CONQUER | Resources for Planning a Successful REU

A bit of advance planning can help make for a happy and productive research experience. An overview of the activities involved in mentoring a research experience for undergraduates, with suggested readings and resources, can be found on the following three tabs:

Before the REU

Type of REU	Activities	Resources
All	Select and recruit students Select, recruit, and prepare graduate student mentors (if applicable) Plan research topics Set research agenda and milestones Set up payroll and student finances and/or arrange for academic credit Select or design evaluation instruments Administer pre-surveys Consult materials on mentoring undergraduates in research	NCWIT REU-in-a-Box CRA-W Resources for Faculty Mentors SURE surveys of undergraduate research experiences
Visiting (non-local) students	Arrange housing Arrange relocation travel	Local institution’s campus-wide REU programs Local institution’s Dean of Students office
Group	Arrange group social activities Plan end-of-program events (e.g., poster session or symposium)

Materials on Mentoring Undergraduates

The Mentoring Role in Undergraduate Research Projects, M. Malachowski, CUR Quarterly, Dec 1996.
Advisor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering, National Academy Press, 1997.
Building an Undergraduate Computer Science Research Experience, S. Hadfield and D. Schweitzer, Frontiers in Education, 2009.
Score: Agile Research Group Management, M. Hicks and J. S. Foster, Communications of the ACM, October 2010. (The focus of this article is graduate student mentoring, but there are some interesting ideas that can be used in mentoring undergraduates as well.)

During the REU

Type of REU	Activities	Resources
All	Introduce students to the work environment and establish clear expectations Hold regular research meetings Arrange sessions on communication, research methods, ethics, research careers, and graduate school Prepare final reports and presentations Administer end-of-REU student surveys	NCWIT REU-in-a-Box CISE Online REU PI Site CRA-W Resources for Faculty Mentors Conquer graduate school page GRE information and preparation
Academic Year	Address issues of academic credit (if applicable) Work with students on time management and appropriate allocation of time for research	Local departmental or university undergraduate research programs
Summer	Organize co-curricular group activities Check-in with students regularly (daily is ideal!)

Guidance on reading research papers

How to Read an Engineering Research Paper, W. Griswold, UCSD

Advice on writing technical articles

The Science of Scientific Writing, G. Gopen and J. Swan, American Scientist, 1990.
Writing Technical Articles, H. Schulzrinne, Columbia University.
How to get your papers published, Matt Welsh, 2009.

Advice on giving technical talks

Giving Talks, S. Drysdale, Dartmouth College

Advice/Guidance on preparing research posters

Research Posters 101, L. F. Cranor, Crossroads, 1996.
How to Write a Research Poster, L. F. Cranor, Crossroads.

Exercises for Mentors to do with their Students

Complete set of exercises from CRA-W – Including the ones below.

After the REU

Type of REU

Activities

Resources

All

Work with students to prepare work for publication
Nominate students for research awards
Bring students to conferences
Assist students with fellowship and graduate school applications
Analyze student survey results and refine next REU based on those results

NCWIT REU-in-a-box

CRA-W Resources for Faculty Mentors

Conferences with Student Research Poster Sessions and/or Competitions

Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) Regional Conferences
ACM Student Research Competition at SIGCSE (see, for example, SIGCSE 2018)
Student Research Competition at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (see, for example, Grace Hopper Celebration 2017)
Student Research Poster Session at the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing (see, for example, Tapia 2017)

Undergraduate Research Awards for Students and Faculty