UW Student Receives Physics Leadership Scholarship

A University of Wyoming student is one of 10 nationwide to receive a Society of Physics Students (SPS) Leadership Scholarship.

Aman Kar, who will be a senior at UW this fall, is pursuing a double major in physics and astronomy, and a double minor in mathematics and computer science. He will receive a scholarship worth $2,000 for 2018-19.

“This scholarship will help me pay off a significant portion of my college expenses for the upcoming fall,” says Kar, from Kolkata, India. “I am grateful to SPS for thinking I am worthy of this award. It also helps me be motivated to keep on helping with the SPS chapter we have here at the University of Wyoming.”

The purpose of the SPS scholarship program is to encourage the study of physics and the pursuit of high scholarship. The SPS Leadership Scholarships consist of $2,000-$5,000 awards for physics majors in the latter stages of their undergraduate careers.

In determining the recipients, the SPS Scholarship Committee considers high scholarship performance, both in physics and overall studies; exhibition of the potential and intention for continued scholastic development in physics; and active participation in SPS programs.

Kar’s work has included different projects through his undergraduate years.

“I am a senior member of our observing team for the 0.6-meter telescope at the Red Buttes Observatory, where we perform follow-up observations of transiting exoplanet candidates,” he says. “I have worked on characterizing giant exoplanets using the 2.3-meter telescope at the Wyoming Infrared Observatory. Currently, I am researching young stellar objects from observations taken at the Red Buttes Observatory.”

Kar has been an active participant in UW’s SPS chapter since his freshman year. He recently was elected both the vice president of the UW SPS chapter and the associate zone councilor for the upcoming academic year. His hobbies include intramural sports, hiking, biking and swing dancing.