What is an SMP?
The St. Mary’s Project is a year-long, 8-credit, independently designed and executed course of study intended as a capstone experience for a student’s time at St. Mary’s. Working in close conjunction with one or more professors, in or outside of the department, you have the opportunity to explore, in depth, a question or idea that entrances and intrigues you. Many—although by no means all—SMPs are interdisciplinary, bringing together threads from earlier classes taken across the curriculum. Many are highly personal, involving creative or innovative work that ties together four years of study in a meaningful way. SMPs can, in their final form, take the shape of research papers, collections of essays, anthologies of poetry, films, web sites, suites of paintings, graphic novels, operas—all these, and more, have been done in years past.
The College has established certain guidelines for the SMP:
- It must be student-initiated
- It must demonstrate methodological competence (by identifying an area to be explored and proposing a method of inquiry appropriate for the topic)
- It must draw on and extend knowledge, skills of analysis, and creative achievement developed through previous academic work. It must include a reflection on the social context, the body of literature, or the conceptual framework to which the project is a contribution
- It must be shared with the larger community through some form of public presentation.
SMP Process
First year students and sophomores:
- Consider your interests and keep track of favorite and interesting topics
- Don’t be too specific, keep it broad
- Talk to friends and seniors doing projects
- Attend SMP presentations and look over the archives
First semester of junior year:
- Consider whether you want to collaborate with others. Note that collaborating with other students will not necessarily make your workload easier
- Think about whether you want to do the project in two 4-credit blocks or employ a three-semester sequence
- Narrow your choice to one or two topics
- Attend the physics faculty presentation on research opportunities
- Discuss and develop your topic ideas with faculty members who might be good mentors
- Talk to the St. Mary’s Career Center if you want to include an off-campus component to your project
- Submit your mentor and project preferences to the Physics Department
- Receive your faculty mentor assignment from the Physics Department
Second semester of junior year:
- Some students begin their SMP in the second semester of junior year
Senior Year
- Work closely with your faculty mentor
- Submit the budget request form by late October (option to resubmit in March)
- Complete research, hands-on experience, written essay, and poster
- Present in the Spring semester
How to Choose a Topic
- What areas of physics interest you?
- What are your career interests?
- Do you want a project to include specific experiences such as doing an off-campus internship or conducting on-site research?
- What was your favorite class and why?
- Would a topic from a class be something you would like to pursue further?
SMP Forms
Alternative Capstone Experience
Physics
Every physics major must complete a St. Mary’s Project.
Applied Physics
Every physics major with concentration in applied physics must successfully complete the two senior seminars in applied physics, PHYS 475: Topics in Applied Physics I and PHYS 476: Topics in Applied Physics 2. Majors with this concentration do not need to do a St. Mary’s Project, but may do so if they wish. If they choose to do so, requirements for the St. Mary’s Project are the same as for students majoring in physics.
SMP Resources
St. Mary’s Projects Website >>
Highlighted SMP Projects
Brian Tennyson ’11
“Dynamics of Probability Fluid in Quantum Mechanics,” (mentor: Dr. Katsunori Mita)
Allyson Devers ’14
“Local Radiation Magetohydrodynamic Instabilities in Magnetically Stratified Self-Gravitating Media” (mentor: Ted Tao)
Daniel Powell ’09
“Quantum-Walk Analogues of Optical Phenomena” (mentor: Josh Grossman)
Dan received the Department Award in Physics and the Geneva Boone Award for Outstanding St. Mary’s Project. He presented his SMP research in a talk at the 2009 conference of the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society. He is currently pursuing his PhD in physical chemistry at Northwestern University.
Roger Ding ’12
“An Individual Atom Magneto-Optical Trap on a Chip” (mentor: Josh Grossman)
Michael Damiano ’09
“Dispersion and Interference of Free-Particle Gaussian Wave Packets” (mentor: Katsunori Mita)
Michael Damiano ’09
“Dispersion and Interference of Free-Particle Gaussian Wave Packets” (mentor: Katsunori Mita)
Justin Stine ’14
“Dissipation Physics of X-Ray Binaries of Stellar Mass Black Holes” (mentor: Ted Tao)
Jonathan Kwolek ’14
“A Dual Accelerometer Gyroscope Atom Interferometer” (mentors: Josh Grossman, Frank Narducci)
Nikolas Lutton ’14
“Complex shadows due to meniscus effects” (mentor: Chuck Adler)
Elizabeth Meiser ’14
“A Portable Magneto-Optical Trap” (mentors: Chuck Adler, Frank Narducci)