(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — You could call UC Santa Barbara’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) a kind of seaside physics resort. For physicists and the like, the KITP is a treat for the mind, augmented by the beauty of the campus and near-perfect weather.
While the institute largely draws visitors from top-tier research institutions to participate in its year-round programming, it also hosts a younger, lesser-known program called KITP Scholars. The program is aimed at physics professors who teach at primarily undergraduate institutions.
“I absolutely love the place. I think it’s such an inspiring environment,” said Janna Levin, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College in Manhattan, who was a KITP Scholar from 2010 to 2012. “I love the workshops and the open time for spontaneous collaboration, the chance just to talk and think and work out new possibilities.”
Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the KITP is a pioneering scientific research facility where theorists in physics and allied fields congregate for sustained periods of time to work together intensely on a broad range of questions arising from investigations at the leading edges of science. The breadth of topics ranges from cosmology and biology to string theory, climate science and geophysics, as well as covering such traditional physics fields as condensed matter, particle physics, atomic physics, optics, turbulence and complexity.