Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

Click here to read the 2011 REU blog.

This eight-week summer internship program matches undergraduate students with scientists at the Magnet Lab’s three sites, offering them unique opportunities to explore science at the extremes of magnetic fields, pressure and temperature while working alongside some of the finest scientists, magnet designers and engineers in the world.

The Mag Lab offers a wide range of research experiences in physics, chemistry, biological sciences, geochemistry, materials science and magnet science and engineering. Summer interns work closely with their faculty mentors and are thoroughly integrated into research and development activities. Beyond the lab, students broaden their knowledge of diverse Magnet Lab research by attending weekly seminars and colloquia.

Each student accepted by the program receives a stipend and, if necessary, travel support and housing.

Application Requirements:

• Two letters of recommendation from professors on school letterhead
• Official Transcripts from all universities and colleges you have attended
• Goal statement (uploaded on application)
• Resume (uploaded on application)

2011 REU Participants
Participant	School	Research Area	Mentor
Kedrick Vaughans	U. of Alabama	Rutherford Backscattering Calibration	Maitri Warusawithana
Justin Mincey	Bethune-Cookman U	Increasing Materials Strength of 350 Grade Maraging Steel by Cold Rolling and Aging for Higher Field Magnets	Yan Xin
Terrie Kweifio	Virginia Tech	The Combination of Direct Analysis in Real Time with Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry	Vlad Lobodin
Eugene Milshteyn	University of Florida	Locating the Hard Plane of Fe8 using a 9/5/1 Superconducting Vector Magnet	Steve Hill
Jorge Gonzalez	U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez	Refurbishing and Optimizing a DTA to Analyze Iron-Pnictide	Eric Hellstrom
Alesha Shorts	Garner-Webb University	Molecular Characterization of the Water-Soluble Species Extracted from the Deepwater Horizon Crude by Negative-Ion Electrospray Ionization FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry	Jackie Jarvis
Cody Lamarche	U. of Vermont	Magnetic Circular Dichroism of Discotic Organic Semiconductor Crystalline Thin Films	Steve McGill
Ashley Huff	FSU	Rutherford Backscattering Calibration	Maitri Warusawithana
Graham Hawkes	UNC- Chapel Hill	Cavity Resonant Modes, On-chip and Off-chip Studies	Irinel Chiorescu
Daniel Escobedo	FSU	Analysis of Filament Fractures in Bronze Processed, Nb3Sn Strands	Peter Lee
Kejing Jiang	Cornell University	Quantitative analysis of grain boundary dislocation core atomic structures in high-Tc superconductor YBCO	Yan Xin
Michelle Sokoll	FSU	SPIO Nanoparticle Labeling of Rat Microglia Cells Utilizing MR Microscopy	Sam Grant
Jason Allen	FAMU	Power T/R Switch for NMR Application	Kiran Shetty
Michael Wei	Duke	Solid State Amorphization on the Properties of Materials	Ke Han
Andrew Wray	FSU	Digital Image Correlation for Measurement of In-Plane Deformation with Vic-2D in Air and Water	Robert Walsh
Esha Atolia	MIT	Management of Ultrahigh-Resolution FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry Crude Oil Data	Ryan Rodgers
Jillian Harrison	Claflin University	Heat-Induced Stress Response of Caenorhabditis elegans	Art Edison
Aaron Shepard	Claflin University	Protocol Development for a Metabolomics Approach to Understanding Cold Tolerance in Drosophila Melanogaster	Art Edison
Matthew Calkins	University of Florida	Construction and Operation of a Differential Hall Element Magnetometer	Mark Meisel

 

Program specifics

• The program accepts United States citizens only.
• Housing is provided for out-of-area students who are placed at the Tallahassee site and do not attend Florida State University or students who are placed at the University of Florida site and do not attend the University of Florida.
• Travel reimbursements of up to $600 are paid to students who do not attend FSU or do not have permanent residence in Tallahassee. Students whose parents or legal guardians live in Tallahassee are not eligible for reimbursement.
• The program will pay only for direct travel from a student’s departure location to the lab where he or she will work. No other travel reimbursements will be made.
• Students are required to participate in the entire eight weeks of the program.

Archives

Arranged by year, these archives include information on participants and their final posters on the research they conducted.

Quotes

Here's what some REU alumni had to say about the program:

"The REU Program was an incredible experience. Perhaps one of the most useful things I learned was what life is like as a researcher or a graduate student. Now I know for sure that I want to continue my studies beyond my undergraduate degree, and I know what to expect in my research-based courses and projects. And to top it off, the people were amazing; the Mag Lab was such a great place to work! I'm so glad that I decided to do something completely different with my summer, fly to a city I barely knew, and work at a job that was fun and challenging. It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!"
– Meghan McNulty, Class of 2008
   Princeton University

“I think one of the most important things I’m going to be taking back is more of a real sense of what the lab environment is like. Back at school, the labs are really linear. It’s do this, do that, and record your results. It’s so structured that it’s a lot harder to do your own problem solving.”
- Jonathan Padelford, Class of 2009
Columbus State University

"The experience was the best summer of my life. My supervisors and mentors were extremely friendly, polite, helpful, dedicated and understanding. The social activities organized by the CIRL coordinators and the REUs were loads of never-ending fun. It also gave me an opportunity to grow as an independent person, living away from family and friends. I made many friendships that I know will last a lifetime."
– Danish Haque, Class of 2006
   University of Houston

"The REU Program was an awesome experience from beginning to the end. Students came from different parts of the world and from different cultures. We all got to share and learn from each other. Moreover, there was always someone from the REU staff giving a hand. I never felt that I was alone."
– Xiomaris Cotto, Class of 2006
   University of Puerto Rico-Cayey

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For more information contact Jose Sanchez at sanchez@magnet.fsu.edu or (850) 645-0033.