The Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics series started up in 2006 and has grown ever since. The conference meets annually in January on the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Day. In 2012, six sites hosted almost 700 undergraduate physics majors. The overarching goals of these conferences are
- to foster a culture in which undergraduate women are encouraged and supported to pursue and to succeed in higher education in physics;
- to provide career information to students in physics and related fields;
- to give women the resources, motivation, and confidence to apply to graduate school and successfully complete a Ph.D. program in Physics;
- to provide information and dispel misconceptions about the graduate school application process and the diverse employment opportunities in physics and related fields, enabling women to make more informed decisions and to attain their goals; and
- to connect female physics students with successful female physicists, who may serve as inspirational role models and mentors.
To meet these goals, the specific conference objectives are that participants will leave with:
- Increased knowledge of career options and opportunities for women with a B.S. through Ph.D. in physics.
- A greater familiarity and understanding of the graduate school experience.
- Resources for applying to and being successful in graduate school, as well as general resources for women in physics.
- A greatly expanded network of women in physics.
The University of Illinois hosted the conference in 2009, and we are very excited to host the Midwest event again in 2013. The states included in the Midwest region are Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Kentucky.
Students from the University of Illinois, Eastern Illinois University and Millikin University are organizing the 2013 event, to be held January 18-20, 2013.
