Research, Internship, Job

1. Undergraduate Research Opportunities: Summer and Beyond

  • Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) awards. This award supports full-time undergraduate students engaged in summer research or creative projects under the supervision of UConn faculty. If you are already part of a faculty research group and interested in continuing through the summer, we encourage you to talk to the lab’s faculty lead immediately for help with the SURF application. Applications are generally due during January of each year.

  • “Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)” offered through the National Science Foundation. There are 80 such ‘REU sites’ across the US that are focused on Materials Research. Each offers a reasonable salary, living expenses, and travel costs to get to and from the site. They typically feature not just research opportunities in university or national laboratories, but also professional development training, social activities, and housing clustered with other REU students (in materials and also from other fields). It is a wonderful experience, and a great way to try out another school or region for your future. 

  • The UConn Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) lists a variety of summer and academic term opportunities. 

  • “Summer Undergraduate Materials Research” (SUMR) opportunities to work with us here at UConn MSE. UConn MSE offers a limited number of the ‘SUMR’ fellowships to our own students who wish to work with core MSE faculty here on campus between mid-May and mid-August. Applications are generally due in March of each year. Watch for email announcements from the department.

  • MSE 4097: Undergraduate Research in Materials Science and Engineering: A student can earn ‘up to three credits’ of professional electives by performing undergraduate research in an MSE faculty’s laboratory (‘3 hours per week’ per one credit). A student is strongly encouraged to review our MSE faculty’s research areas and then to follow up with faculty directly about opportunities to work with them. 

  • Graduate School! UConn MSE welcomes many of our alumni for a masters or PhD, sometimes immediately following graduation, and sometimes many years later. Graduating from our UG program, you are also likely to be well prepared to earn a masters or PhD degree elsewhere. Speak with your advisor about such opportunities. Deadlines are typically in December or January for admission to PhD programs in the following Fall semester. Masters programs sometimes have later deadlines. Click into the ‘graduate’ tab on our website to access relevant resources and application links.

2. Undergraduate Internship/Job Opportunities

The Center for Career Development (CCD) provides many resources including resume and interview training, career advice, job listings, etc. Please check the CCD website regularly for details about their fall and spring internship and career fairs.