UTK Physics & Astronomy Prospective Grad Student Visit
from
Sunday 22 March 2026 (09:00)
to
Tuesday 24 March 2026 (22:00)
Monday 16 March 2026
Tuesday 17 March 2026
Wednesday 18 March 2026
Thursday 19 March 2026
Friday 20 March 2026
Saturday 21 March 2026
Sunday 22 March 2026
17:00
Pick up at Cumberland House Hotel Lobby
Pick up at Cumberland House Hotel Lobby
17:00 - 17:30
Make sure to be in the hotel lobby at 5pm and leave with the group in order to gain access to the Nielsen Physics Building.
17:30
Planetarium Show
Planetarium Show
17:30 - 18:30
Room: First Floor
Experience UTK's in-house planetarium: Learn what is visible in the sky right now, and take a journey through the solar system as we explore some of the potentially-habitable worlds near us!
18:30
Walk to Tomato Head from Cumberland House
Walk to Tomato Head from Cumberland House
18:30 - 19:00
Room: Lobby
Profs will meet the students in the hotel lobby for 6:30 PM and walk over to the restaurant downtown. Any students joining later can walk over to the restaurant on Market Square on their own.
19:00
Welcome Dinner w/ Faculty
Welcome Dinner w/ Faculty
19:00 - 20:00
Pizza dinner at a Knoxville institution
Monday 23 March 2026
08:30
Transport to IAMM from Cumberland House lobby
Transport to IAMM from Cumberland House lobby
08:30 - 09:00
Please meet in the lobby at 8:30am. If you miss the ground transportation for some reason, contact the front office at (865) 974-3342 to arrange a pickup
09:00
Breakfast in IAMM 145
Breakfast in IAMM 145
09:00 - 09:45
Room: 145
IAMM: 2641 Osprey Vista Way
09:45
Lab tours
Lab tours
09:45 - 10:30
Visiting Experimental Labs at the Institute for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing (IAMM)
10:30
Transport to Nielsen
Transport to Nielsen
10:30 - 10:45
11:00
Meeting with Dept Head, Grad Program Director, Director of Labs
-
Adrian Del Maestro
(
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
)
Christine Cheney
(
University of Tennessee Department of Physics and Astronomy
)
Steve Johnston
(
University of Tennessee
)
Meeting with Dept Head, Grad Program Director, Director of Labs
Adrian Del Maestro
(
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
)
Christine Cheney
(
University of Tennessee Department of Physics and Astronomy
)
Steve Johnston
(
University of Tennessee
)
11:00 - 12:00
Room: 307
Learn about our department and graduate program
12:00
Pizza Lunch with Faculty and Current Grad Students
Pizza Lunch with Faculty and Current Grad Students
12:00 - 13:00
Room: 201 (Space Bar)
13:00
Pre-scheduled One-on-One Meetings with Faculty
Pre-scheduled One-on-One Meetings with Faculty
13:00 - 15:00
Based on your responses on the survey, we've arranged faculty meetings when possible. Please find your personalized meeting schedule at the link below. If you would like to add to this schedule, please get in touch with Prof Richers: richers@utk.edu
14:00
Grad Student Poster Session
Grad Student Poster Session
14:00 - 15:00
Learn about some of the great research going on in the department from our current grad students
15:00
Pre-Colloquium Tea and Refreshments
Pre-Colloquium Tea and Refreshments
15:00 - 15:30
15:30
Colloquium - TBD
Colloquium - TBD
15:30 - 16:30
Room: 307
16:45
Campus Tours w/ Grad Students or Downtime
Campus Tours w/ Grad Students or Downtime
16:45 - 18:00
For campus tours, gather outside of colloquium after it ends to meet your grad student guides.
18:00
Dinner with Current Grad Students
Dinner with Current Grad Students
18:00 - 21:00
Tuesday 24 March 2026
07:30
Check out of Hotel on Time
Check out of Hotel on Time
07:30 - 08:00
Checkout time is 11am. If going to ORNL, please make sure to checkout before coming to campus for the shuttle. The hotel can store your bags at the counter.
08:00
Details
Details
08:00 - 14:30
Contributions
08:00
Leave for ORNL
08:30
Register at ORNL
09:30
OLCF visit
10:00
Depart for SNS
10:30
SNS tour
11:00
Depart for ORNL main campus
11:30
Tour of the Graphite Reactor at ORNL
12:00
Lunch break
13:30
Return to Nielsen Physics
Optional UTK Campus Activities (if not going to ORNL)
Optional UTK Campus Activities (if not going to ORNL)
08:00 - 13:00
Contributions
08:10
Quantum Field Theory II
-
Lucas Platter
08:10
Computational Physics
-
Zachary Nicolaou
09:45
Advanced Solid State Physics II
-
Steve Johnston
(
University of Tennessee
)
11:10
Lab Tour
12:00
Lunch and Free Time
13:30
Pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings with faculty
Pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings with faculty
13:30 - 15:30
Based on your responses on the survey, we've arranged faculty meetings when possible. Please find your personalized meeting schedule at the link from Monday afternoon. Your PDF schedule contains the schedule for both days.