d) REU Summer Program

REU Program: Research Experience for Undergraduates at the WIU Astrophysics Research Laboratory

Summer Experience

Description & Criteria:

The WIU Astrophysics Research Laboratory is offering $3,000 summer research scholarships for undergraduate students to participate in data reduction and analysis of radio astronomy observations related to star formation. Students will work with Dr. E. D. Araya, in collaboration with N. Andreev, Dr. P. Hofner, and graduate students at the Astrophysics Research Laboratory during this research experience.

Requirements:

1. Physics major (related STEM field may also apply, but student must discuss the importance of participating in this research experience with respect to the major in the application letter).

2. Undergraduate students at any stage of their undergraduate program as long as they are interested in areas of physics, data science, scientific computing, and astronomy.

3. Previous research experience and/or scientific potential as documented by previous research experience at the WIU Astrophysics Research Laboratory, including PHYS 477 credit. Students with no previous experience at the WIU AstroLab will require to provide name and contact information of at least two references.

4. A minimum GPA of 3.0.

5. US citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

6. Participate in RISE program meetings.

7. Student must register for at least 1 credit hour of PHYS 477 (8 weeks; exceptions are possible if approved by Dr. Araya).

8. First generation college students, non-traditional students, and students from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

9. Students should not participate on any other job on campus, including other research projects in other laboratories. Students should not be registered for regular summer classes with the exception of research credit (PHYS 477).

Application:

1. One page application letter stating the interest to participate in the program and career goals.

2. Curriculum vitae.

3. Unofficial transcript.

4. Name and contact information of two or more references if no previous experience at the WIU Astrophysics Research Laboratory. Electronic reference letters may be requested.

- All application requirements must be submitted as a single PDF file to ed-araya 'at' wiu.edu.

Terms:

$3,000 will be awarded in the summer to support living expenses. The stipend will be for 8-weeks of research experience (minimum 20 hrs a week) with a start date of June 1st. At the end of their research experience, the student must present his/her research in a short seminar at the RISE meetings and complete a report with the main results and conclusions from the research experience. Student must participate in the RISE Research Summer Program activities.

Deadline for application is April 1st. Interviews of the candidates will be conducted in the last week of April. Application must be submitted by email as a single PDF file to ed-araya@wiu.edu.

Contact Dr. Esteban D. Araya for information

ed-araya 'at' wiu.edu

http://faculty.wiu.edu/ED-Araya

This research opportunity is supported by NSF grant AST-1814063,

in collaboration with AST-1814011.