The National Laboratories Office (NLO), a division of the USC Office of the Vice President for Research, is seeking faculty proposals to fund Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs to be held at USC beginning in the summer of 2025. This funding program will support REU programs related to national security, science and energy. Research themes must be broadly relevant to the mission of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).

The NLO will support two kinds of REU programs:

• The NLO will fund up to two new, stand-alone REU summer programs.
• Active National Science Foundation-funded REU sites may apply for co-funding of up to three additional summer participants.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty working on the USC Columbia campus are eligible to apply as the principal investigator (PI) on a new, stand-alone REU summer site. Investigators from USC System campuses are eligible to serve as co-PIs or senior personnel on stand-alone site proposals. Directors of active National Science Foundation (NSF) REU sites may apply to the NLO for co-funding for up to three additional summer participants.

This program has four primary goals:

• Increase enrollment of US citizens in STEM graduate programs at USC Columbia.
• Grow the university’s collaborations with key federal agencies, including the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD) and national laboratories and other federally funded research and development centers.
• Enhance USC faculty participation in the NSF REU program and other DOE/DOD workforce development programs.
• Emphasize recruitment of South Carolina students to participate in the program. (Out-of-state students are also eligible to participate.)

Complete details about applying for this opportunity are available in the Request for Proposals: National Security, Science and Energy Research Experience for Undergraduates (pdf). Concept papers are due via USCeRA on Friday, June 28, 2024. Initial concept papers will be evaluated by a review panel, and PIs on the highest scoring concept papers will be invited to submit full proposals.

 

22 May 2024