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22-775: In the Astrophysics program, each team takes a series of images of a near-earth asteroid, then writes software to calculate its orbit and predict its future path. In the Biochemistry program, each team isolates and models an enzyme from a fungal crop pathogen, then designs a molecule to inhibit that enzyme. In the Genomics program, each team grows a culture of Vibrio natriegens under moderate antibiotic selection pressure. Each Summer Science Program campus hosts 36 participants and 7 faculty for 39 days. Faculty have integrated academic and residential roles. The participant experience

44-539: Is designed to be similar at all campuses. For the research, participants are organized into teams of three. The schedule includes classroom time, lab time, field trips (scientific and recreational) and guest lectures from working scientists and other professionals. Past guest speakers have included Maarten Schmidt , who has done pioneering work in quasars; Richard Feynman , a Nobel laureate in physics; James Randi , magician and debunker of pseudoscience; Mitch Kapor , founder of Lotus Development ; Paul MacCready , creator of

66-543: The Gossamer Condor and Gossamer Albatross ; and Eric Allin Cornell , a Nobel laureate in physics. The application process and admission criteria are similar to that of selective colleges. Primarily juniors (rising seniors) are admitted, with a few sophomores each year. There is a program fee, inclusive of tuition, room & board, and supplies. Need-based financial aid grants are available to cover part or all of

88-525: The Happy Valley School , is an American private , coeducational boarding school and day school in Ojai, California . Notable subjects are environmental science and sustainability program coupled with a working garden/farm on campus. The school has approximately 100 students and about 35 faculty and staff, all of whom live on or near campus. There were 13 states and 22 countries represented in

110-573: The Python programming language , employing the Gaussian method . The following is a list of notable alumni. Maarten Schmidt Maarten Schmidt (28 December 1929 – 17 September 2022) was a Dutch-born American astronomer who first measured the distances of quasars . He was the first astronomer to identify a quasar, and so was pictured on the March cover of Time magazine in 1966. Schmidt

132-560: The founder of Lotus Development Corporation )." The program is co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology which are affiliate universities, and by Harvey Mudd College , which is an academic partner to the program. The program was established in 1959 at The Thacher School in Ojai, California , as a response to the launch of Sputnik 1 and

154-410: The 2017–2018 student body. The school was conceptualized by Annie Besant , who had initially envisioned an educational community that would nurture spiritual, artistic, and intellectual growth as well as physical and mental well-being. Initially a secondary school, it was founded by Guido Ferrando , Aldous Huxley , J. Krishnamurti , and Rosalind Rajagopal . The school opened on October 1, 1946, as

176-585: The California campus moved to Westmont College in Santa Barbara , then in 2015 to University of Colorado Boulder . In 2016, following three years of planning and preparation, a pilot of the first SSP in Biochemistry was held at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Six alumni from the previous summer successfully ran through the new experiment. In 2017, the first SSP in Biochemistry

198-671: The alumni community, and found a new host campus. Beginning in 2000, SSP was held at the Happy Valley School, located just across the Ojai Valley from The Thacher School. In 2007, Happy Valley School was renamed Besant Hill School . With the alumni rescue complete, they soon began looking to expand the program. In 2003 a second campus opened at New Mexico Tech in Socorro with the support of New Mexico Tech, Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, and others. In 2010,

220-454: The calculated orbital elements ) are submitted to the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian . Over the decades SSP students have done their orbit determination calculations on mechanical calculators (1960s), then electronic calculators (1970s), then "mini-computers" (1980s), then personal computers (1990s and 2000s). In recent years they write their orbit determination programs in

242-485: The fee, with SSP guaranteeing to meet all demonstrated need. Donations to the nonprofit fund financial aid. In 1991, the National Academies' Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications observed that "All participants go on to college. About 37 percent of the pre-1985 graduates are now working in science and medicine, and 34 percent in engineering, mathematics, and computer science (including

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264-426: The first 50 years of the program, students took photographic images of main-belt asteroids (between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter). Starting in 2009 students took digital images of (much fainter) near-Earth asteroids (inside the orbit of Mars). The process of orbit determination is conceptually the same in both cases. First students take a series of images of asteroids. After identifying the asteroid, its position on

286-402: The image relative to known stars is carefully calculated. That relative position is then used to determine the position of the asteroid in celestial coordinates ( right ascension and declination ) at the exact time the image was taken. The series of positions as the asteroid moves across the sky allows the student to fit an approximate orbit to the asteroid. The measured asteroid coordinates (not

308-643: The inaugural Kavli Prize for Astrophysics in 2008. He lectured a total of 33 times at the Summer Science Program . Schmidt married Cornelia Tom in 1955. They met at a party hosted by Oort, and remained married until her death in 2020. Together, they had three daughters: Anne, Elizabeth, and Marijke. Schmidt died on 17 September 2022 at his home in Fresno, California . He was 92 years old. Awards Named after him Besant Hill School Besant Hill School of Happy Valley , formerly

330-487: The orbit of 9 Metis , their data resulted in a significant correction to the Russian ephemeris. Women were admitted starting in 1969, and reached 50% of enrollment in 2010. After 41 summers at Thacher, a significant threat to the continuation of SSP came in 2000, when Thacher School decided to use its entire campus for a different purpose. SSP alumni incorporated Summer Science Program, Inc., solicited funding largely from

352-520: The start of the Space Race . The Headmaster at Thacher was concerned that the country's top high school students were not being adequately informed and inspired about careers in the physical sciences. He decided to create an intense summer program to challenge such students and give them a taste of "doing real science," with assistance from Caltech, UCLA , Claremont Colleges , and Stanford . Financial support came from Hughes Aircraft . The first SSP

374-647: Was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from Leiden Observatory in 1956. After completing his doctorate, Schmidt resided in the United States for two years on a Carnegie Fellowship . He returned briefly to the Netherlands, but ultimately emigrated to the US on a permanent basis in 1959 to work at the California Institute of Technology . In the beginning, he worked on theories about the mass distribution and dynamics of galaxies . Of particular note from this period

396-623: Was born in Groningen , The Netherlands , on 28 December 1929. His father, Wilhelm, worked as an accountant for the Dutch government; his mother, Annie Wilhelmina (Haringhuizen), was a housewife. Schmidt studied math and physics at the University of Groningen , graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1949 before obtaining a master's degree the following year. He then commenced doctoral studies at Leiden University under Jan Oort . Schmidt

418-617: Was his formulation of what has become known as the Schmidt law , which relates the density of interstellar gas to the rate of star formation occurring in that gas. He later began a study of the light spectra of radio sources. In 1963, using the 200-inch reflector telescope at the Palomar Observatory , Schmidt identified the visible object corresponding to one of these radio sources, known as 3C 273 and also studied its spectrum . While its star-like appearance suggested it

440-568: Was led by Dr. Paul Routly and Dr. Foster Strong. In 1960, Dr. George Abell joined the program for his first of more than 20 summers at SSP. The first year, SSP had 26 students. The students used data from the " Russian ephemeris " ( Ephemyeredi Mahlikh Planyet ) to find asteroids to photograph, measured the positions, and submitted the data to the Minor Planet Center at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian . The students were excited to find that when they calculated

462-500: Was relatively nearby, the spectrum of 3C 273 proved to have what was at the time a high redshift of 0.158, showing that it lay far beyond the Milky Way , and thus possessed an extraordinarily high luminosity . Schmidt termed 3C 273 a "quasi-stellar" object or quasar; thousands have since been identified. Schmidt was featured on the cover of Time magazine in March 1966. He was later a co-recipient, with Donald Lynden-Bell , of

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484-512: Was successfully held with 24 participants. In 2022, the first SSP in Genomics took place at Purdue University with 24 participants. Through 2017, over 2,500 participants have attended 75 programs. All alumni and former faculty are "members" of the nonprofit for life, along with other members named by the Board. The Members elect Trustees annually, have access to an online database for networking, and are invited to an Annual Dinner held each fall. For

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