Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

The MagLab's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) is an exciting summer program for college students interested in a science career by giving them the chance to work with MagLab scientists on an in-depth research project. This program is funded by the National Science Foundation.

The MagLab REU program offers a wide range of research experiences in physics, chemistry, biological sciences, geochemistry, materials science and magnet science and engineering. Participants work closely with MagLab mentors on a research project. Students also participate in weekly seminars and colloquia that broaden their knowledge of MagLab research and future careers. Participants will receive a $5,000 stipend for their participation in the program that is given in two increments during the summer. Housing is provided through the program should you need it. We cannot reimburse housing costs that are not through our program. We can provide travel support for participants to come to the MagLab on the first day of the program and to return home on the last day of the program. The travel support is up to $600.

Students will be selected by mentors at any one of the MagLab's 3 locations:

• Florida State University, in Tallahassee, FL;
• University of Florida in Gainesville, FL; and
• the MagLab's pulsed field facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM.

REU Class of 2021

Our REU class of 2021 presented their summer project as a 3-minute pitch, wherein they described to our audience of judges, mentors, and family members what they did this summer. For the first time we awarded prizes in the following categories based on our judges’ votes:

• Overall Winners: Hansel Chiang and Yazmin Rodriguez Millan
• Physics winner: Eliana Karr
• Engineering winner: Megan Reid
• Chem/Bio/Data Science winner: Vamsi Posinasetty
• Communication winner: Audrey Wright
• REU Choice award: Spencer Gibbs

The videos show the range of disciplines and projects available to REUs who are accepted into the program.

• Caleb Betts

  Building a SPM Lab

  Florida State University | Mentors: Guangxin Ni, Cui Songbin

• Huan-Hsing Chiang

  MnO₂ Nanoparticles on sisal fibers for environmental applications

  University of Texas - Austin | Mentor: Martha Chacon

  Overall Winner

• Rachel Field

  Image Processing: Measurements at an atomic scale

  Morgan State University | Mentor: Yan Xin

• Alexander Fryer

  Microwave absorption of TEMPO in Hexane at 400 GHz

  Florida State University | Mentor: Thierry Dubroca

• Spencer Gibbs

  Thermoelectric cogeneration to increase efficiency in power plants

  University of Pennsylvania | Mentors: David Graf, Kaya Wei

  REU Choice award

• Lauren Hearn

  Characterization of biogeochemical processes in the southern ocean

  Florida State University | Mentor: Peter Morton

• Eliana Karr

  Thermoelectric crystalline materials

  Florida State University | Mentors: Kaya Wei, Ryan Baumbach, Benny Schundelmier

  Physics winner

• Elzbieta Krekora

  Effect of heat treatment on delta phase of Nb₃Sn

  Florida State University | Mentors: Peter Lee, Najob Cheggour

• Benjamin Labiner

  Designing a miniature drive system for STM

  Florida State University | Mentor: Lin Jiao

• Lauren McNealy

  High entropy alloys as biomaterials

  Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | Mentors: Ryan Naumbach, Kaya Wei, William Lucas Nelson

• Paige Nielsen

  Analysis of passive and active microrheological methods for probing biomimetic fluids

  Florida State University | Mentors: David Quashie Jr., Jamel Ali

• Vamsi Posinasetty

  Data management - the unknown summarized

  Florida State University | Mentor: Kari Roberts

  Chem/Bio/Data Science Winner

• Jenna Radovich

  rs-fMRI-based network analysis to longitudinally assess functional recovery post-ischemia at 21.1 T

  Florida State University | Mentors: Sam Grant, David Hike

• Fernando Ramos-Diaz

  Rabi oscillations & precession

  Virginia Tech | Mentors: Irinel Chiorescu, Giovanni Franco

• Megan Reid

  Study of cool down effects on optical displacement sensors

  Florida State University | Mentor: Adam Voran

  Engineering Winner

• Yazmin Rodriguez-Millan

  MnO₂ Nanoparticles on sisal fibers for environmental applications

  Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico | Mentor: Martha Chacon

  Overall Winner

• Iain Siegrist

  Corrective Ferroshim MATLAB Script

  Florida State University | Mentor: Ilya Litvak

• Audrey Wright

  Superconducting REBCO tape lap joints: Optimization testing

  Tallahassee Community College | Mentors: Tom Painter, Robert Stanton, Mike White

  Communication Winner

• LaDonna Wyatt

  Biofuel of the future: Molecular characterization of polar lipid from nanoparticle-treated cyanobacteria by FT-ICR MS

  Morgan State University | Mentor: Huan Chen

• Russell Zimmerman

  Molecular dynamics simulation of Al-Cu-O system

  Washington and Lee University | Mentor: Ke Han

To see the types of research projects that past participants have conducted, please visit the REU Class Archives on this webpage.

To learn more about research conducted by MagLab faculty and staff, please visit our research webpage.

Participation requirements:

• You must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident (Green Card)
• You must be 18 years of age or older by the start of the program.

Applications

The application for the 2021 REU application has closed. The 2022 application will open in January.

Application Materials

• A current resume that must be uploaded to the application.
• Two letters of recommendation from professors on school letterhead (send to reu@magnet.fsu.edu).
• Unofficial transcripts from all universities and colleges you have attended (Unofficial transcripts can either be uploaded during application process or sent by email to reu@magnet.fsu.edu).

For more information contact Kawana Johnson, PhD.