Snow receives grant for research

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded Erica Snow, a Fredonia professor of Physics, a $200,000 research grant on August 1. Snow's research was one of only 24 proposals, out of nearly 100, chosen by the NSF's Atomic and Molecular Division to receive subsidy.

According to a Fredonia press report, Snow said that the grant "recognizes the excellent potential of both the faculty and the undergraduate students' ability to perform relevant and interesting research at a high level."

The NSF grant provides Snow with three years of funding for her project. The money will allow her to purchase equipment and to pay undergraduate students salaries. Snow expressed her enthusiasm about the grant and said she looks forward to working with some of her students.

"I'm most excited about the fact that I'm able to employ students and give them a chance to be involved in cutting edge research."

Snow and her team will be testing existing quantum mechanical theories of molecules. Essentially, Snow's research will be taking a lot of measurements. The goal is to figure out how much energy is needed to shift a highly excited electron to an even greater excited energy state.

The fastidious measurements that Snow and her group of students will be collecting during their research will help to test current theories and to increase understanding of the molecule hydrogen. Snow's studies have the potential to help lay the foundation for future astrophysical studies.

The application process to receive the grant was quite complicated. Snow explained that she had to submit a grant proposal under 15 pages long explaining her study and how it would benefit it her research. Although the task sounds simple enough it involved a lot of "attention to detail and requires extensive calculations, modeling and sometimes preliminary data," in order to convince other scientists that her research was worth funding.

John Kijinski, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences said in a Fredonia press report that the grant, "will allow Fredonia students to engage in high-power, original research. This is a great example of how research endeavors on the part of faculty can lead to unique and rich educational opportunities for our students."

Cody Chambers, a senior physics major who will be helping Professor Snow with her research said, "We've actually been doing research for a few years now but no one really realized it. Fundamental research can and does happen at small universities and often that research and the departments conducting it go unnoticed."

"In my opinion there is great science being done at Fredonia and the professors, scientists and students participating in it should be just as excited as I am about the grant," said Chambers.

"The hope is always to be able to get enough accomplished so that the work can be published in a journal, which is an extremely noteworthy thing for an undergraduate student to have on his/her resume!" said Snow as she elaborated about the type of student that she looks for to conduct research.

"One of my goals with this project and future projects is to train students for future careers in research... I look for several different qualities in a research student. Yes, grades are important but not the ultimate deciding factor. A student must be making good progress in coursework. Research can be time consuming so they must have the time available to devote to it without letting their studies slide."

"The grant not only means that Dr. Snow now has the ability to upgrade the lab but it also brings the college of natural sciences into the public eye," Chambers said.