June 27, 2003

Dear 2003 RIA Summer School Students:

We are looking forward to an educational week with, hopefully, some fun added. This email is to inform you of various aspects of the school and to provide you with travel details.

PROGRAM

The school will begin with a welcome reception at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory building at 7:00pm on Sunday, August 3. Depending on the weather, we will have a barbeque behind the laboratory or pizza in the atrium. Signs will indicate where to go.

Lectures on issues related to rare isotopes will be given in the mornings from Monday, August 4, to Friday, August 8. The exact order of the lectures has not yet been determined, but a possible schedule is:

WG = Working Group

All lectures and student talks will be in the NSCL Seminar Room. Working group sessions will be in various places around the NSCL and will be announced at the time of the school.

For the “hands-on” part of the school, you will be divided into 6 teams of roughly 7 students each. On Friday afternoon to Saturday ~1 PM, each team will be given 4 hours with the NSCL cyclotron facility and the A1900 fragment separator to develop and identify a radioactive ion beam. The working group sessions throughout the week are intended to prepare you for this task.  Presently, the planned working group sessions are:

1 – Beam optics

2 – Use of the NSCL control system

3 – Use of the NSCL data acquisition and analysis system

4 – Particle identification

5 – Use of the LISE program

6 – Use of the needed nuclear electronics

Each team member will select a particular expertise and will be the team’s main resource for that activity. However, all team members will learn all aspects of the process.

IMPORTANT, PLEASE NOTE:  Time is reserved for student presentation each afternoon. We would like all students to make a 10-minute presentation about their current research work. These presentations let other students know what you are doing and also help you practice your presentation skills to an audience of other students. If you would like to give a talk, please send a title and some biographical information on yourself to Anantaraman ( anantaraman@nscl.msu.edu) . At past schools, students have enjoyed the opportunity to speak and hear other students speak.

In addition to the educational program, we are planning several social activities. On Tuesday evening we will travel to a restaurant and afterwards engage in some type of activity, such as a movie or bowling. On Wednesday evening, we are planning a bus trip to see a Tigers Major League baseball game in Detroit.

HOUSING

Housing and meals are provided by the school. You will be given rooms in the Owen graduate dormitory.  Included is a meal allowance of $8/day that should be sufficient to cover breakfast and lunch at the Owen cafeteria. All school breakfasts and lunches will be held in the Owen cafeteria.

When you arrive on the MSU campus, please go directly to the Owen Graduate Dormitory. Your room assignment and meal passes will be given to you at the reception desk. There will be a packet with information on how to walk to the Cyclotron Laboratory, which is across the street and about 3 minutes’ walk from the dormitory. It might be advisable to bring a rain jacket or an umbrella.

TRAVEL

We hope all participants will try to minimize their travel costs. Depending on the final funding level for the school, we will be able to cover some (and hopefully all) of your travel costs.

Expenses for travel reimbursement will be arranged at the school.

Information and directions are available at:

http://www.nscl.msu.edu/ourlab/directions/accommodations.html

OTHER

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact Raman at anantaraman@nscl.msu.edu.  We look forward very much to your attending the school.