February 2008
WISE sponsors research experiences for undergraduates workshopNational Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experiences For Undergraduates (REUs) are national and international experiences hands-on, paid lab experiences for Undergraduate students. These experiences are typically 8 weeks long, include travel expenses and housing, and pay $4,000. "These are amazing experiences that allow students the opportunity to get a feel for the culture of a particular research lab outside of UM, to focus on a particular area of research and also to find out if they are really interested in pursuing research as a career," says WISE Assistant Director Jamie Saville. "Most students return from these experiences and tell us what an amazing time they had," says Saville. We do have some students come back and tell us that they aren't cut out for research and subsequently pursue graduate studies in education or in a professional degree program." About 50 UM students attended the workshop, which gave information about how to find NSF REUs, the benefits of participation, how to apply and the selection process. The workshop also included a panel of current UM graduate students who participated in REUs in the past. Panelists at this year's workshop included UM first year Chemistry graduate student Cheryl Moy, first year Applied Physics graduate students Laura Spencer and Devon Triplett. Moy did her Undergraduate, Willamette University, Salem Oregon and did a Chemistyr REU at University of Arizona one summer and a Chemistry REU at the University of Oregon. Spencer did her undergraduate work at Kalamazoo College and did a Physics REU at UM. Triplett did her undergraduate work at Virginia Tech and did an REU at Columbia University in Nanoscopic Materials. The WISE Program co-sponsors the REU workshop along with Thurnau Professor Timothy McKay from UM's Physics Dept. and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Directed by Sandy Gregerman.
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