Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Purdue REU Physics summer 2025 program is OPEN FOR THE APPLICATIONS.
Each summer the Department of Physics at Purdue runs a National Science Foundation funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program available to US citizens and permanent residents. The program starts on the Memorial Day week (first meeting on Tuesday, 9am) and runs for 10 weeks. Applications will be accepted until all position are filled. However, since we begin reviewing applications in early February, please apply before February 1 for full consideration. Allowances may be made on individual basis for students whose Summer Break begins after the start date, however, the ending date may be impossible to change.
The main goal of the program is to give undergraduates an opportunity to participate in a forefront research project. Students from colleges with limited research opportunities and underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.
Download REU flyer (PDF)
Research Experiences for Teachers (RET)
An associated program offers a similar research opportunity to K-12 teachers. Details about the RET program and the application materials (PDF).
Some program highlights of the REU program:
Research project
In each research project students will work closely with a member of our faculty. The projects will be in a wide variety of areas, including high energy physics, accelerator mass spectrometry, condensed matter physics, geophysics, biophysics, nuclear physics and astrophysics. Descriptions of the students' projects from previous years can be found in the Projects page.
Stipend
Each student will receive a stipend of $600 per week plus food subsistence of $25/day. The costs of housing (in a campus residence hall) will be covered by the program. A travel allowance will also be available.
Weekly pizza seminars
Students will learn about current research frontiers in physics.
Social programs
Outdoor activities (such as canoeing, hiking, etc.), Notre Dame REU Olympics, and trips to Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory.
Student presentations and research symposium
The REU students make presentations on their work on two occasions during the program. At the halfway point of the program, we have an afternoon mini-symposium at which each student gives a short (15 minute) oral presentation. At the end of the program we have a research mini-conference, to which all students and faculty in the department are invited. These talks will describe what has been accomplished, and plans or suggestions for the future.
Conferences
In recent years many students from Purdue have given presentations at undergraduate research conferences (e.g. annual conferences at Butler University and at Argonne National Laboratory). We encourage the REU students to present their work at these and other undergraduate conferences, and provide funding to support this.
Ongoing research
Where possible, students are encouraged to continue work on their projects after the end of the formal program. This is accomplished through visits to Purdue, collaboration through the internet, and work at the student's home institution. Funding is available to sponsor these activities.
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