For many of us, autumn feels like the real start of a new year. New classes begin, cold weather clothes emerge and we begin to settle into routine. Accompanying this is the inevitable summer internship application cycle, which starts especially early for those in STEM fields. Ahead of the December rush, I want to highlight a program that has been the foundation of my past two summers.
Similar to Vassar’s Undergraduate Summer Research Institute (URSI), the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsors intensive external research opportunities known as Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). These programs typically open for application from November through January, and applications are submitted on a rolling basis from December until March. Applying is similar to college; applicants complete a personal statement, provide recommenders and answer program-specific questions. As rigorous as the process is, landing one of the opportunities is exciting and makes it all worth it. Attending an REU site is a great way to meet other academics in the field, explore a potential graduate school and live in a new area!
Generally speaking, each site hosts a cohort of students that attend weekly activities together but complete their research in separate labs. Group activities include field-specific training, professional development workshops and faculty and graduate student lunches or talks. Recreational activities are also offered, such as movie nights or off-site excursions to explore the area. Outside of cohort responsibilities, student researchers typically work the standard 9 to 5, though flexibility is offered based on the program and lab. At the end of the summer, the research is presented in a symposium to peers and faculty across the program, department and university.
To start, interested students can visit the NSF Education and Training Application (ETAP) portal and filter the search by their level of education and field(s) of interest. Each site lists the name of the school or site affiliate and information about the projects and mentors.
During summer 2023, I attended an NSF REU site at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (UPRRP). As a relatively amateur computer science major at the time, I was fortunate enough to be accepted to a site specializing in quantitative biology. My cohort was housed in suite-style apartments across the street from campus. Prior to departure to the site, our program mentor connected us via email, which sparked a WhatsApp chat where we discussed packing essentials, arrival plans and our hopes for the summer.
Unique to this site was the opportunity to develop relationships across five programs—our summer undergraduate program, two multi-year academic programs and two postbaccalaureate programs. Many of us—especially those in the same labs—became fast friends, planning grocery trips, nights out and a long weekend on the eastern coast of the island well in advance.
Each week, members of the five programs attended a collective lunch with one of the faculty mentors and either a workshop or group activity. The mentors spoke to us about their journey into academia, their current research and how they eventually ended up at UPRRP. Additionally, included in the extra activities were a talk from a Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recipient, a hackathon and several movie nights throughout our time.
Outside of the group activities, I worked in the lab of Dr. Alfredo Ghezzi, where I was taught about the type of work the lab does as well as many of the ongoing projects before being assigned my own task—to create a standard method for monitoring fruit fly behavior in tolerance assay experiments. Given that the primary focus of the lab was on biological research, I was able to work on the machines in a separate computational lab which allowed me to meet new people and learn about open-source machine learning tools. I especially treasured this opportunity because the research was truly cross-disciplinary, and I was able to gain experience in tools in a field I would not have at Vassar.
After enjoying my time in Puerto Rico, I decided to reapply to REUs for Summer 2024. Fortunately, I was accepted to the program I was most excited about and braved my fears of living without an ocean beach, moving inland to attend an REU site at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I initially found the program during my 2023 application cycle during which many of the projects and mentors piqued my interest, especially because of their overarching theme—human-centered computing for social good. This year, I diligently monitored the application portal waiting for the opportunity to apply.
Once accepted, I excitedly emailed my mentor—Dr. Harmanpreet Kaur—to begin the onboarding process into the lab. Dr. Kaur sent me six initial papers to read to get a feel for the subfield and the work she conducts. At the start of the program, we met to discuss whether I wanted to join an ongoing project or brainstorm something of my own; I chose the latter. The final product was a mixed-methods within-subjects study about the correlation between an individual’s level of agreeableness and conscientiousness, and their performance on an AI-assisted writing task.
This program had a consistent schedule for cohort-wide workshops—Mondays were professional development seminars, Wednesdays were for faculty and graduate student research talks and Fridays were for graduate student led workshops that put the topic of the Monday seminar into practice.
Dr. Kaur is a part of the GroupLens lab, a conglomerate of five faculty members, and their students that share the same space and often collaborate. As an extrovert, I greatly enjoyed working at my desk in the lab alongside the graduate students. I was able to focus on my work when necessary, but still spin my chair around to ask questions about Minneapolis, graduate school, the workforce and beyond.
Overall, both of my REU experiences were incredibly fulfilling. I made new lifelong friends and core memories, met academics across multiple fields and lived in vastly different areas. I encourage anyone looking for a fun and meaningful summer experience to check out next year’s REU programs!