<p>does anyone have good ones to recommend? i saw the other list on this forum and it was for hs students, is there lists for college stduents?
thanks</p>
<p>In college, I think you need to find your own opportunities (i.e. internships).</p>
<p>Here's a sample. Go to major research schools and search summer research.</p>
<p>Here's Physics REU list
<a href="http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/advisor/SummerScienceAvailNow.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/advisor/SummerScienceAvailNow.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/erulf/choose.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/erulf/choose.html</a> Dept of Energy internships</p>
<p><a href="http://www.awu.org/appl_forms/descriptions/ug.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.awu.org/appl_forms/descriptions/ug.htm</a> National Labs internships</p>
<p>The most extensive list of REUs provided by NSF:
<a href="http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm</a></p>
<p>But of course, there are local opportunities, too...</p>
<p>Oh, good. I get to beat the drum for NSF REU.</p>
<p>Read the synopsis here:
<a href="http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5517&from=fund%5B/url%5D">http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5517&from=fund</a></p>
<p>Then search sites by your major and/or interests here:
<a href="http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp%5B/url%5D">http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp</a></p>
<p>This is a fabulous program and is recognized as such by grad schools. Start filling out your apps NOW. Apply as soon as you can to as many sites as you can. Be mindful of application deadlines at sites that interest you. From what I've seen, early apps get attention quickly if they like you. The program is competitive, so take your apps seriously. </p>
<p>You should also exhaust the resources at your campus career services office. Your school may have a track record of students who've done unadvertised internships in the past. Also, that office should be able to help you pull together a killer resume if you haven't already. </p>
<p>Check with profs in your major dept. because (1) they know places where your college's students have applied and had success in the past and (2) you're going to have to ask SOMEBODY for recs; might as well curry a little favor ;)</p>
<p>And good luck!</p>
<p>[Edit: Sorry, Marmat. I didn't see your post until mine came up.]</p>
<p>Yeah, REU is the best-known one, I think, and some of the good students ("good" meaning both they're good and they find good mentors!) even get published. Although personally, I think the best way is to just go banging on professors' doors until you find something yourself ;)</p>
<p>Try these</a> listings of Bio-related internships/co-op's</p>
<p>Wow, I obviously know nothing about this! :)</p>
<p>I'm living in the stone age, apparently--I thought you still had to go banging on professors' doors! And I'm a student!</p>
<p>Well, corranged and GuitarManARS, banging on your profs' doors is a time-honored tradition that will probably never go out of style. :)</p>
<p>But what if...</p>
<p>Your prof is in Kansas; and you'd really, really like to get up close and personal with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
<a href="http://www.um-cern-reu.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.um-cern-reu.org/</a></p>
<p>You'd like to learn more about polymers... at the Max Planck Institute.
<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/group/CPIMA/education/general_info.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.stanford.edu/group/CPIMA/education/general_info.html</a></p>
<p>The prof's office door you want to bang on is located at JPL, and you attend college in Delaware.
<a href="http://www.surf.caltech.edu/students/non-caltech_students.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.surf.caltech.edu/students/non-caltech_students.html</a></p>
<p>You'd like to practice your French, but your prof only speaks English and Swedish.
<a href="http://www.chem.ufl.edu/%7Ereu/main/index_fr.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.chem.ufl.edu/~reu/main/index_fr.html</a></p>
<p>The best part of an REU is the dimension it adds to the UG experience. No school has every single piece of equipment or every researcher in every discipline. No school can be both a research uni and a LAC. No school can be every place in the US and the world at the same time. REUs allow students, for a summer, to step outside the familiar -- even if it's a well-loved familiar -- or to come back and travel the road not taken.</p>
<p>And don't underestimate the opportunities for publication, GuitarManARS. Good students do their homework, right? ;)</p>
<p>thanks everyone, i saw many good ones in there, please keep them coming, and if you have ones for intl student+canadian student that would be nice too :) thanks</p>
<p>The NSF-REU program is wonderful, but it is not that easy to get in the internships. They are very competitive. My D applied to 10 internships, each requiring a separate application comparable to a college application. She had great grades and recommendations, but goes to a smaller state college with no "ins" from any professor in the programs. She was not accepted to any of the internships. It was quite heartbreaking for her.</p>
<p>^wow, i am sorry to hear that, what did you mean by ins?</p>
<p>Mudder's_Mudder--I said some REU students get published! :) I did my homework on a very small sample, lol. I worked with a few REU students this summer and a few are getting published although I'd say somewhere in the range of 50-75% aren't. But that's just one REU program so meh. lol. I've heard even the number of published SURFs is only something like 20%. Is that right or am I going senile? hehe</p>
<p>By the way, you bring up great points about exactly why an REU, etc., is great. I guess I was speaking with some personal bias since I plan to go to a school with an amazing astronomy department anyway and that's the field I'll be doing my research in. So a little less need for an REU and the like, personally. But eh, whatever ;)</p>
<p>Newbyreborn: Sorry that "ins" wasn't clear. I meant some sort of "in" relationship with one of the professors who run the individual programs. For example, if you have had a class with one of the professors, or one of your professors knows someone running one of the programs. </p>
<p>Many of the programs have several hundred applicants for 10-15 positions. Most of the programs pay the students for their work.</p>
<p>Sorry. I was a bit recondite in my comment.</p>
<p>Specifically, I was referring in the broadest sense to (1) "good" students learning how to (2) pick the REU and the mentor (investigation + common sense + some educated guesses, "homework"). It was merely an allusion implying that an important part of the REU process is the grunt work that comes with deciding where to apply. No reflection intended on you or your work ethic, neither of which I'm familiar with at all. Again, I apologize.</p>
<p>For a student, it helps to find a mentor in the proper setting who knows the ropes -- has had success getting students published and has a history with particular journals. Even that will not guarantee publication but can increase the odds; i.e., you, personally, are already a "good" student for doing the "homework" behind choosing the school you've selected. </p>
<p>You also bring up an excellent point that deserves some attention: the nature of research. Sometimes it's successful and sometimes not; it goes where it goes. Often it's just as "simple" as building on the literature -- "We tried A, B, and C, none of which worked but which pointed to the need for further investigation of fill-in-the-blank" -- so that colleagues will know which blind alleys to avoid.</p>
<p>A lot of research can be mindnumbingly mundane, like crunching vast amounts of numbers, say, or spending tedious hours in the lab. It still has to be done. </p>
<p>The ability to persevere with grace and determination in the aftermath of failure, without sacrificing enthusiasm -- and still remain alert to the possibility of the unexpected -- is an essential character trait for researchers. The ability to independently educate oneself broadly and deeply, think in unconventional ways, collaborate with more- and less-experienced team members, and remain unawed by the process and the people is important, too. At the end, results and conclusions still have to be communicated, both orally and in writing. Often all this is without glory (e.g., publication). Not everyone is suited to the vagaries of research. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, there are plenty of kids who won't do well in REUs or other research experiences like SURFs. Some don't have the work ethic and/or academic foundation. Some find out research is just not for them, or they wind up in a suboptimal situation. It isn't always tied to whether or not they get published quickly because most will not, especially if the investigation is ongoing and/or with a succession of collaborators. The possibility of publication, along with the heady exhilaration of discovery itself, are strong motivators; but experience with both success and failure is what separates the eagle scouts from the cub scouts. </p>
<p>There's another benefit to student researchers, however: oral or poster presentation of results at conference. It's a great chance to network with other students, professionals, and recruiters. REU sites put the abstracts online, and lots of people read them.</p>
<p>Opportunties like REUs offer neophyte researchers a terrific chance to test out their training wheels in a supportive, low-risk environment. And preview grad schools, I might add. (It's not as if the REU sites don't use the app as a rudimentary screen for future grad students, either.)</p>
<p>I wish you only the best in the future. I'll be on the lookout for news about a guitar-playing astronomer who most definitely is NOT yet senile.... :)</p>
<p>***[Aside to bookiemom: Can your D find a mentor at her school, maybe someone who will give her a chance to help with some research? Prior experience is extremely helpful; it doesn't have to be earth-shattering. Can she concentrate on sites that encourage women applicants, as many do? Maybe she'd have the best chance at a very large school that accepts a number of students to different REUs or one in an out-of-the-way locale that might not appeal to many students. Many sites, as terms of their NSF agreement, cannot accept their own students. Dr. Reynolds, a prof at a small state school, posts over on the engineering board here and might be able to give some advice.]</p>
<p>***[Apologies, too, to Newbyreborn for the hijack. Maybe someone at your school can help identify programs available through the Canadian government?]</p>
<p>[/prolixity]</p>
<p>Newbyreborn,</p>
<p>The Department of Energy runs programs somewhat similar to the REU. See <a href="http://bohr.winthrop.edu/sumres.html%5B/url%5D">http://bohr.winthrop.edu/sumres.html</a> for some links. I don't know if these are any less competitive than the REU programs.
REU programs are very competitive because there are relatively few positions in a given field (~700 a year in chemistry, nationally) and more students keep applying to more and more programs. As usual, your best bet is to investigate closely and use the personal touch: find a program or 3 you really like and talk to/e-mail some of the professors there.</p>
<p>Try this website if you are looking for life science internships for persons who do not hold US citizenship or have Permanent Resident status <a href="http://www.rit.edu/%7Egtfsbi/Symp/coopinternational.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.rit.edu/~gtfsbi/Symp/coopinternational.htm</a></p>
<p>Good old pounding on profs doors (or emailing) works too. My freshman S started his search over winter break for a research op at home since he attends college 800 miles away. He emailed profs at a local college who do research. Some responded favorably, one forwarded his email to collegues at local med school. One prof at local med school arranged 4 interviews for him during his winter break. He ended up with 4 research offers for this summer from both schools. Accepted offer from local med school that prof has NSF funding for undergrad students, but is not an official NSF REU. </p>
<p>Simple browsing of local college websites led to initial contacts that led to networking with profs at other local institutions. </p>
<p>Both my S and I were surprised at how quick and easy the whole process was. Doubt it will be this easy next summer, but he will have a start on more prestigious REU's thanks to this summers lab job, and his NSF funded REU on campus at Case Western this semester.</p>
<p>It seems like this NSF REU program is really highly-respected. Are there any other programs that are highly-respected and in which students are actually able to do research (as opposed to cleaning up the lab and whatnot) and hopefully get published?</p>
<p>Well...SURF :P</p>