Every year we welcome a handful of students from around the nation to participate in our Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates. Undergraduates. Students who apply can participate in research at any of our four schools, Texas A&M, UCLA, Rice and FIU. Students have the chance to spend 10 weeks under a graduate mentor researching a project in one of the four thrusts. This gives them the opportunity to experience real-life research and life inside academic research. Every week they also attend a professional development workshop and they must complete a research plan. This enables them to further develop their professional skills and assist them in their future as an undergraduate.
This year students from Texas A&M and Rice University went on a field trip to the Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation & Education (MITIE) where they got to tour an operating room and core labs. At the end of the program, students give a poster presentation to highlight all the hard work they have accomplished in the 10 weeks.
PATHS-UP REUs who presented at a Rice REU event. Amruta Pai (left) and Eleazar Martin(right). Eleazar was recognised with a certificate of excellence.
Here is some advice and comments from this years students:
“I wasn’t sure what I was expecting since it was my first time doing an REU but I found it to be a lot of fun. I really enjoyed meeting the people and going to the meetings. One piece of advice for future REUs that I’d give is to make sure you manage your time well. The highlight of the field trip for me was to see the research the hospital was doing so I could gain some exposure on possible projects to work on in the future.” – Alberto Gutierrez-Irizarry
“I loved the program. I think I learned more in the 10 weeks I spent doing research with PATHS-UP than I have in the past few years as a “typical” research assistant. I’ve learned a lot more about how research projects come to fruition and the timeline that goes along with that. My piece of advice for future students is don’t be afraid to ask questions. In the beginning of the program, I was nervous to voice my thoughts and concerns, but everything got easier once I realized it was okay to do so.’ -Jacey Henrichs
“I gained hands-on experience working on data-informed healthcare development, which I find inspirational to my future pursuits. In addition, I learned a lot more about networks and methods in processing them, a field I had little previous knowledge in.
What is one piece of advice for future REUS that you’d give? Be prepared to learn: almost no REU participants will have the entire skill set necessary to complete the research goal from the start. But don’t worry, almost every one of us would be surprised at the amount we learned by the end of the program, and your mentors are there to help!” -Zhuoli Xie