WISE summer REU/internship workshop

About 30 students attended a REU/Internship Workshop sponsored by WISE, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) and the Physics Department. As Sandy Gregerman, UROP Director, pointed out at the workshop, the numbers of UM applicants to REUs is low compared to applications from other large research institutions.

Now is the time to start getting application material together for these positions. Both internships and summer research experiences are very competitive; students are advised to apply for 8-10 and to make sure they put together very competitive applications.

While the focus of the workshop was on summer research opportunities at universities, information about summer internships at corporations was also presented. Internship compensation and application requirements will vary, but typically they will pay better than summer research at universities and the application process may be easier. However, they may provide the housing and travel fees that REUs pay, and they may not provide the same social and tourist opportunities. Both the Engineering Career Resource Center (ECRD) on north campus and the Career Center on central campus provide advising and both hold internship fairs next term.

Gregerman provided students with information on REUs which take place all over the country, and some overseas. The National Science Foundation sponsors many REUs, but individual researchers may also be interested in and able to sponsor a student to work in their lab over the summer. Generally REUs are 8-10 weeks, pay for travel and housing and provide a stipend of $3-$4,000. Most involve a social component. Most REUs are looking for students with some kind of research experience, so Gregerman advised students to make sure they include any relevant experience on their resumes.

Tim McKay, Thurnau Professor of Physics and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education reviews REU applications for UM’s Physics Department REU. He provided students with suggestions for applications, including making sure the professors you ask to write letters of recommendations will really write them. McKay described the review process as somewhat arbitrary. While some researchers may be looking to provide a research experience for someone with no experience, others may be looking for someone with a particular research skill that they need. Reviewers may skim through a hundred applications and may just look for something that stands out to them.

Two students spoke about their summer experiences. Lisa Carpenter, a Physics and Math major talked about her REU in astronomy at the University of Colorado. On her application she wrote about trying to decide between pursuing a research track or secondary teaching track. She also wrote about loving the outdoors and hiking. She thinks it was the combination of the two things that attracted her sponsor — who also loves the outdoors. One experience she had in her application process was that some of the professors she asked to write her letters of recommendations never did. She thinks it was because they were simply too busy, so she had to ask others. She suggested giving professors an “out” in case they are too busy, and to supply recommenders with pre-stamped and addressed envelops, and all the information they need to easily write a good letter.

In addition to staying up all night using various telescopes several nights, as well as recording and analyzing data, Carpenter’s REU group attended parties and went on camping trips with UC students. The REU will also sponsor her to present her research at a conference in Seattle in January. She thought it was a great experience, and it helped her decide that the long hours in front of a computer collecting and analyzing data are probably not for her.

Betsy Flak had an internship with Pfizer here in Ann Arbor. Flak warned about the competitiveness for positions. She applied to 10 opportunities and Pfizer was the only offer she received, and she didn’t receive it until April. She had a wonderful experience at Pfizer pursuing confidential research and learning how to use new research tools. At the end of the internship, she and her fellow interns participated in a poster session for upper management. She thought the research and the compensation were great, but it did not provide a lot of social opportunities for the interns. Pfizer will use this feedback to improve the experience for their next group of interns.

McKay also suggested that REUs are not the only way to get a research experience. If there is something you’re interested in working on, then ask a professor if she has a grant that might fund you to work in her lab over the summer.

December 2006 eNews

October 2006 eNews

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