Supported by the Division of International Program (INT) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Dr. Shang-Fen Ren, a Professor of Physics at Illinois State University (ISU), initiated a program to collaborate with Chinese scientists on research and education on material and computational physics, with a focus on nonoscience. Under this program, eleven US physics undergraduates joined Ren for a four-weeks summer research experience in the Semiconductor Institute (1999 and 2001) and the School of Physics at Peking University (2002) in Beijing, China. Click here for the list of participating students and their impressions of their visit to China.

While in Beijing, each student joined a Chinese research group with leading scientists and their students. Each student had his/her own research project that he/she started to prepare before the trip and carried out while in Beijing. All students had great research experience in Beijing.(Click here to see the students' research projects). In addition to individual research, a series of lectures by Chinese scientists and tours to major research institutions are arranged in a group setting to enrich the students' research experience. At the end of the summer experience, the students are encouraged to submit two reports, a research report on their project and a general report on their experience.

The students stayed at Shao Yuan (1999, 2002), the guest house of Peking University or Beilin Hotel (2001), a guest house close to the Semiconductor Institute, in Beijing. After work, the students played basketball or volley ball, walked around campus, explored the Chinese culture, and make friends by themselves. The students also had excellent opportunities for sightseeing over the weekends. They visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Places, the Temple of Heaven, etc.

This summer research experience has provided American physics undergraduates an exceptional research and cultural experience that they can not gain in the US. For most participating students, this will be their first experience of going abroad and visiting leading edge research institutions. All participating students have made good progress on their research projects that many started to prepare before the trip and would continue after coming back. The international experience gained by students in the early stage of their career has broaden the students' perspective on and prepare them for their future participation in a more globally-oriented workforce. It will better prepare the students to take leading roles in academia, industry, and the government of the next generation, both in the US and in the global competition. This will benefit both the students and the United States in a long term.