Category: Undergraduate Research

Harvard Forest: Summer Research Program in Ecology

Colleen Norden / / STEM, Summer Program, UR Opportunities

Students of all class years and majors are encouraged to apply. A strong interest in ecology needs to be demonstrated.

Deadline: February 5th, 2016

From the program brochure:
“Each student will participate in an ongoing study with senior researchers from Harvard University, the Ecosystems Center of the Marine Biological Lab, University of New Hampshire, University of Massachusetts, Boston University, and other collaborators. Responsibilities generally include field and laboratory studies, computer modeling, data analysis, and scientific writing. In addition, students attend weekly research seminars given by nationally known scientists, workshops on research and ecological ethics, and career and graduate school panels. Students will develop their research results and present their findings at a student research symposium.”

“Students are paid a stipend in excess of $5,775 for the 11‑week session which runs from mid May through early August. Excellent on-site housing and a full meal plan are included as part of the program. Assistance with travel costs to and from Harvard Forest is also provided.”

more information can be found at:
http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/other-tags/reu

Summer Science Research in US or Japan as an Amgen Scholar

Colleen Norden / / UR Opportunities

Now approaching its tenth summer, the Amgen Scholars Program continues to offer undergraduates the opportunity to collaborate with faculty at top institutions–including Harvard, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, and others in the US and Japan–on cutting-edge scientific research.

Applications for the 2016 Amgen Scholars Program in the U.S. and Japan are now online. Note that applicants do not need to currently attend one of the U.S. or Japan host institutions to participate ( Amgen Scholars have represented over 500 colleges and universities to date). Financial support is provided for scholars with details varying by institution.

Application deadline is February 1, 2016 (February 15 for the California Institute of Technology).

Eligibility requirements, as well as site-specific programming information, is available online at amgenscholars.com.

Summer Research Challenge at Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL)

Colleen Norden / / UR Opportunities

Oak Ridge National Laboratories, located in Tennessee, offers multiple summer research opportunities for undergraduates. See their program information online at http://www.orau.org/ornl/undergraduates/. The lab is managed by the Department of Energy and focuses on global and national energy and environmental issues and the “development of new energy sources, technologies, and materials and the advancement of knowledge in the biological, chemical, computational, engineering, environmental, physical, and social sciences.”

ORNL Challenge Program for Undergraduates Now Accepting Applications

Deadline for applications: January 15th, 2016

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) wants to pinpoint and capture some of the best new minds entering scientific and engineering fields today, by using a unique competitive process. Students who are interested in grand challenge science and want to make a difference in the world are encouraged to apply to the ORNL Challenge Program!

ORNL’s two grand research Challenges for 2016 focus on “Simulation and Design of Artificial Model Magnets” and “Distributed Energy Research – Powering Microgrids.” To apply for the ORNL Challenge Program, applicants must write a proposal that identifies possible solutions to one of these two research Challenges. If the student’s proposal is chosen as one of the top choices, the applicant will be offered a summer 2016 internship at ORNL, to implement their research solution. A competitive stipend, housing, and professional development activities will be included as part of the internship.

Applicants must be junior or senior undergraduate students currently enrolled at an accredited U.S. college or university. There are no citizenship requirements or GPA requirements to apply.

Find the full Challenge descriptions, the proposal template and the application link on our website: www.orau.org/ornlchallenge.

Paid Summer Research Opp in DC or Boulder (NIST)- Midd deadline Jan. 15

Colleen Norden / / Summer Program, UR Opportunities

NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

“Spend part of your summer working elbow to elbow with researchers at one of the world’s leading research organizations and home to four Nobel Prize winners.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Gaithersburg, MD is offering a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program for students majoring in science, mathematics and engineering. Note that applications for participation in the SURF program are only accepted from colleges or universities, and not from individual students so you need to apply through Middlebury College.

If you would like to apply to the NIST SURF program, please send the following to uro@middlebury.edu by Friday, January 15, 2016.

–Student Application Form (same form for both locations).
Note–you should list the faculty who you will ask to write letters of recommendation, but letters not needed at this stage!
-A Resume
-Unofficial Transcript
-Statement of Research Interests

More information and available research options can be found on the individual program websites:

http://www.nist.gov/surfgaithersburg/

http://www.nist.gov/surfboulder/

Eligibility: The program is open to all United States citizens or permanent residents. Students must be undergraduates at a U.S. university or college with a scientific major, have a G.P.A. of 3.0/4.0 or better (recommended), and are considering pursuing a graduate degree (M.S. or Ph.D.). Students with physics, material science, chemistry, applied mathematics, computer science, or engineering majors are always encouraged to apply. There may be research opportunities for students with other majors.

SURF students receive stipend, and housing and travel allotments (as needed). Funding for students comes via a federal grant issued to the school from NIST. In 2015, students who completed the full 11 week program received a $5,500 stipend. Students that did not make the full 11-week program were paid at $500 per week.

The only real expenses that students should expect to pay out-of-pocket are personal entertainment and food. To help control the food expenses, the student apartments have a full kitchen with dishes, utensils, pots and pans. There are free continental breakfasts daily!

This is a competitive program that reviews both the university and student portion of the application to determine the final list of SURF awardees. The NIST SURF program will support approximately 100 students.

For questions contact:

Lisa Gates
Associate Dean for Fellowships and Research

C3 Fellowship Info Session–Dec. 7 at 4:30

Colleen Norden / / UR Opportunities

C3 (Creating Connections Consortium) summer research opportunities for sophomores and juniors are now at four universities: UC Berkeley, Columbia, University of Michigan and the University of Chicago. Application deadlines vary by program, but begin February 1, 2016.

We are holding an info session for interested students on Monday, December 7 at 4:30pm at the Anderson Freeman Resource Center.

Five Middlebury students participated last summer; and found it enormously beneficial for their senior work and post-graduate planning. Some details:

Who can apply?
The program invites applications from current sophomores and juniors. First-years may also be considered. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Students from historically underrepresented groups, and/or first generation college students or others who pursued paths to college in the face of adversity, such as societal, economic or academic disadvantages are strongly encouraged to apply.

Which research areas are supported?
Research projects in the arts, humanities, humanistic social sciences and mathematics are welcome. Students do not need to be a major/prospective major in these fields to apply.

What are the benefits?
A generous summer stipend, campus housing, transportation costs to/from Berkeley or New York City. Students will be part of a faculty-mentored project, learn about graduate school admissions and GRE preparation, and be part of a cohort of other college students from liberal arts colleges.

Want more information?
Visit the C3 website at http://c3transformhighered.org. Additional information about summer undergraduate research programs at Middlebury and elsewhere is available at go/summer.