Information for the DIMACS REU Program

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The program in short

• You will spend 9 weeks in DIMACS at Rutgers (tentative days: May 28-July 26 2024).
• This is an in-person program at Rutgers and you are expected to be here for the entire duration.
• You will be matched with a Rutgers faculty member, who will mentor you in your project.
• The project will be original research, based on the mentor's research interests.
• There are no courses to attend during these 9 weeks.
• You will be part of the DIMACS REU cohort, which is roughly 30-40 students per year.
• Every student works on a different project.
• There are many organized events, such as seminars and field trips to industrial partners.
• The program will cover your housing in Rutgers student apartments.
• You will receive a stipend for the duration of the program.
• A small number of participants will spend the last 2 weeks of the program at Charles University, in Prague.

Eligibility requirements

• Only U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents are eligible to apply.
• You need to be an active student, enrolled in a US or foreign University.
• You should not have graduated before the end of the REU program, i.e. most seniors are not eligible.
• Our program primarily accepts students who apply as juniors, as well as some exceptional sophomores. We do not usually admit freshmen.
• You cannot have any other commitment during the program, such as a summer job or enrollment in summer classes.

Application checklist

Before starting the application process, please make sure you have the following:

• A short resume (pdf or Word).
• A short statement (one page or less) describing your general areas of interest and why you are interested in participating in the DIMACS REU program. (pdf or Word).
• A current transcript from your Institution in pdf (it does not need to be an official transcript)
• The names and emails of two faculty members who have agreed to write a recommendation letter for you, and who can discuss your potential to successfully complete a research project. They should expect to receive an email from us with a personalized link in order to submit their letter.
• A list of your classes for the Spring 2024 semester.
• A list of all proposed REU projects that you are interested to work on. You can select as many as you want, but you need to identify up to 5 as your top choices. If you have specific interest for some projects please mention this in your personal statement.
• You can find this year's projects here.

How to apply

• The application deadline is January 31, 2024.
• The deadline for receiving the recommendation letters is February 5, 2024.
• Make sure that you are eligible (see above).
• Go through the list of projects offered this year and make a note of the projects that you are most interested in.
• Collect the information mentioned in the application checklist above.
• If you are interested in projects 1-12 you need to apply using the NSF ETAP system here: https://etap.nsf.gov/award/473/opportunity/6635. Follow the instructions in that website.
• If you are interested in projects 13-21 you need to apply using the DIMACS REU system: https://reu.dimacs.rutgers.edu/apply
• If you are interested in projects appearing in both lists (1-12 and 13-21) you need to apply TWICE, using both systems above
• If you apply through the DIMACS REU portal do the following:
  1. Provide your name and email in our application portal. You will receive an email with a personalized URL. Click on that link to start your application.
  2. You can submit your application or save it for later. You can resume through the same link that you received in your registration email.
  3. You will receive an email acknowledgement after your final submission.
• Keep an eye on the projects list. We may add more projects until the deadline. You can always come back at a later time (before January 31) and modify your application.
• We try to assess the applications as fast as possible, but there are multiple factors involved in our decisions. You should expect to hear from us at some time between February and April.