Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

Are you interested in conducting research with a college professor and other students on a college campus over the summer?

Here are some tips on How to get an REU, including how to find programs and how to apply.

The National Science Foundation sponsors many REUs in a variety of technical disciplines at colleges all around the United States. These programs are open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents only.

In addition to an REU, there are other summer programs available, including:

NASA Summer Internships For upperclassmen. A similar opportunity for juniors and seniors is a 10-week summer program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy Summer Internship Summer interns work closely with a faculty mentor at one of the 10 associated universities. In addition to using a 0.9-m telescope at Kitt Peak in Arizona, summer activities include a number of social events and excursions, as well as workshops on observational techniques data reduction, current events in astronomy, proposal writing, job opportunities in astronomy and scientific ethics.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Dynamics Summer School focuses on a select group of prospective upper level undergraduate students and first year graduate students on the broad field of engineering dynamics. Engineering dynamics encompasses technologies such as flight dynamics, vibration isolation for precision manufacturing, earthquake engineering, blast loading and signal processing. Students are paid the same salaries as undergraduate and graduate research assistants.