Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Start Date: 3/15/20
End Date: 2/28/25
Abstract
The Collaborative Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program provides high impact ten-week summer REU’s to underrepresented minority (URM) students who are rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors attending North Carolina State University (NCSU), St. Augustine’s University, Durham Technical Community College, or Johnston Community College (please see letters of support from these partner institutions). This summer REU program will increase minority access to high quality undergraduate research experiences by providing engineering research opportunities in laboratories at NCSU under the direction of College of Engineering (COE) faculty members. Students will receive a stipend to work on collaborative research projects which partner students from NCSU, a historically black college/university, and a community/technical college on research teams. Participating in a collaborative research experience will teach participants to capitalize on one another’s existing technical knowledge and problem-solving skill set to investigate a research question developed in collaboration with a NCSU Engineering faculty advisor. Each collaborative research team will contain no more than three student researchers. In addition to gaining valuable early research experience, participants will have access to benefits such as: 1) an increased understanding of the roles and responsibilities of faculty members in a research-intensive academic environment; 2) increased awareness of campus resources; and 3) professional networking and development opportunities. Collaborative REU participants will be selected from an applicant pool collectively recruited by each of the partner institutions. Students will be selected to participate based upon their academic credentials and articulated research interests, and will conduct research under the direction of an NCSU Engineering faculty member whose research is the most optimal match for their interests. Summer REU participants will be take an introductory research methods course during the REU which will teach participants core research fundamentals such as: conducting an effective literature review, research ethics, data collection methods and quality control, research presentations, and other foundational research topics. Participants will also attend a “Graduate Diversity Speaker Series†where presenters from diverse ethnic backgrounds and genders will provide students with their unique insights into research related to the Engineering Grand Challenges, tips for applying to and funding graduate school, and STEM research career opportunities in both academic and non-academic environments. The proposed initiative will also provide opportunities for student researchers to gain experience in disseminating their research findings at the NCLSAMP Annual Research Conference as well as the annual NCSU Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium.