Since its inception, approximately 1,000 rising ninth graders have attended this program. Past participants have gone on to become engineers, doctors, computer specialist and, of course, physicists. Summer Girls have come from Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC. In addition, we've had girls from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and internationally. Since this is a free program, applications are received from a diverse group of young females, with one thing in common--- the desire to learn more about physics. We do not ask for letters of recommendation or grades, but applicants are required to write a paragraph explaining why they would like to attend this day camp program.
9th Grade Program
In 1990, two faculty members discussed that there was nothing available to interest girls in physics. They applied to the National Science Foundation for funding and from there, the Physics Department Summer Girls Outreach Program was created. The program started with one, two-week program session and has grown to two, two-week, sessions. The program will run daily from 8:30 – 4PM. In the mornings,attendees listen to lectures, participate in demos, write in journals and complete hands on experiments from a lab manual. At the end of the two-week program, we invite parents, teachers and siblings to a closing ceremony where Summer Girls present their favorite demonstrations.
11th Grade Program
After increased popularity and demand for the Summer Outreach Program for rising 9th grade girls, the program is being extended to rising 11th grade girls. While the 9th grade program focuses on traditional physics, the 11th grade program will jump into the world of modern physics. The program will run daily from 9 – 3. In the mornings, the girls will be introduced to the exciting world of modern physics. They will learn about Relativity, Antimatter, Quantum Mechanics, Physical Uncertainty, Quantum Computing and more. The afternoons will be filled with hands-on lab activities, visits to labs working ion modern physics, discussions with professors currently doing work in modern physics and a project to make our discussions of modern topics tangible. Students will be introduced to topics that they will likely not be offered in their high school classes, from the thought experiments of Einstein to current applications in code breaking. * Program is open to all qualifiied applicants, both females and males. 
Contact Us
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1120 John S. Toll Physics Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
301-405-5949
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