We recommend projects that provide a balance between providing new skills for the students and ensuring that the student will be successful. While we do encourage mentors to consider projects with minimal prior skills required, it is also important to consider the amount of time your student will need to learn the analytical, programming, etc. skills when they begin their summer research experience. During the student matching process, we match students to projects based on their prior skills, their research interests, and the skills they want to develop.

Yes! We think that graduate students and postdocs can be fantastic mentors. We do request that a graduate student or postdoc co-mentor with a COLDEX faculty or staff member.

Any topic that aligns with the COLDEX scientific or broader impacts mission

Student applications open Dec. 1 and close February 1 (at 11:59 pm Eastern Time).

After student applications close on February 1, student applications are sent out to a 5 person selection committee (note: demographic information is removed from student applications before being shared with the committee). Each committee member reviews a subset of applications using a rubric. Each application is given a final numerical score based on this rubric by two separate committee members. We then meet as a committee to come up with our list of top applicants. These applicants are matched to projects based on interests and skills. The REU mentors are sent 2 - 3 student names to consider in late February. Once the mentor selects their first choice applicant, that applicant is sent an offer letter.

Students will have their travel to/from the host site booked and paid for by the Oregon State University travel agents. Housing will be reserved and paid for through OSU as well, though support or guidance from the on-site research mentors may be needed to obtain on-campus housing (typically, we may need advice or a confirmation email from mentors to secure on-campus housing, depending on housing rules for the individual host institutions).

Students receive:

• a $6,000 stipend distributed as $2000 at the beginning of June, $2000 at the end of June, and $2000 at the end of July

• Housing for the summer (we do the best we can to get on-campus housing for students)

• Travel to and from their host institution (will be booked and paid for centrally through OSU)

• Travel and local accommodation to present their research at the COLDEX annual meeting in September

• Travel and local accommodation (up to $2000) to attend either GSA, SACNAS National Diversity in STEM conference, or AGU in the Fall