The NSF REU Site Grant funds an 8-10 week summer research experience for a cohort of undergraduates. The goals of this program are to expand student participation in all areas of research, provide opportunities for those new to research, and increase the number of women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities in research.
Our office provides support from the proposal process to after you are funded and running your program on campus.
- Please contact our office (urf@utk.edu) if you are interested in applying for an NSF REU Site grant — we are happy to help!
- If you are already planning to run an REU within the next year, please fill out this brief form.
- NB: For general research proposal support, please refer to ORIED’s Proposal Support page.
- For information about common administrative practices for summer guests please see the Resources for Summer REU Administrators page.
- For those faculty currently in the proposal process, below is generic text you can include in your proposal. You can also cite the Summer Research Scholars page and include in your references to avoid plagiarism concerns:
“UT and non-UT students who conduct undergraduate research on campus during the summer months have the option of participating in the Summer Research Scholars program, a coordinated offering of housing, parking, dining, transportation, student activities, health services, and compliance to ensure these students have a great experience while on our campus. The Office of Undergraduate Research & Fellowships (OURF) established Summer Research Scholars to provide centralized professional development, presentation, and networking activities for students conducting on-campus research during the summer months.
All Summer Research Scholars program participants have the opportunity to participate in professional development activities. Recent examples of these activities include campus facility tours, responsible conduct of research training, designing effective research posters, applying for the NSF GRFP, and topical faculty guest lectures. Additionally, group social activities (e.g., trivia night, UT Gardens tour, Vol Wall-climbing outing) will be planned and optional for students to participate in at their expense (if applicable). At the end of the summer, students will also have the opportunity to present their research at the Summer Research Scholars Symposium.
In addition, participating REUs have the option to house students on campus in a residence hall designated for summer research participants and thus will have the opportunity to participate in activities planned through their complex. These benefits will allow the summer research students to further connect with each other outside of the laboratory setting. Facilitating these interactions will contribute to their success during their time on campus.”