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The Physics Department of Rutgers University is currently accepting applications from high school students to participate in the 12th Annual Summer Workshop on Particle Physics and Cosmology. In this program, students will learn about the most important open questions in fundamental physics. Students will gain first-hand knowledge of research in elementary particle physics by analyzing real data from Fermilab in Chicago or the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland using event displays and the analysis tools used by research physicists. In addition, students will get hands-on experience at collecting cosmic ray data and designing and carrying out their own cosmic ray experiments using cosmic-ray particle detectors. Students will also participate in sessions learning about other topics such as cosmology and quantum computing. At the conclusion of the program, participating students will work in groups to prepare a presentation on a research topic of their choice.

Graduates from previous years have given high evaluations of the program and have found it to be of great help in deciding on areas of study in college. Participation in this program also helps to demonstrate a strong interest in science when applying for college admission.

The program will consist of engaging activities, fun demonstrations, interesting guest lecturers, tours of different labs at Rutgers, one special field trip, and opportunities to work with other highly motivated students from around New Jersey and the US.

The program will require students to spend about 20 hours on pre-workshop preparation using materials and activities that will be provided.

The program will meet at Rutgers University Busch Campus in Piscataway from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM on weekdays for ten days from Monday, July 1, 2024 to Tuesday, July 16, 2024, excluding July 4 & 5.

This program is sponsored by QuarkNet, an organized outreach program of the US high energy physics community, supported in part by the National Science Foundation and the Office of High Energy Physics, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy. The program is also supported by the Physics and Astronomy Department of Rutgers University.

Applications for Summer 2024 are now closed. Thank you for your interest.

Requirements to Attend

  1. The program is limited to students who have successfully completed a course in physics and have a strong interest in learning about the exciting world of fundamental physics.
  2. Students must be able to arrange transportation to and from Rutgers each day and are responsible for either bringing lunch each day or purchasing lunch at the Rutgers Student Center.
  3. Students must be available every day for the period of the program. Under special circumstances, absences with valid excuses will be permitted. This information must be included in the Parent/Guardian approval form.
  4. Students must have completed the application process by Friday, March 29, 2024. Note that parts of this application are to be submitted by your guidance counselor. It is your responsibility to ensure that your guidance counselor submits the required documents on time. We will not be able to accept applications that were not complete by March 29.

Application Process

Only online submissions by the students will be considered for acceptance. Please follow these steps to apply:

  1. Collect all the required information listed below before starting the application.
  2. Ask a teacher to write a letter of recommendation and provide their letter to your school guidance counselor.
  3. Use the button below to access the online application form, then complete all fields and submit the application. In the application, you will be asked to provide a name and email address for your parent/guardian and your school guidance counselor.
  4. Your parent/guardian will receive an email with instructions for how to submit details including the Parent/Guardian Approval Form. All information must be submitted per the emailed instructions before the deadline for the application to be considered complete.
  5. Your guidance counselor will receive an email with instructions for how to submit the guidance counselor certification form and your teacher’s recommendation letter. These documents must be submitted per the emailed instructions before the deadline for the application to be considered complete.
  6. Follow up with your parent/guardian, teacher, and guidance counselor to ensure that all documents have been submitted before the application deadline.
  7. Students will be notified of their acceptance status by April 19, 2024.

Note: Your parent/guardian or guidance counselor will receive an automated email once the application is submitted. If this email is not received, first check the spam folder. Otherwise, the required forms can be found at these links: Parent/Guardian Form and Guidance Counselor Form.

We use the email address you provide to send notifications such as program acceptance. Make sure you use an account you will be able to access and will monitor over the summer. Once we send out initial acceptance status, you will have a short time (about 1 week) to respond, letting us know of your intent to attend the program. If you fail to respond to this email promptly, you will be dropped from the program.

Information Needed for the Application

Information that you should collect to fill out the online form:

  1. Basic information about you
    • Your email address. Make sure you use an account you will be able to access and will monitor over the summer.
    • Name and home address
    • Your age on July 1, 2024
    • Your cell phone number, if you have one
    • Your country of citizenship (we may visit a government facility for our field trip)
  2. Parent/guardian information: Name, phone number, email address
  3. Information about your school district
    • High school district
    • Guidance counselor name and email address
    • Current year in high school
  4. High school course background
    • Highest-level physics class that you have taken
    • Grade in that physics class
    • Highest-level math class that you have taken
    • Grade in that math Class
  5. Essay
    • A 1–2 page essay addressing why you want to attend this program. Do not exceed two pages.