Faculty and staff from Rice’s schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering and the university’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI) hosted a May 31 reception in Duncan Hall to welcome more than 180 undergraduate students who are participating in summer research programs at Rice.
Hands-on research experience is one of the most effective ways to attract students to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, but such opportunities either aren’t available or are limited for many college and university students during the regular school year.
Funding from the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program allows students to apply to work in labs during the summer, typically in paid positions. OURI’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program, which is funded by Rice, offers similar opportunities to undergraduate applicants from under-resourced backgrounds.
Labs in Natural Sciences are hosting 22 SURF and 38 REU undergraduate researchers this summer. The welcome reception gave them and summer researchers from other labs a chance to meet one another, faculty and graduate student mentors.
Visit reu.rice.edu to learn about REUs at Rice and ouri.rice.edu for information about SURF.