CAHSI Local Research Experiences for Undergraduates (LREU) Program
The CAHSI Local Research Experiences for Undergraduates (LREU) program engages students and faculty at their home institutions in impactful and meaningful research projects that develop solutions to real-world problems.
The program seeks to excite African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American (AHN) and female students about computing graduate studies and provide them with the research experiences critical for graduate studies. CAHSI institutions are working together to raise the low number and share of AHN and female students who enter and complete graduate programs in computing fields, which are among the least diverse science disciplines. Read more about why it is so urgent to broaden participation in computing on the CAHSI Literature page.
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Eligibility
- Commitment to excellence in computing education.
- Record in computing research that is aligned with CAHSI PhD-granting programs.
- Ability to mentor undergraduates with a growth mindset.
Expectations
- Incorporate Affinity Research Group (ARG) practices into student’s research experiences. ARG training will be provided.
- Work with the mentee to develop a research plan with clear milestones.
- Ensure that student’s weekly entries in their research journals are made.
- Provide a constructive review of mentee’s research journal and other deliverables.
- Review and critique student’s posters for submission upon completion of the LREU.
- Submit mid-term and final reports (templates will be provided).
- Work with CAHSI Backbone to populate a CAHSI Expertise profile.
Required Application Components
- Completed Application
- Contribution to Undergraduate Student Success Statement
- CV
- Overview of proposed LREU project
Eligibility
- Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Must be enrolled in a computing program at a CAHSI institution
- Must not be employed for more than 10 hours per week in any other position while in the LREU program
- Must have completed Advanced Data Structures
Students with no previous research experience are encouraged to apply. Although a GPA of 2.8 is recommended for the program, GPA is not always a predictor of the student’s ability to succeed in the program. Students with a GPA below 2.8 are encouraged to submit a personal statement describing any extenuating circumstances that may have impacted the students’ academic performance.
Expectations
- Conduct research for the full length of the LREU (10-14 weeks determined at the start of the REU) and commit to work the number of hours agreed upon (10-20 hours). The mentee and the mentor should be flexible regarding work hours to accommodate the student’s course workload with the intention that the student will have met the hours required by the end of the LREU. Workload expectations must be articulated at the beginning of the LREU.
- Attend weekly meetings with assigned faculty mentor.
- Engage in professional development activities, hosted by CAHSI or faculty mentor. For example, creating an elevator pitch, submitting probing questions, or attending a GRFP workshop.
- Make weekly entries in a research journal.
- Prepare and submit a research poster. The poster will go through several iterations of feedback and edits.
- Present the research poster at the GMiS Conference if the student is still enrolled during the semester when the conference is held (fall semester).
Application Documents
- Completed Application Form
- Professional Résumé
- Unofficial Transcript
- Student Statement
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant HRD-1834620 and No. 1551221. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.