Founded and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program is designed to provide valuable educational experiences for undergraduate students through research participation. Working closely with faculty and researchers, REU projects involve undergraduates in meaningful ways in ongoing research, including opportunities for laboratory visits, seminars, and other activities to enhance the research experience. Students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with room and board and travel.
Colorado State University has research programs across the campus that are offering research experiences for undergraduates each summer. These programs provide research opportunities to undergraduate students for 8-10 weeks in a range of areas. Students live in Fort Collins, Colorado, home of CSU, where they participate in a range of academic and social activities together. Each REU has its own research focus and application process. An REU site consists of a group of around ten undergraduates who work in the research programs. Each student is associated with a specific research project, where they work closely with the faculty and other researchers.
In addition to NSF-REU programs, the Graduate School facilitates community building and networking among undergraduate students participating in other summer programs or internships that emphasize experiences for domestic underrepresented minorities.
Summer 2020
Summer 2020 REUs are in progress and may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summer 2018
Atmospheric Science Department — NSF
REU Site in Climate Science: Each summer students with majors ranging from Meteorology, Physics and Chemistry to Math, Environmental Science and Engineering join world class Atmospheric Scientists to investigate the science of clouds, atmospheric chemistry, climate and climate change, weather, and modeling. We offer a broad range of research areas: climate modeling, cloud processes, atmospheric chemistry, tropical meteorology, hurricanes, and much more. During our program interns will have the opportunity to attend scientific seminars, visit National Scientific Laboratories, and participate in a variety of professional development training.
For more information, visit the Earth Systems Modeling and Education Institute (ESMEI) webpage.
Contact: Melissa Burt, mburt@atmos.colostate.edu.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department — NSF
Molecular Biosciences: This program allows students to participate in active research in a wide range of areas, including protein structure and function, transcriptional mechanisms, molecular neurobiology, regulation of gene expression in a chromatin context, cancer biology, plant biology, embryonic development, diabetes, cytoskeleton dynamics, and virology. Students will be involved in exciting and interesting projects at the very edge of our current knowledge in these areas. They will learn how to formulate and test hypotheses, how to problem-solve and troubleshoot, and how to use state-of-the-art techniques and instrumentation including analytical ultracentrifugation and X-ray crystallography. A significant number of participants in this program have published the results of their projects in scientific journals.
For more information, visit the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) webpage.
Contact: Stasi Brazil-Engleman, reubiochem@colostate.edu, 970-491-5602.
Chemistry Department — NSF
Chemistry Applied to Real World Problems – Chemical Sciences at CSU: The Chemistry REU program connects the relevance of our science to current societal challenges, spanning from the environment to energy to medicine. Ultimately, we aim for participants to understand how posing fundamental research questions can be translated to addressing real world problems. Participants in this program will perform research with one of 27 faculty mentors, some in collaborative and cross-disciplinary projects. We will augment the fundamental research experiences with activities directed toward scientific professional development, including writing workshops, career panels, presentation opportunities, and the continuation of our recently-developed scientific ethics component. The Chemistry REU program also strives to provide cutting edge, cross-disciplinary chemistry research experiences for students whose home institutions do not offer such opportunities and to offer research opportunities to students from groups traditionally underrepresented in chemistry.
Requirements: The NSF requires that students must also be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Students who will graduate at the end of the spring 2015 semester are not eligible for this program. Otherwise, undergraduate students at any level of education may apply.
For more information, visit the REU Local Activities webpage.
Contact: Matt Shore, Matthew.Shores@colostate.edu; James Neilson: james.neilson@colostate.edu; or Elizabeth McCoy, Elizabeth.McCoy@colostate.edu.
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory & Agricultural Research Developement and Education Center – USDA NIFA
Integrative Agroecology and Sustainability: NREL and ARDEC offer a joint summer program for students interested in research in agroecology and sustainability to study the complex challenges of global food security and environmental change by focusing on sustainable intensification of agricultural systems. Our program will empower fellows to enter the agricultural workforce with the core research, systems thinking, and communication skills as well as a supportive network of colleagues and mentors to address the challenge of increasing food production with reduced environmental impact.
For more information, visit the Integrative Agroecology & Sustainability Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship webpage.
Contact: Kaye Holman, kaye.holman@colostate.edu.
Sustainable BioEnergy Development Center — NSF
Biorefining and Biofuels: Our Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2) REU program spans across the university, and is partially funded by NSF and partially by C2B2 partners here at CSU. It is a collaborative 10-week program between CSU, Colorado School of Mines, and CU based out of CU in Boulder where undergraduates work on bioenergy and biorefining research projects. There is strong communication between the students at the participating collaborative entities ending with a final presentation conference at the end.
For more information visit, the BioEnergy and BioEnergy IGERT websites.
Contact: Barbara A. Gibson, Barbara.Gibson@colostate.edu.
Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN) Undergraduate Research Program - NSF
Participants are given the opportunity to perform cutting edge, transdisciplinary research of immediate relevance to people in urban areas. Students with different research interests – social sciences, natural sciences, engineering – are placed with a team of mentors at institutions in urban areas across the nation. The program hosts two participants at Colorado State University and places remaining eight students at partner institutions from coast to coast.
For more information, visit the UWIN Undergraduate Research Program webpage.
Contact: Dr. Aude Lochet, locheta@caryinstitute.org.