Funded by the National Science Foundation
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Training Site: Undergraduate Summer Research in Molecular Biophysics
June 5 - August 4, 2023
Covid-19 Note: Evaluation of applications will begin February 1 regardless of the Covid status at that time, but renewed Covid concerns may later require change in whether or how the program will run in summer, 2023.
Purpose
The mission of this training program in molecular biophysics is to enable students of the physical, mathematical, or engineering sciences from colleges with limited research opportunities to address important problems in biology. The summer undergraduate program offers cross-disciplinary research experience with leading faculty mentors who apply the intellectual, experimental, or theoretical tools of those sciences to biological questions.
Eligibility
The program seeks undergraduates who are in the freshman or sophomore year of study in chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, or physics who are interested in biology, and who are in good standing in their home institutions. We do not encourage applications from students majoring in biology without strong background in one of the above sciences, nor students in their third undergraduate year or beyond. Eligibility requires continuing undergraduate status in the term following the REU summer. Competitive applicants should have a good GPA, especially in the field of their major. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The program does not accept students from Princeton University. We welcome applications of students who are from groups that are historically underrepresented in graduate education or STEM employment. Students from community colleges are especially encouraged to apply. Application deadline is January 31 each year at 23:59 EST.
All applications and inquiries are handled through our website. Please direct all inquiries to the program administrative assistant, Derrick Rose, [email protected], not to REU faculty or the program directors.
Program
Each student accepted into the program serves as an assistant in the research group of a Princeton faculty member who serves as mentor and research advisor. See the Faculty page for a list of participating faculty members and their research areas and projects. The program directors in consultation with training faculty match student interests to available projects. Not at faculty or all projects are available in any given year.
Regular meetings with the faculty mentor and members of the research team provide guidance about experimental design, methods, and progress. Program participants will give several brief, informal oral reports on their work during the course of the summer. By the end of the program, students also prepare a formal written report on their research and present an oral summary.
Lunch meetings with the program directors, daily during the first week and weekly thereafter, will provide general guidance and explore related topics including scientific ethics, presentation skills, future opportunities including graduate programs and applications, etc.
In addition to the faculty research mentor, participants will have guidance from a day-to-day mentor in the research group. Each REU is also paired with a near-peer mentor, an early Ph.D. student in a different field with whom to develop a personal relationship and to discuss any topic of interest.
The program requires full-time commitment of summer students (minimum forty hours per week for nine weeks and no additional commitments to jobs, courses, exam reviews, etc.).
Many other summer programs are conducted on campus during the summer period, so there is ample opportunity for meeting a wide cross-section of students from Princeton and elsewhere who are working in a broad range of fields.
Students who complete a summer in the program successfully are automatically eligible to apply for research abroad in the following summer with support from this program. See "Overseas Research" below.
Financial support
The program provides a 2023 stipend of $600 weekly, paid housing in campus dormitories, and travel to and from Princeton from your home or school location plus a $100 weekly food allowance (for students in the domestic program only). Housing is provided in quarters with shared cooking facilities. Students have free access to the University's considerable library and computing resources, and are eligible to use the campus gymnasium facilities at cost.
Contact
Derrick Rose
Program Administrative Assistant
Department of Chemistry
Frick Laboratory
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Phone: 609-258-4079
Email: [email protected]