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Research Experience For Undergraduates

Research Experiences for Undergraduates is a National Science Foundation funded program The National Science Foundation makes possible a number of opportunities for undergraduates to join research projects each summer. There are research opportunities in all fields of science including many in biology sand ocean science. The program is designed so that students experience first-hand how basic research is carried out, and contribute to an on-going project. Each student is assigned to a specific research project, where he/she works closely with the faculty, post-docs, and graduate students. In addition, seminars, lunch meetings, and social functions are organized to facilitate interaction between the undergraduates. Students are granted stipends, and in some cases assistance with housing and travel. Students who are in those groups traditionally under-represented in science (women, members of under-represented minorities, and those with disabilities) are particularly urged to apply. Usually college graduates or high school graduates not yet enrolled at university are ineligible. Please note that many of these programs have early application deadlines often late January or early February and some have specific requirements! Please see the actual sights and application forms for exact deadlines. The dates posted on this sites are provided as estimates only.

NSF REU links to specific science fields: click on the field that interests you to go to a list of field stations and universities with current openings for REUs

Some Selected REU Programs:

Acadamy of Natural Sciences: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia offers 10-week summer internships for undergraduates, through the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research Programs for Undergraduates (REU). The Academy's REU program is dedicated to training students in research based on the Academy's world-renowned collections in Botany, Ichthyology, Ornithology, Entomology, Malacology, and Paleontology Projects for Summer 2006 will be posted in January and applications will be accepted January 20 to March 3, 2006.
American Museum of Natural History: Our program provides students with a coherent, hands-on introduction to research in systematics and comparative evolutionary biology, and serves a critical role in attracting, inspiring and educating undergraduate students in the fundamental importance of these biological disciplines. Students enrolled in the AMNH REU program have at their disposal world-class collections of fishes, dinosaurs, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and invertebrates, as well as cutting edge research facilities in the Molecular Genomics laboratories, and the museum's research library. Review of applications begin 1 March
Marine Science and Engineering in China: 11-week ( May 25 to Aug. 4) summer research program in Marine Science and Engineering. Research topics include environmental science, marine biology, oceanography, structure engineering, coastal engineering, material science, and others. Each student will receive a stipend of $3,000, plus travel expenses, and room & board. Students don't need to know Chinese. Students will communicate with research mentors in English. Deadline: March 10, 2005
Kansas Konza Prairie: The 10-week REU program is designed to accommodate the different academic schedules of institutions on semester and quarter systems, but this format can be somewhat restrictive. To give the program more flexibility, incoming students will be offered earlier starting or later end dates if they are available outside of the regular 10-week period. Flexible program dates will assist REU students by giving them more time for their research projects and allowing them to work with study systems that are constrained by the seasonal phenology of events on the tallgrass prairie. For example, seasonal peaks in reproductive activity among amphibians and grassland birds usually occur in late May, which can be incompatible with the usual REU program dates of June to August.
OTS at LaSelva Costa Rica The OTS Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program will support ten undergraduates selected through a competitive application process, for a ten-week research program focusing on tropical ecology and systematics.
Grice Marine Laboratory on James Island across Charleston Harbor from the city of Charleston, South Carolina has a 10 week program designed to provide undergraduate students with a modern research experience employing physiological, cellular and molecular techniques to address questions in areas such as environmental bioindicators, developmental biology, acid-base physiology, immunology and population genetics of marine organisms.
W.K Biological Station This12-week REU program at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) of Michigan State Universityprovides an opportunity to conduct research ield research in ecology and evolutionary biology.
PIPES: The University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded internship program. Each summer 10 student interns participate in a 10-week research focused internship program focusing on tropical ecology, evolution, and natural resources management. Interns work on mentored research projects with university and local agency researchers. The focus of this program is to give those students who have limited or no research background the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in the exciting field of conservation biology. The program goal is to connect under-represented undergraduates, especially kama’aina (born and raised in Hawaii) and those of Native Hawaiian ancestry, to internship opportunities to explore the scientific research process and to explore career and graduate school opportunities for the future.
University of Alaska Southeast : A workshop on the UAS campus will include presentations by mentors on their research, training in the conduct of science, selected field methods, and field and laboratory safety. Students will work intensively with their mentors on individual projects and present their results in a seminar at the completion of the program. Opportunities also exist to present at national meetings. When not in the field, students and mentors will also participate in weekly discussions and lectures.
Miami University: Miami University's Summer 2009 REU Program in Ecology and Environmental Science focuses on "The Ecology of Human-Dominated Landscapes."The majority of a student's time will be spent conducting his/her research project. The students will work with faculty for a 10-week period that will be scheduled between May and August. Clusters of faculty mentors and students will meet weekly for the summer.
Michigan State University: The objective of this project is to engage undergraduate students in primary research of natural resource and environmental management in a unique international setting. To that end, twelve college juniors and seniors will be selected nationally to participate in an eight-week-long summer training program in China. The program features a combination of close mentoring, student and faculty teamwork, and multidisciplinary research. Based on their interests, project outline, and academic excellence, these students will come from diverse majors, schools, and backgrounds. They will work on an array of important and interesting topics, such as climate change, biodiversity protection, community-based resource management, and poverty alleviation. Participants will gather at MSU in mid-May and spend the first week preparing for their research. They will then make a five-week trip to China for field visits, data collection and analysis, and cultural experiences. They will spend the final two weeks back on the MSU campus completing their papers and presentations.
Puerto Rico Evolution and Ecology: Our program focuses on the study of tropical rainforest at various levels of organization, ranging from genes to ecosystems. Field research is conducted at El Verde Field Station, in the Caribbean National Forest.
University of Notre Dame The Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame is sponsoring a NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program during the summer of 2006. The focal point of the proposed projects is Integrative Cell and Molecular Biology .

Biodiversity Topics: Introduction . Plants . Animals . Mammals . Birds . Reptiles & Amphibians . Arthropods . Spiders . Insects