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Materialize the Future
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Materials Design Capstone Project
Learn more about the materials science and engineering Materials Design Capstone Project to match the opportunity that's right for you.

Online Research Experience for Undergraduates

Research reimagined, online with you in mind

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REU entirely online!

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is pleased to offer an online REU (O-REU) program. We have partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory for this research opportunity. This program is open to US citizens and permanent residents.

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During the summer, students are expected to participate (40 hours/week) and are remunerated $5000 for the summer. All activities are carried out fully remotely: there are no in-person meetings and no residency requirement. Travel support for one site visit will also be made available. O-REU is open to US citizens and permanent residents currently pursuing bachelor's degrees. However, priority will be given to sophomores and juniors enrolled within the south-central US (TX, NM, OK, AR, LA).

To apply, please email the following materials to Ms. Isabel Cantu at icantu@tamu.edu:
  • 1-page resume
  • electronic transcript
  • list of preferred mentors (please consult our faculty interests here)
  • contact information (name, professional affiliation, email address) for two references

Information on the summer 2025 O-REU program may be found on the TAMU Online REU Program webpage.

The O-REU program will incorporate similar elements to a residence-based REU, but with additional resources available online. Here is an outline of planned activities and resources:

Personalized mentorship and program deliverables:
  • students paired up with faculty mentors and their group members
  • regular online meetings
  • a pre-defined schedule of deliverables: project statement, mid-term update, final presentation
Online webinars and training:
  • topics in programming, computation, and data science by the Texas A&M University High Performance Research Computing (HPRC) center and the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science (TAMIDS)
  • training on specialized topics by faculty mentors and their groups
  • online faculty research seminars
  • online presentations by participating students
Professional development webinars:
  • communications and remote collaboration
  • applying to grad school: getting recommendation letters, preparing for GRE, writing a statement
  • applying for fellowships
O-REU acknowledges support from the following partners:
  • Center for Research Excellence on Dynamically Deformed Solids
  • TAMU national laboratories office
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing center
  • Texas A&M Institute for Data Science