QuarkNet Summer Workshop at Rice University 2025

Funded by NFS, through Notre Dame University, Quarknet is a week-long $480 paid stipend 30-credit hour workshop that allows “teachers and physicists to work together on physics research projects exploring the hidden nature of matter, energy, space, and time.” The 2025 Summer Teacher Workshop will be held at Rice University from June 9 - 13, 2025. The agenda for this workshop is posted below (and may change a little bit). The links will give more specific details on some of workshops components. Days start at 8h30am and end at 3h30pm. There will be presentations from Rice and UH faculty right before lunch.

Registration

Register has closed. If you are on the waiting list we will reach to you as soon as a spot opens up.

Logistics (Getting there, parking there, eating there, …)

The workshop will take place at Rice University, Herman Brown Hall room 227. To get to the campus, please take a look at this link "How to get to Rice and to get around campus we have some instructions at this link "How to get around campus." We also like this little annotated map that was sent to all participants on the Friday.

Agenda

Monday June 9 (8:30am - 3:30pm) IRIS-HEP Coding
Morning Session (8h30 - 11am)

• Coding Session (1)

Lunch Session (11am - 1pm)

• Faculty presentation: Asking the Right Questions: Random, and Chaotic Motions, Patterns & Networks, Prof. Gemunu Gunaratne (UH)
• Lunch

Afternoon Session (1h - 3h30pm)

• Coding Session (2)

Tuesday June 10 (8:30am - 3:30pm) IRIS-HEP Coding
Morning Session (8h30 - 11am)

• ICoding Session (3)

Lunch Session

• Faculty presentation: Probing the Nature’s Primordial Fluid, Prof. Volodymir Vovchenko (UH)
• Lunch

Afternoon Session (1h - 3h30pm)

• Coding Session (4)

Wednesday June 11 (8:30am - 3:30pm) Cosmic Watches
Morning Session (8h30 - 11am)

• Cosmic Watch Session (1)

Lunch Session

• Faculty presentation: Emergent Physics and Phase Transitions, Prof. Doug Natelson (Rice Univ)
• Lunch

Afternoon Session (1h - 3h30pm)

• Cosmic Watch Session (2)

Thursday June 12 (8:30am - 3:30pm) Quantum Data
Morning Session (8h30 - 11am)

• Quantum Physics (1)

Lunch Session

• Faculty presentation: Introductory Physics at Rice University, Prof. Robert Beaird (Rice Univ.)
• bonus materials
• lunch

Afternoon Session (1h - 3h30pm)

• Quantum Physics (2)

Friday June 13 (8:30am - 1:00pm) Local Center Activities
Morning Session (8h30 - 11am)

• Ideas for the Fall & Beyond!
• Follow-up discussion
• implementation discussion and plans

• teacher survey (full, update)

• CMS virtual tour (YouTube link)

Lunch Session (11am - 1pm)

• Faculty presentation: Diving Deeper with the James Webb Telescope, Prof. Megan Reiter (Rice Univ)
• lunch

Photos

More photos can be found at this link, but here is the official group picture with all the QuarkNet staff, QuarkNet coding fellows, the Lead Teacher, and the Faculty Sponsor …






The organizers,

Mary Yarbray (Houston QN Lead Teacher, Klein ISD)
Shane Wood (QN Fellow, Notre Dame), Ken Cecire (QN Fellow, Notre Dame)
Frank Geurts (QN Rice/UH faculty sponsor/coordinator, Rice University)
Darin Acosta (QN Rice/UH faculty mentor, Rice University)