UTPA REU application for Summer 2010 now live

The UTPA REU application form is now available here. Some of the form material still needs to be updated, notably the application deadline! It's 3 May 2010. Currently, we are planning on recruiting one student for this summer.

Kawaii is, perhaps, not the impression you want to make

More tips for applying to programs from Bug Girl’s Blog. Includes this classic piece of advice:

Do not print your cover letter for an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates on Hello Kitty paper.

Seriously.

Had it not also come with transcripts attached, I’d think some of you were just messing with me.

One slot!

There will be one slot available for a student to join the UTPA REU program this summer.

The application deadline is to be announced, but will probably be around mid- April. Questions can be emailed to Zen Faulkes in the meantime.

2010: The year we are renewed?

I’ve been receiving emails already asking about the UTPA REU program for summer 2010.

We don’t know if we will have any new students in the program this year.

This program is funded by the National Science Foundation, and our current grant is ending this year. We have submitted a proposal to continue our program for several more years, but do not expect to hear any word on the next round of reviews until sometime in late winter or early spring.

If our program does continue, we’ll be sure to let you know. Trust me. We will not be quiet about it.

2009 applications now online!

The application form for those interested in joining the REU program for 2009-2001 is now online!

During the application process, you will be asked to provide:

• A personal statement describing your reasons for wanting to join the program and career goals


• Names of two referees who will be providing recommendation letters

Please contact program mentors to discuss research opportunities.

You do not need to have any previous research experience, or be a biology major. No single criterion is used as a "cut-off" for applications. Factors such as having good working relationships with other students and mentors, willingness to learn, and persistance are important, as well as GPA. Students now finishing their first or second year of study are particularly encouraged to apply.

The pool, 2008 edition

We have about 25 applicants this year. We should be doing personal interviews in about two weeks (due to March break).

Research like a rock star

I've written before about Brian May, so it was inevitable that he would show up on a recruitment poster.

Pull it together!

Time is almost up... the deadline for REU applications is this Friday!

Talk to potential mentors if you haven't done so, and remember to have two letters of recommendation sent to Zen Faulkes in the Department of Biology.

To boldly split infinitives

I cannot win with posters this year. My Pirates poster has been stolen twice now. And when I put this one up, someone wrote on it to point out the split infinitive.

"To boldly go."

Sheesh. Do people not recognize the quote? Perhaps some people need a refresher in classic TV intros.

Also, check out Futurama Math for more geek goodness.

Speaking of which, I'll bet there are projects in the REU program that wouldn't mind having a math major to help with a research project. You don't have to be a biology major to be in this REU program.

This blog takes no position on whether pirates or ninja are cooler

Another variation on the riff started in the stolen poster.

Talents

After the first Johnny Depp poster was popular enough to have been stolen less than 24 hours after I put it up, I made another. It's only a little twisted...

C is for...

Well, I hear choirs of angels when I have a good cookie...

Apply now!

The online application form is ready for this year. Click here to apply.

All this and beauty too...

I love showing people who have done research, but that you would never expect it from...

Read all about it

I found this article when I went to the Society for Neuroscience meeting. The hotel I was in delivered free newspapers on weekdays.

And really bad eggs...

My favourite recruitment poster so far this year. And, apparently, everyone elses. I wasn't even done putting it up before I heard someone behind me laughing at the first tagline.

Not too clever

This will be one of the first recruitment posters, which I hope to print today. Sometimes, what's going on in the office sort of bleeds onto the page...

Info session

Zen Faulkes, UTPA REU director, will be doing a little chittin' and chattin' on all manner of summer research programs. Learn:

• Who to turn to for recommendation letters


• What research programs are looking for in their students


• When applications are typically due


• Where to look for summer research programs


• Why UTPA students are in high demand for summer programs


• How competetive the programs are

The focus will be on biology, but the tips should apply to almost any research program. UTPA's own REU program will also be discussed.

Learn all about it by coming to SCIE 2.288 on Thursday, 31 January 2008, at noon.

Mark the calendar!

The deadline for this year's REU cohort will be Friday, 29 February 2008. There will be an application form online sometime in early February.

Recruiting visit

Aaron Ellison of Harvard Forest will be visiting our campus next Tuesday, 27 November 2007, to recruit for the Harvard Forest summer REU program.

Dr. Ellison is, among many other things, the co-author of the book A Primer Of Ecological Statistics. Which, he informed me when at dinner during an REU conference, was briefly outselling Bill Clinton's autobiography on Amazon.