) and has potential commercial applications to materials and device fabrication industries.

The work in the lab is extremely diverse and involves state-of-the-art optical, electronic, and computer systems.  A prospective student would have the opportunity to work in a team on the design, construction, and operation of a laser cooling apparatus.  Please contact Kirk W. Madison for more details on the specific projects available.

9. Laser development for the study of anti-matter

Contact - David Jones          Email - djjones AT physcis.ubc.ca

ALPHA is an international collaboration based at CERN and whose aim is to trap and study antihydrogen atoms, the antimatter counterpart of the simplest atom, hydrogen. ALPHA recently demonstrated the first of these goals by trapping antihydrogen for over 1000 seconds (http://alpha.web.cern.ch/trappedHbarNews).

Nature is believed to possess certain fundamental symmetries.  In particular, the CPT theorem of particle physics indicates that antihydrogen atoms should have many of the same characteristics as normal hydrogen atoms.  For example, they should have the same mass, magnetic moment, and transition frequencies (i.e. spectroscopic properties) between their internal quantum states.  Therefore, the next step is to make precise comparisons of hydrogen and antihydrogen, to test for the presence (or absence) of this fundamental symmetry between matter and antimatter.

One method to compare hydrogen and antihydrogen relies on lasers to probe their energy levels and look for differences at extremely high levels of precision (1 part in 1e15). We have an opening for a undergraduate this summer to help with the development of such a laser system at UBC.

10. Quantum Electronic Science & Technology (QuEST) undergraduate summer research positions

Contact: quest -at- phas.ubc.ca or individual supervisors (below)

Quantum materials are substances that exhibit a wide range of unusual properties rooted in quantum mechanical effects. These occur in extreme situations such as low temperature or high magnetic fields, and in structures with reduced dimensions such as thin films, interfaces, nanostructures, and assemblies of single molecules. Interactions in these materials lead to novel states of matter including superconductivity, spin and charge order, and new phenomena at the edge of our understanding of electrons in solids.

Researchers at UBC are approaching a wide range of problems in this area both through experimental science and theoretical approaches. If you are interested in these research areas, please check out the QuEST website ( http://www.quest.ubc.ca/ ) or contact potential PhAs supervisors:
Mona Berciu berciu -at- phas.ubc.ca
Doug Bonn bonn -at- phas.ubc.ca
Andrea Damacelli damascelli -at- phas.ubc.ca 
Joerg Rottler jrottler -at- phas.ubc.ca
George Sawatzky sawatzky -at- phas.ubc.ca
Josh Folk jfolk -at- phas.ubc.ca
Rob Kiefl kiefl -at- triumf.ca
Jeff Young young -at- phas.ubc.ca

11.Student Job Title: Assembly and Commissioning of TREK Scintillating Fibre Target

Contact - Mike Hasinoff          Email - hasinoff AT physcis.ubc.ca

Name of Project: TREK - Search for New Physics (SUSY) in K+ Decay

Overview:

We are building a 256 element scintillating fibre targer at TRIUMF for a Kaon Decay experiment to be performed at J-PARC in Japan. The goan of this experiment is to search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model.

Duties:

To help with the assembly of the target fibres.

To help with the data analysis from our cosmic-ray and beam test runs.

Skills learned during this work experience:

- precision assembly - attention to small details

- documentation skills

- data acquisition and slow control monitoring

- event-by-event multi-variable computer analysis using ROOT

- basic machining and proper usage of shop tools

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(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

1. TREK Scintillating Fibre Target 

Contact – Michael Hasinoff     tel 604-822-2360   Hennings 282    e_mail   hasinoff AT physics.ubc.ca

This project will involve the assembly and commissioning tests of the new TREK Scintillating Fibre Target currently under construction at TRIUMF. For our first J-PARC experiment we need to construct a 256 fibre target comprised of 3mm x 3mm x 200mm scintilling fibres coupled to long 1mm diameter green WaveLengthShifting (WLS) fibres. The light from each WLS fibre is then directed onto a small ( 1mm diameter ) solid state photon counter which is readout by an Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC). The student will help with the assembly and commissioning tests using both cosmic rays and pion beams produced by the TRIUMF cyclotron. He/she will learn about the detectors and Data Acquisition/Analysis Techniques used in modern High Energy Particle Physics.  For more information please visit the TREK website  -- and then contact me.

http://www-online.kek.jp/~e06/trek/

2.   Submillimetre Cosmology

Contact - Douglas Scott    Tel 604-822-2802    Hennings 300A    email dscott AT astro.ubc.ca

Submillimetre cosmology uses instruments which observe the sky at wavelengths a little below a millimetre to study star-forming galaxies in the distant Universe.  At UBC we are involved with several inter-related ground- and  space-based projects, including Herschel and SCUBA-2.  Such studies allow us to measure the history of cosmic star formation, and correlations between submm images and other tracers of structure, give unique information on the relationship between  dark matter and luminous matter on large scales.  Doing so requires careful construction of images, and application of statistical approaches to the large data-sets.  This project will involve a combination of analysis of real data and simulations which can help interpret the results.  The student selected needs to have computational skills and experience.

3. Photonics and Nanostructures Laboratory

Contact - Jeff Young   email - young AT phas.ubc.ca

Projects are available involving the experimental and theoretical study of nano-meter scale semiconductor (PbSe, PbS, InN etc.), and metal (Au, Ag) nanoparticles whose size and shape can be engineered to dramatically enhance the interaction between electronic states in the semiconductor (excitons), and light (photons) that flow through silicon photonic circuits. This photonic engineering is used both to enhance our ability to study fundamental aspects of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale, and to explore possible new technologies based on the quantum mechanical nature of light.

4. ATLAS experiment

Contact - Prof. Colin Gay    Tel - 604-822-2753     Email - cgay AT phas.ubc.ca

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located at CERN in Geneva, has completed an exceptional year of recording an unprecedented amount of data at the highest energies ever achieved at a particle collider, and is on track to record significantly more in the coming year.  This may lead to several major discoveries, such as the recent hints of an observation of the Higgs boson, which would help explain the origin of mass; the production and observation of Dark Matter in the lab, helping us understand almost 25% of the mass of the Universe; discovery of extra spatial dimensions previously unseen, and the discovery of new symmetries of nature.  We are hiring one or two students to join our analysis team and take part in this exciting search for new physics.

5. Applied Biophysics/Bioengineering: Microfluidic Single Cell Analysis.

Contact - Carl Hansen     Email - chansen AT phas.ubc.ca

Cells are the fundamental unit of biology with different types of cells making specific tissues within the body.  Identifying differences between individual cells within a given tissue type is critical to understanding how different cell types work together, both in maintaining health and in the advancement of disease.  A challenge in analyzing single cells is that they contain only very small amounts of proteins and nucleic acids, making them poorly suited to standard molecular biology analysis. One way to circumvent this problem is to analyze individual cells in tiny volumes where a single cell's worth of RNA or protein is at a high effective concentration.  Microfluidic devices, consisting of chips having hundreds to thousands of channels, pumps, and valves, provide an ideal platform for conducting such highly sensitive single cell measurements.

In this project the student will join an ongoing effort in developing microfluidic tools for the analysis of single cells.  This work will be based upon a fabrication technique called Multilayer Soft Lithography which is a method that allows for the dense integration of "fluidic circuits" having thousands of active microvalves per square centimeter.  The student will get hands on training in the design, fabrication and testing of microfluidic devices, as image analysis, software development and experience in molecular biology methods for analyzing proteins or RNA from single cells.  All fabrication and experimental facilities required for this work are in place at the NCE building within the Center for High-Throughput Biology.  Experience in microfabrication, CAD design, software development, molecular biology, or cell biology are all an asset but are not required.

6. Musical Acoustics

Contact - Chris Waltham     email - cew AT phas.ubc.ca

The musical acoustics group are currently work in two projects: acoustic imaging of musical instruments (focussing on the harp, violin, and a variety of Asian string instruments); acoustic string motion sensing. We work in the excellent anechoic chamber in the CEME building. http://newsite.phas.ubc.ca/applied-physics#music

7. T2K Experiment

Contact - Hirohisa Tanaka    email - tanaka AT phas.ubc.ca

The T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) experiment is an international collaboration that studies neutrinos produced by an accelerator on one side of Japan and sent to the Super Kamiokande detector 295 km away. During this transit, it is expected that neutrinos will undergo a phenomenon called neutrino oscillations where they change type, which may shed light on the matter/anti-matter asymmetry of the universe, i.e. how the universe evolved to its current matter-dominated state.The experiment recently published its first results on neutrino oscillations, which was proclaimed one of the "Top 10 Physics Stories of 2011". With the analysis of the data underway, there are many opportunities to study the neutrino interaction data taken in the experiment and to develop new algorithms to improve the performance and sensitivity of the experiment. There are also opportunities to design and develop new detectors and to use the beam from the TRIUMF cyclotron towards improving the systematic understanding of the experiment.

8. Development of Nanoscale optical measurements

Contact - Sarah Burke     email - saburke AT phas.ubc.ca

Projects are available for the development of measurement techniques that combine optical measurements with Scanning Probe Microscopy. This will include the development of electrochemical etching techniques for producing sharp silver tips for plasmonic enhancement of light emission, and integration of optical systems with the low-temperature ultrahigh vacuum scanning probe microscope in our lab. These techniques will be applied to molecular systems including model organic photovoltaic materials.

9. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Contact - Alex Mackay     email - mackay AT physics.ubc.ca

Our research group makes use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to investigate brain pathology. We have developed a MRI technique which measures myelin content in brain; we wish to use this technique to investigate how brain myelination decreases over time in persons suffering from multiple sclerosis. The project will involve learning about different mechanisms of MRI contrast, about how to work with MR images from a serial study and how to use statistics to support the conclusions from a medical study.

10. TRIUMF

Contact - Reiner Kruecken     email - reiner.kruecken AT triumf.ca

Project #1
The DRAGON Facility measures directly astrophysical nuclear reactions that take place inside stars, supernovae and novae, using accelerated radioactive particle beams. The data obtained using DRAGON is utilized by astrophysicists to make connections between real observations of stars and what are predicted by sophisticated computer-based stellar models.
In this project the student would contribute to the translation of a computer simulation of the DRAGON Facility, from the FORTRAN-based Geant3 formalism, into the modern C++ based Geant4 formalism that is used by the high-energy physics community. The DRAGON simulation is a vital part of being able to interpret the data obtained at the facility. This project not only requires a good knowledge of C++ and a basic knowledge of FORTAN, but also a conceptual understanding of charged-particle transport in electromagnetic fields. The student will also be able to take part in real physics experiments happening at DRAGON, and the assistance in the analysis of experimental data if available.

Project #2
The DRAGON Facility measures directly astrophysical nuclear reactions that take place inside stars, supernovae and novae, using accelerated radioactive particle beams. The data obtained using DRAGON is utilized by astrophysicists to make connections between real observations of stars and what are predicted by sophisticated computer-based stellar models.
In this project the student would assist in the building of a new data acquisition system for the facility - more precisely, contributing to the construction of analysis codes using C++, and learning to be familiar with the TRIUMF-MIDAS system as well as VME functions. This project would suit a student interested in electronics, computing, and the digital storage and transformation of experimental data.  The student will also be able to take part in real physics experiments happening at DRAGON, and the assistance in the analysis of experimental data if available.

Project #3
At TRIUMF's ISAC facility radioisotopes for the laboratory study of nuclear reactions in astrophysical environments are produced by the bombardment of thick targets with 500 MeV protons and their subsequent extraction via diffusion and ionization. In this project the student would assist in the conception, design, fabrication and execution of an experiment to study the diffusion of implanted ions in novel ISAC target materials, in order to determine diffusion coefficients enabling the possible production of very intense radioactive ion beams for the astrophysics program. This would involve some basic chemistry calculations, calculations to determine the accelerated isotope beam required for implantation, the implantation chamber, and the installation/operation of the equipment required to determine diffusion coefficients. This project would suit a student who likes very hands-on work and is interested in the overlap between physics and chemistry under the kind of conditions seen in ISAC targets.

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(This is a partial list. Faculty members who are not listed here might also be interested in supervising USRA students; please contact them directly.)

Project 1

Supervisor: Douglas Scott
Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca
Phone: 2-2802

Project description:

The Planck satellite is currently mapping the Universe on the largest scales through precise measurements of the microwave background.  These improvements in data quality have inspired cosmologists to think of new ways in which we can constrain the physics of the early Universe. One particular idea is to look for modulations to the sky which may come from having a gradient in the underlying physics, such as a spatial variation in a cosmological parameter or fundamental constant. Simulated data-sets can be used to determine how such effects can be optimally measured, and potentially how multiple signatures of this kind could be distinguished from each other.  This is one example of a project in the broad area of interface between theory and observational data in modern cosmology.  The student will be expected to have strong computational as well as analytic skills.

Project 2

Supervisor: Alex MacKay (mackay@physics.ubc.ca)

Project Title: Use of Magnetic Resonance Techniques to explore brain pathology

This project involves the analysis of magnetic resonance data from a large serial study on multiple sclerosis brain. Our techniques include diffusion tensor imaging, proton spectroscopy, and a locally developed technique known as myelin water imaging. The student will learn about how MRI can be used to learn about the pathology of multiple sclerosis brain. 

Project 3

Supervisor: Yan Pennec (ypennec@phas.ubc.ca)

Project description:

Fabrication, assembling and testing  of an UHV-LT-HF Scanning Tunneling Microscope.

The STM head have been designed for the measurement of time-resolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The aim is the direct observation time-dependent phenomena at the atomic scale down to the picoseconds regime. These experiments will be performed in an ultra-high-vacuum, low temperature environment. The design stage of the STM head is now completed and all drawings of all parts are available. The students tasks will be to manage the physical realisation of the head. The students will order the parts from a pre-selection of manufacturers. The second part include the assembly then testing of the STM head. When completed, a commissioning technical report will be written on the performance evaluation of the instrument. The technical skills required include ultra fast-electronics, CAD design, precision mechanical work and instrument testing. The non-technical skills include project management, collaborative work with machine shops and parts suppliers personals as well as scientific writing.

Project 4

Supervisor: Prof. Hirohisa Tanaka
Email: tanaka@phas.ubc.ca
Phone: 604-822-4891

Project description: The T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) experiment is an international collaboration to study the properties of neutrinos that are produced by an accelerator on one side of Japan and sent to the Super Kamiokande detector 295 km away. During this transit, it is expected that neutrinos will undergo a phenomenon called neutrino oscillations where they will change type. T2K will have a sensitivity more than an order of magnitude greater than previous experiments. We are now entering the data-taking phase, with our first run starting at the beginning of 2010. This project will offer the opportunity to use the data to study neutrinos, to develop software algorithms to track and identify particles emanating from neutrino interactions, and to perform studies that will improve our understanding of our detectors and their performance. 

Project 5

Supervisor: Prof. Colin Gay
Email:  cgay@physics.ubc.ca
Phone:  (604)822-2753

Project:
THe ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located at CERN in Geneva, is on track to take an unprecedented amount of data at the highest energies ever achieved at a particle collider.  This may lead to several major discoveries, such as the observation of the Higgs boson, which would help explain the origin of mass; the production and observation of Dark Matter in the lab, helping us understand almost 25% of the mass of the Universe; discovery of extra spatial dimensions previously unseen, and the discovery of new symmetries of nature.  We are hiring one or two students to join our analysis team and take part in this exciting search for new physics.

Project 6

Supervisor: Prof. Chris Waltham
Email: cew@phas.ubc.ca
Phone: 1-604-822-5712

Project description:

------------------

See http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~waltham/music/index.html for ongoing work. We are also starting an experimental project on the non-linear motion of strings. 

Project 7

Supervisor: Ingrid Stairs (stairs@phas.ubc.ca)

Project:
1) Derive polarization calibration parameters for the Green Bank and Arecibo telescopes, to be used in improving the high-precision timing that my research group and collaborators are using to try to detect a background of gravitational waves.

2) Identify and excise radio-frequency interference signals in timing data taken at the Green Bank and possibly Arecibo telescopes, and investigate the statistical properties of this interference.  This will be useful for both the gravitational-wave-background project and for ongoing observations of such objects as the only double-pulsar system.

3) Process and examine data from Arecibo and/or Green Bank that aims to discover brand-new pulsars -- lots of potential for finding exciting new objects.

Note: For summer jobs offered by the "Max-Planck-UBC Centre for quantum materials" at German Max-Planck Institutes follow this link: http://www.mpg-ubc.mpg.de/undergraduate.html

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Project 1 - Harvey Richer

Email: richer@astro.ubc.ca
Research website link: http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/richer

Brief project description:

Brief project description: Starting in January 2010, I will be obtaining a large number of images with the Hubble Space Telescope of an ancient star cluster. This allocation of time on Hubble is one of the largest in all of 2010 as we will have the telescope for about 5 days. These data will be used to search for planets in this cluster, provide insight into its dynamics, age, chemical composition, search for any possible black hole and numerous other exciting experiments. NSERC summer students will be involved in a team working on these projects.

Project 2 - Name: Carl Hansen

Email: chansen@phas.ubc.ca
Research website link: http://www.chibi.ubc.ca/faculty/hansen

Brief project description:

The student will be involved in the design and testing of microfluidic based systems for single cell analysis. A variety of project options are available including single cell analysis by microscopy, RT-qPCR, and sequencing. Students will have the opportunity to gain experience in techniques such as microfabrication, instrument automation, image processing, microscopy, molecular biology, and cell culture.

Project 3 - Yan Pennec

Email: ypennec@physics.ubc.ca

Brief project description:

Design and construction of a new 3D Scanning Tunneling Microscope head. The STM is famously to be the first instrument enabling imaging of atoms in real space. One of the prerequisites is a highly accurate coarse positioning of the tip close to the sample. For this project the student will be asked to implement new design for a 3D positioner with nanometer accuracy based on stick-slip motors inspired by our current prototypes. This head is meant to be at the heart of our future sub-Kelvin UHV instrument.

Project 4 - Douglas Scott

Email: dscott@phas.ubc.ca
Research website link: http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/scott

Brief project description:

 "Submillimetre cosmology" is a new area of research in which advanced  cameras operating at wavelengths a little shorter than a millimetre are  used to study distant star-forming galaxies.  At UBC we are involved with  several inter-related projects (BLAST, SCUBA-2, Herschel-SPIRE) for which  we have very recently obtained data.  Understanding the high-redshift  Universe using these data is difficult, requiring the application of  careful statistical techniques, linear-algebra-like map-making methods,  optimal filters for source extraction, Monte Carlo methods, etc.  The  successful student will be involved in one aspect of this work.

Project 5 - Chris Waltham

Email:
Research site Hebb 1H and Hennings 208

Brief project description:

Vibroacoustics of string instruments. Student will use accelerometers, microphones and a fast camera to study the vibrational behaviour of strings and soundboxes, and the sound radiation, of various string instruments. At present we are concentrating on the guitar, violin, harp and guqin.

Project 6 - Kirk W. Madison

Email: madison@phas.ubc.ca
Research website link: www.phas.ubc.ca/~qdg

Brief project description:

Undergraduate research projects include work on existing experiments in the lab using laser cooled atoms to study cold and hot collisions and to create ultra-cold molecules via photoassociation.

Project 7 - Alex MacKay

Email: mackay@physics.ubc.ca
Research website link: http://www.mriresearch.ubc.ca/

Brief project description:

Brief project description: We have a large research program investigating the pathology of multiple sclerosis (MS) brain using advanced in vivo magnetic resonance imaging techniques. Our proposed summer project is to use diffusion tensor tractography to investigate the trajectories of nerve tracts which pass though MS lesions in order to discover if normal appearing white matter downstream is affected by the presence of the lesion.

Project 8 - Joerg Rottler

Email: jrottler@phas.ubc.ca
Research website link: http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~jrottler

Brief project description:

A NSERC USRA position is available in the group of Prof. Joerg Rottler in computational condensed matter physics. The project will include large scale molecular dynamics simulations of material behavior in an out of equilibrium. Presently we are interested in the physics of amorphous solids (glasses) and electrostatic interactions for biomolecules in solution (see website). Some prior experience with scientific computing (Linux, programming in C/C++) would be useful.

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