Roles of Artistic Practice in the Development of Physics Undergraduate Researchers

Art and science meet in one of the components of the University of Maryland College Park Physics REU*, TREND^. Through TREND, ~10 students come to campus each summer for 10 weeks to do mentored research in nonlinear dynamics. As part of the program, participants are guided in developing a multimedia project that conveys their summer research to a non-scientific audience. Project formats include animations, comics, illustrated stories, infographics, interactive diagrams, and videos, representing a variety of artistic media and skills. This component of TREND has existed since 2015, resulting in 96 multimedia projects to date.

In this talk, I will use the TREND multimedia project as an example to illustrate how bringing artistic practice into scientists' training might impact communication skills, attitudes towards outreach, and identity. To this end, I will present TREND participant survey data, showcase select multimedia projects, and facilitate a hands-on activity drawn from the TREND experience.

*Research Experience for Undergraduates | ^Training and Research Experiences in Nonlinear Dynamics