Mentor Matching and Summer Projects
Who will serve as my mentor?
Mentors are volunteer faculty and research staff within our department. Our list of mentors varies from year to year based on their availability.
How are mentoring teams assigned?
We do our best to match your interests with proposed research topics, but this is not always possible. The main goal of the REU program is to let you experience what it’s like to do research in our field. All projects will give you this experience!
How are summer research projects designed?
Mentors submit their plans for projects. This ensures that the project is well-aligned with the latest research within the community, and that the project is something that can be completed and presented within the 10-week REU period.
Can I ask my mentor to change my assigned research topic?
No. While your mentor will let you know if you have a choice of projects or if there’s room for you to guide the direction of your project, mentoring teams are made up of volunteers of specialists in their field, and no single mentor can tailor a project to exactly match your interests, as they may not have experience with the tools or topics that most interest you. The main goal of the REU program is to let you experience what it’s like to research in our field. All projects will give you this experience!