OVPTL Staff Intranet

Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) Supplement

NSF Funded Faculty:

You may be eligible for a Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) Supplement to support 2 (or more) students. In an effort to increase funded undergraduate research opportunities at UC Irvine, the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) is assisting PIs with securing REU supplements to their grants in a streamlined and pain-free process :). Notably, REU supplements are administratively reviewed on a rolling basis so we’d like to help you secure funding to support 2 or more students for next summer (at a rate of $700-$1550/student/week).

If you are interested in this, as a first step: please email your Program Officer assigned to your NSF award that would be supplemented. You should briefly describe in your email the nature of each prospective student’s involvement in your research project; if your Program Officer agrees, we can assist you with putting together and submitting the write-up. Upon green-light from your PO, please forward the email to: NSFREU@uci.edu and we can assist. 

Funding Amounts

Per the NSF, ‘Normally, funds may be requested for up to two students, but exceptions will be considered for training additional qualified students who are members of underrepresented groups. Centers or large research efforts may request support for a number of students commensurate with the size and nature of the project.

Student stipends for summer projects are expected to be comparable to those of REU Site participants, approximately $700 per student per week. Other student costs include housing, meals, travel, and laboratory use fees and usually vary depending on location. Amounts for academic-year projects should be comparable on a pro rata basis.

Total costs for a summer — including all direct costs and indirect costs — are generally expected not to exceed $1,550 per student per week. However, projects that involve international activities, field work in remote locations, or other exceptional circumstances may exceed this limit.’

Student Eligibility

Undergraduate student participants in REU Supplements must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the United States. An undergraduate student is a student who is enrolled in a degree program (part-time or full-time) leading to a baccalaureate or associate degree. Students who are transferring from one college or university to another and are enrolled at neither institution during the intervening summer may participate. High school graduates who have been accepted at an undergraduate institution but who have not yet started their undergraduate study are also eligible to participate. Students who have received their bachelor’s degrees and are no longer enrolled as undergraduates are generally not eligible to participate.

Term Requirements

The term of an REU Supplement may not exceed that of the underlying research project.

Normally, funds may be requested for up to two students, but exceptions will be considered for training additional qualified students who are members of underrepresented groups (women, minorities, and persons with disabilities). Centers or large research efforts may request support for a number of students commensurate with the size and nature of the project. Special REU opportunities relevant to Engineering include (see solicitation): Partnership with the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), Partnership with the Department of Defense, and International Projects.

Required Documents

  1. Summary: A summary of the proposed work
  2. Justification for Supplement / Description  (3 page limit): The description of the REU activity should discuss the following: (1) the nature of each prospective student’s involvement in the research project; (2) the experience of the PI (or other prospective research mentors) in involving undergraduates in research, including any previous REU Supplement support and the outcomes from that support; (3) the nature of the mentoring that the student(s) will receive; and (4) the process and criteria for selecting the student(s). If a student has been pre-selected (as might be true in the case of a supplement for an ongoing award), then the grounds for selection and a brief Biographical Sketch of the student should be included.
  3. Biographical Sketch (if applicable and optional): If an REU student has been pre-selected, you may place a brief Biographical Sketch in Supplementary Documents.

Budget and Budget Justification: Student stipends for summer projects are expected to be comparable to those of REU Site participants, approximately $700 per student per week. Other student costs include housing, meals, travel, and laboratory use fees and usually vary depending on location. Amounts for academic-year projects should be comparable on a pro rata basis.