(updated on 12/15/2021)

There are a variety of ways to find a senior project and research mentor. You may pursue a project with someone on the faculty of the Department of Physics or in some other CWRU department, another educational institution, or staff of comparable status at companies, national laboratories and other institutions. For additional advice, contact the chair of the department’s Senior Project Committee (Prof. Chottiner for 2019 – 2020) .

If you have a research connection with a professor or other possible adviser e.g. are already working in a laboratory, have had a coop or a Research Experience for Undergraduates “REU” or other research experience, or otherwise have ideas of your own, by all means pursue them.

Most students work on projects suggested by faculty members. However, many faculty members are flexible, so if you have specific ideas, you may find it valuable to ask appropriate faculty members if they will serve as your mentor in that project. Physics senior projects are usually individual research projects but this work commonly occurs in the context of a research group that might include postdocs, graduate students and other undergraduates, in addition to the supervising research mentor. Group projects where students work jointly on related or even the same aspect of a research project are also an option, although it is important in such cases for each student to make an easily-identifiable contribution to the work.

Most university research is public, as are most physics senior projects, but some researchers, particularly in industry, are concerned about intellectual property, IP, (i.e. secrecy). This is true even for some university researchers, who might also have to worry about journal policies related to posting information before publishing in the journal or publicizing innovative concepts before establishing ‘ownership’ by publishing in a journal or filing a patent.  While the content (proposals, posters, papers) of most physics senior projects are normally considered to be in the public domain and you are required to make a public presentation, adjustments can be made if there is good reason. If, however, the work cannot be publicized at all, even to classmates and the Senior Project Committee, it might not be suitable as a PHYS 351/353 project.

Click on “Physics Advisers / Projects Offered” to see proposals for projects from department faculty members.

Click on https://physics.case.edu/research/#centers to see the research interests of department faculty.

Previous Senior Projects may give you ideas for future projects since some might be unfinished or open to expansion. Click on “Browse Senior Projects” above and the links at the bottom of https://casgroups.case.edu/physics-senior-projects/ to find descriptions of previous Senior Projects.