Merna Youssef accepted to a REU at the University of Chicago

This summer, I am attending The Leadership Alliance Program at the University of Chicago. I will spend the summer studying and working on a current research topic in Astrophysics and/or cosmology. Currently, I am studying Physics and Pure Mathematics at the City College of New York.

I am planning to apply for graduate programs in theoretical physics. My research experience at the City College is drawing my attention towards Cosmology. At the present time, I am conducting research in the physics department with Professor Alexios Polychronakos on gravity. The main focus in my research is to investigate some modifications to general relativity theory to resolve some theoretical issues resulting from adding a cosmological constant. I am certain that this summer program will add much to my understanding and will expand my knowledge in the field. In addition, I will learn some computational tools that I will need in my graduate studies.

I am grateful to my professors in the Mathematics and the Physics department. I was lucky to attend classes with Prof. Wolf, Prof. Kucherenko from the Math department and Prof. Polychronakos, Prof. Nair, Prof. Boyer and Prof. Hedberg from the Physics department. I ‘d like to thank each of these professors for helping and encouraging me in my undergraduate studies. In particular, I would like to thank Prof. Polychronakos for his guidance, his support in the application process and his great advice.

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