Featured in Technology Today (Volume 34, Issue 4), a quarterly publication of the Louisiana Transportation Research Center.
Students representing universities from across the nation recently toured LTRC’s various laboratories and education facilities as part of the Advanced Infrastructure Materials (AIM) REU program. This highly selective summer program was established at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette by Dr. VJ Gopu, Associate Director for External Programs, after acquiring funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Serving as the REU site director, Dr. Gopu sat down to answer some questions about the program and its many offerings.
Tell us about the REU program and how students are selected.
The REU program is funded by the NSF to provide research opportunities for undergraduate students through its REU sites. Students apply for acceptance by the REU site, and the selection is very competitive. The selection is based on the applicants’ background, interests, prior work experience, and GPA. Effort is made by the sites to select a diverse group of students and particular attention is paid to include underrepresented students in the cohort.
What is the goal of the program?
The goal of the program is to offer a group of 12 students per year—for 4 years—the opportunity to work on research projects under the supervision of faculty mentors at the university. The research work is carried out over a 10-week period during the summer; the students are offered several professional development seminars/workshops and technical tours in addition to the research experience during the 10-week period. The LTRC technical tour is considered a highlight of the program by the participating students.
With such a variety of universities represented in the program, how does the program attract such a wide-range of students?
The information about the REU opportunity is disseminated to the appropriate department chairs at numerous universities by the REU site director. In turn, the department chairs communicate this REU opportunity to their undergraduate students. In addition, the students can apply for support from any REU site of interest to them on a national website. All the REU sites supported by NSF are generally included in this national website. The REU sites deal with a very broad spectrum of disciplines and students can generally find several sites of interest to them. The UL-Lafayette site received 90 applications and could accept only 12 students into the program.
What is expected from students while they are in the program?
The students are expected to conduct research work under the supervision of the faculty mentors and make a poster presentation at a symposium held on the last day of their internship period. In addition, the students are required to participate in all the professional development seminars/workshops and technical tours.
What do you hope students gain from their time in REU?
It is my hope the undergraduate students gain a good understanding of what is involved in conducting research and develop an interest in pursuing graduate studies. This unique opportunity is not otherwise available to undergraduate students in their educational program.