Program Overview
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) is a six-week experience of hands-on experimental cosmic ray physics, and curriculum development. The program provides a unique opportunity for high school teachers to observe and measure ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with a ground-based scintillation detector. Teachers will build their own surface-based detector arrays and use the detectors to measure various properties of high-energy cosmic rays, and will write and utilize computer programs to perform various analyses of cosmic ray induced air showers.
About the Program:
- The program is for US citizens or permanent residents only.
- RET program is 6 weeks total:
- Four weeks working in a lab at the University, building the detectors and drafting classroom activities.
- Plus, two weeks during the school year which include:
- Data analysis of air showers using various data sets from HiSPARC.
- Sharing their experience at the annual meeting of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in the spring, or at the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in the summer.
- Deploy the cosmic ray detectors on the roof of the teacher’s school.
- A summer stipend of $7,000.
- Travel support to the NSTA or AAPT meeting – up to $3,000.
Teachers are required to:
- Complete the summer research experience.
- Attend all summer meetings, workshops, and seminars.
- Develop an instructional unit based on the experience. (translation to practice)
- Research Project - Data analysis & Poster Development.
- Attend and share their RET experience at the NSTA or AAPT Conference.
For any questions or comments about the RET program, please reach out to our email hisparc@utah.edu.
RET 2025 Participants
Amanda Eiting and Joshalynn Marino
School: Salt Lake Center for Science Education
Mentors: Dennis Soldin and Ricardo Gonzalez
Poster Title: Reconstructing Cosmic Ray Extensive Air Showers with HISPARC Detectors: An Exploration into the Feasibility of Secondary Level Student-led Research
The High School Project on Astrophysics Research with Cosmics (HiSPARC) is a project in which high schools and academic institutions join forces and form a network to observe and measure ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with ground-based scintillation detectors. HiSPARC offers students and teachers the opportunity to participate in real physics research, with the purpose of finding out more about these mysterious and rare cosmic particles. As secondary educators, engaging in this studyprovided the opportunity to determine the feasibility of future student-led research projects, identify potential barriers, and develop solutions to those barriers. Using HiSPARC detectors, our goal was to reconstruct the cosmic ray energy spectrum in the range of 1014 eV - 1017.5 eV. Based on data from our detectors in Salt Lake City, we created analysis code that filtered cosmic ray events allowing us to perform quality cuts that resulted in a clear picture of where the shower core positions were. In doing the research, we identified the need for using air shower simulations, the importance of aligning the dataset with the research goal, and the limitations presented by the need for data analysis coding knowledge. Going forward, we aim to create tools for data analysis that will help secondary school students engage in cosmic ray research through the HiSPARC project and the resources it offers.
RET Gallery
Our RET Team
Tino Nyawelo, a Professor (Lecturer) in the University of Utah’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, has been at the U since 2007. In 2012, Tino founded the REFUGES program which supports underrepresented students through an after-school program (grades 7-12) and a summer science “bridge” experience for incoming college freshmen. Tino the Director of Undergraduate Research, and also coordinates the Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
In 1998, Tino obtained his master’s degree in theoretical high energy physics at the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the Free University of Amsterdam in 2004. His main area of research deals with (quantum) field theory, supersymmetry and gravity.
John Matthews is a Research Professor working with the University of Utah’s Cosmic Ray Physics group which he joined in 1995. His current research is the study of the origin and nature of ultra high energy cosmic rays with the Telescope Array. The central Utah observatory measures particle showers induced by cosmic rays arriving at the Earth over an area of 750 square miles. Matthews also serves as Co-Spokesperson of the Telescope Array Collaboration. Before the Telescope Array, some of his previous experiments included The High Resolution Fly’s Eye (HiRes) which also studied ultra high energy cosmic rays and FLASH measuring the fluorescence light yield from cosmic ray air showers. Matthews also works with Prof. Nyawelo’s INSPIRE project, helping to bring science, computing, and technology to young under-represented students through cosmic ray detectors and experiments.
John earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in physics, math, and economics. As an undergraduate he worked on a search for cosmic ray magnetic monopoles. He then moved to the University of Wisconsin where he earned his M.S. while he worked on low mass detectors to measure particles near the collision region at Fermilab and electronics for plasma experiments. John earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University for his studies into CP Violation at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
I received my Bachelor’s degree (1994) in Engineering Physics from the University of Arizona and Master’s (1998) and Doctorate (2001) degrees in Physics from Rice University under the direction of Prof. Randall Hulet, where I researched Bose-Einstein condensation in low-temperature lithium gases. I spent my postdoctoral years at the California Institute of Technology with Prof. Steve Quake (now at Stanford), where I developed a research program in nanophotonics and molecular biophysics. I have had a number of formative experiences over the years that have stoked my commitment to math and science education and propelled me into leadership roles, including a semester as a visiting instructor at Pomona College, a year as team captain of the swim team at Arizona, and the many interactions with thousands of students at the University of Utah. Becoming a member of the Cottrell Scholar community in 2007 had a major impact on my career and has continued to provide amazing opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from across the US on numerous efforts and projects, some of which can be found on my Education Projects page. I am a committed anti-racist and work to help create a more equitable educational system.
My research generates new knowledge around learning of contentious, science-related issues. Across contexts—from museums to the digital space to K-12 classrooms—I aim to shed light on the complicated social, cultural, and cognitive dynamics influencing learning of these issues. My ultimate goal is to inform experiences that support learners to use science to make sense of the world in ways that align with who they are, and, to draw on science within civic participation.
