NNIN Research Experience for Undergraduates

The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) conducts one of the largest and most successful Research Experience for Undergraduates Programs in nanotechnology. 

Students are assigned to a specific research project and make a meaningful research contribution to their research group. Each project involves hands-on nanotechnology research with state-of-the-art equipment. Each student works on an individual research project, with support from faculty, graduate student mentors, and facility staff.

Highlights of our program

• Ten-week research program at one of fourteen state-of-the-art nanotechnology facilities.
  
• Each student is assigned a stand alone, substantive research project, appropriate for a ten-week period. A high percentage of these projects result in publishable research.
• NNIN covers all costs for travel and housing.
  
• $4000 stipend.
• Technical support by experienced NNIN staff members.
  
• Interaction with a faculty member and daily interaction with a graduate student mentor.
  
• End of program research convocation. In mid-August, ALL interns travel to a common site (Washington, DC, in 2012) at our expense for a three-day Research Convocation, sharing their results and networking with their peers from other sites. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience the breadth of nanotechnology through the experiences of your fellow students.
• Published project report in the NNIN REU Research Accomplishments, a professional publication of the program's research results.
• We have been in operation since 1997, with over 900 alumni. Through experience, we have developed mechanisms to assure that each student has a successful and educational research experience.
  

Special Opportunity: The Second-Year Advanced Research NNIN International REU (iREU) Program Our REU program is highly selective; Approximately 1 in 7 applicants will be offered an internship and 80 will actually participate. Over 14 years of experience has shown that these students are well positioned for follow-on internships and are highly valued by industry, graduate schools, and other internship programs. In light of this fact, we have taken pains to develop our own follow-on program, to give a special opportunity to the most select of our REU participants. Approximately ten to fifteen of the very best students to complete the NNIN REU program each year will be selected for a second year advanced research program at a major international laboratory. This past summer, for example, four of last year's REU students spent the summer doing research at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (imec), Leuven, Belgium; two went to the Centre Microelectronique de Provence, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Saint Etienne in France, seven went to the Institut Fur Bio- Und Nanosysteme (IBN), Forschungszentrum, Julich, in Germany, and three interns spent their summer at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), in the Netherlands. This is part of an effort to educate Globally Aware Scientists, a necessity in this multinational research environment. We expect to continue this exciting follow-on program each year in the future.     Note this opportunity is ONLY available to students who have completed our NNIN REU program. Essentially we are using our REU program as a filter to select the very best for these exciting opportunities. We believe this is a unique opportunity, which will give a significant career boost to our best performing REU interns. But you have to apply, be accepted, and successfully complete the NNIN REU Program to even be considered for this follow-on second summer program.

 

Taking these opportunities and features together, we believe we offer an unparalleled REU opportunity for those interested in nanotechnology. For comments from prior participants, check inside each years' NNIN REU Research Accomplishments, accessible by year via the following links.