Brevard Sun

 Applications are now being accepted for a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). Designed to help prepare participants for careers in the expanding fields of statistics and data analysis, this eight-week program offers hands-on research for undergraduate students in statistical models with applications to geoscience, statistics, machine learning, and data analysis.

The program runs May 15-July 8 on the Melbourne campus of Florida Tech. Applications will be accepted until March 19, 2023, after which a review process will determine the eight participants.

There are eight slots available, and participants must be undergraduate students or high school seniors enrolled in a degree program. The program does not require a prerequisite and is open to students from freshman to senior. Members of traditionally underrepresented groups and community college graduates are encouraged to apply.

Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and hosted by Florida Tech’s Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences, the program will cover all costs for participants, including a travel allowance to Melbourne, housing in a Florida Tech residence hall, a $600 weekly stipend and a $100 weekly meal allowance – a total of $5,600 for the full program. Travel allowances may also be provided to students to present their summer research at a future conference.

Participants will work on a research project in one of four areas: the impact of climate change on mountain glaciers; sea level rise projections and modeling; the impact of climate change on water pollution; and the impact of climate change on flight delays and cancellations.

“The goal of this program is to provide students who have little or no prior research experience, particularly minority students at early stage of their education, with an opportunity to participate in challenging research projects,” said Nezamoddin N. Kachouie, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences who is the principal investigator of and oversees the program.

In addition to the research opportunities, the REU will feature seminars on improving students’ public speaking and presentation skills, workshops on how to develop, gain and improve analytical thinking, data analysis and coding skills, and opportunities to learn from experience about scientific research and how to apply academic work to real-world problems.

Additional details and the application form are available at https://research.fit.edu/smag-reu/. For more information, please contact Nezamoddin N. Kachouie at nezamoddin@fit.edu or Steven Lazarus at slazarus@fit.edu.

Original source can be found here.