Table 1.
Use this planning table to stay organized while identifying potential REU programs.
Fig 1.
REU program support network map.
It’s important to note that there are many people involved in the undergraduate research process—including your faculty mentor (often referred to as your “PI”) and the person in lab who will be your day-to-day contact (often a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher, referred to here as “Lab mentor”). When taking part in an REU program, you not only receive that in-lab support, but also have external support through the program director and other program staff, and even your cohort mates who are also taking part in the program. More broadly, you can seek support from mentors at your home institution and collaborators in other labs who work on similar research. This map aims to illustrate the support network that every REU student participant, referred to in the network map as “The Scholar,” has to help them succeed in their REU experience and beyond. Illustration developed by Gabriella Castillo.