Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

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Please refer to the tutorial at the bottom of the page to help you through the online application system. If you have a problem that is not addressed in the tutorial, please email Stephanie Ware.

Field Museum's REU Program 2012

The Field Museum of Natural History is offering eight paid REU summer internships for the summer of 2012 (funded through the National Science Foundation). The 2012 summer projects are described on this web site. All REU applications must be made via this web site between February 1st and March 15th, 2012. All letters of reference must be submitted by March 20th. Awards will be announced April 15, 2012.

The summer internship program will begin June 4 or June 11 respectively, depending on university and college schedules. The 4th Undergraduate Research Symposium will be held Saturday, August 11 at the Field Museum.

Please note: Undergraduate student participants in REU Sites must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions and must be a freshman, sophomore or junior at the time of application. Seniors cannot apply for an REU internship.

Start of 2012 REU program: Monday, June 4 or Monday 11 June, 2012

Phylogenetic workshop series (weekly), and introductory lectures: June 13th - August 1st (evening class, participation mandatory)
End of 2012 REU Program: Friday, August 10, 2012
2012 REU research symposium: Saturday, August 11 (participation mandatory)
REU student participants receive a salary of $4,500 for the 10-week program, and additionally $2,500 subsistence and $500 travel allowance.

Learn about our 2009, 2010 and 2011 Undergraduate Research Symposia

The Field Museum houses one of the world’s foremost scientific collections of biological diversity (>25 million specimens), and supports active biodiversity research around the globe. Despite the urgency of the current biodiversity crisis, few educational opportunities exist for students in the biological sciences to interact with scientists and institutions dedicated to the study of organic diversity. The Field Museum REU program will train a cohort of at least eight students in biodiversity-related research in a 10-week summer program. Each participant will undertake an independent research project supervised by a museum scientist in a discipline such as taxonomy and systematics, phylo/ biogeography, paleontology, molecular phylogenetics, or conservation. Students will experience biological diversity through the use of the museum’s collections in their research, and will be trained in project-relevant techniques and equipment such as the scanning electron microscope, various light microscopy set-ups, and equipment in the Pritzker DNA lab. A six-week course in phylogenetic systematics run concurrently with intern projects will provide a common theoretical framework for their research. REU students will receive an introduction to the Encyclopedia of Life in Field Museum’s Biodiversity Synthesis Center. At the conclusion of the summer students will present their research results to their peers and museum scientists at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Providing equal opportunity in biodiversity-related research is an important goal of the program.
The current REU program is funded through an REU-Site grant of the National Science Foundation, DBI 11-56594 fo Drs. Petra Sierwald (Zoology) and Kenneth Angielczyk (Geology). The 2009- 2011 REU program was funded through an REU-Site grant of the National Science Foundation DBI: 08-49958 (PIs Petra Sierwald and Peter Makovicky).

Please note: this 10 week summer internship is a full-time program and includes several mandatory evening activities. The start date is negotiable to adjust for colleges/universities with a quarter schedule.

2012 REU Projects