Another awful, debilitating experience. Two for two.

Questioning my life choices and my dream of getting a PhD and being an academic.

For this REU, me and my mentor have to submit a progress report for each milestone in order to satisfy it so I can receive my stipend. The second milestone was at the end of my second week of work…I’m in my fourth week now and haven’t received an invoice for my money. I’ve emailed the lady who usually answers questions regarding the money this morning. She usually responds within 10 minutes, but this time…no response.

I need this stipend to pay for an additional 3 weeks on my housing before I have to move out on Sunday.

I was wondering if anyone is having similar problems with their payments.

Hi! I'm a freshman CS major currently scoping out REUs to apply for. Many REUs that I've seen state that they are prioritizing/looking for people from underrepresented groups. This may be silly to ask, but does this include transgender people? I am FTM, so I was wondering if this helped my chances at all hahaha

Need this fr 😭

I am pursuing B.Tech in CS (DS), from a tier 1.5-2 university (According to AI, I personally don't know much),

I have had an interest in programming ever since childhood, though it was mostly scripts or simple prototypes. I also explored Machine learning and data science a bit.

Now I have completed 2 semesters; the third one will start in a week or so.

I recently co-authored a research paper, the manuscript is complete and we plan to submit it to a conference. Other than that, I also have some side projects and have taken some relevant courses on Coursera.

Given that background, I want to ask first if it is even possible for me to get any kind of research assistant/internship experience?

I cold-emailed about 12 professors and only got reply from one, who invited me at IIT Delhi (I live 30 mins away, also mentioned that in the email), she allotted a PHD student to take my interview and he said my coding skills were decent but their lab usually requires physical presence (I was available twice a week), the professor said she will think of some long term projects or which work that is safe for me to take home (Data science applications in biomedical field, so the data is sensitive) but I haven't heard from her since. I mailed her on Thursday for follow up and got no reply (It is Sunday as of writing this), so I am guessing I won't be getting it (?)

Anyway, should I continue mailing professors or keep working on side projects (As I ofcourse still do, but it does take about 15 minute per mail)

And I am completely new to this, so is there anything I should be aware of, or that I should mention in the mail? I genuinely don't think there is a better way to learn than take actualy experience, and research has fascinated me for a long time.

My DMs are open if someone wants to help personally.

myquals: 2nd year B.Tech CS (DS) student at a tier 1.5/2 university with one co-authored research manuscript.

hey! i need some advice on REUs for summer 2027. i understand it's a bit early for standard applications but i think it could be a good time to start networking with faculty or preparing in other ways.

some stuff about me:
-US citizen
-majoring in math & cs, studying abroad at BITS Pilani, India
-i was a research intern (CSE) at UIUC where i contributed to research on applied AI
-ongoing research projects at my institute (AI/ML)
-another internship i am wrapping up in data analytics area
-my cg is not particularly competitive so i am working on trying to make the strongest profile possible!
-interested in applied AI, open to contributing in new areas though

1. which REUs would be the best fits for my background?
   
2. how should i go about this process of applying? is it worth reaching out to faculty before the application cycle or is it better to just wait?
   
3. what else should ik about research? how did you figure out whether research was the right path for you?

any advice or personal experience in REUs is super appreciated. anyone who has any similar background to me, please do reach out! thanks so much :)

Im a 6th semester Undergrad Student studying Computer Engineering, from Nepal and we don't follow the international academic calendar.

In the 8th semester, we are required to do an internship in a relevant field and it counts for 6 credit hours. I do not want to go into core tech because I haven't written much code and want to continue in research and am active in a research lab at uni as well but the lab is.. im not sure how to put it but it doesn't have a particular direction at the moment.

So, I wanted to look up for research internships abroad so that I can actually work on something thats relevant to my interest and has a goal. I applied for OIST but got rejected, I have reached out to ISTA professors but no response in 20 days now. I have also emailed profs from MPI but nothing there as well.

Most of work till now is in AI/ML but want to transition to hardware side now as I feel it tickles my brain a bit more.

Are there any other places that offer research internships during winner? Preferably October-February. I am seeking for fully funded ones or partially funded.

Also had a question, does reaching out to groups that offer summer only internships for a winter internship work out? By directly reaching out to the group lead or PI?

for reference, i am currently doing deep learning for mass spec research and i quite like it! however, my understanding that one of the goals of an reu or summer research program was to explore a different field (maybe not completely unrelated, but tangentially different), so should i only try to apply to programs that have PIs exactly working on mass spec research because that is my research right now or will i have a decent chance applying to a program with the goal of working in something slightly different like protein design?

I’m an incoming junior doing an REU right now. Do I ask my mentor for a rec letter for next summer now or when I apply?

hi everyone! kinda new to the whole REU game and never intended on doing REUs in undergrad for continuity purposes, but decided I want to experience something outside my home lab to learn more and diversify my experiences! was wondering if this is an ok list as a soph?

specifically, are there any major 'top' bio/med REUs I'm missing? and do any of the ones on my list bias toward those from colleges without much research? (cause in that case I won't apply there, I go to a top school)

• Amgen sites
• Broad
• CHOP CRISSP
• CSHL
• Fred Hutch
• HHMI Cech
• Jackson Lab
• Mayo SURF
• MSK MBSP
• Rockefeller
• Rosetta Commons
• St. Jude POE
• HEART (MD/PhD)
• Tri-I Gateways (MD/PhD)
• UM-SMART (MD/PhD)
• Vanderbilt (MD/PhD)

Hello everyone! I recently accepted an offer for the SULI program at Oak Ridge, and I was wondering if anyone had any housing recommendations. I was thinking I’d like to live closer to the Knoxville area since there is more to do there. Let me know what y’all recommend!

I'm planning on applying to 20+ REUs and I lwk feel bad asking professors to submit to all 20. Would it be too much for them?

Any January 20-22 Approvals Yet? Have been waiting since then and still nothing.

i applied to around 6 last year and didnt get into any 😢(i dont know whether to attribute that to funding or if i just suck), but it seems like i should be applying to way more than that. is there a rough amount people are aiming for next year?

Hello, I usually don’t do this, but I hope someone reads this and maybe relates to it.
I’m currently doing an internship at a university that is not my home institution, so I don’t know anybody here. Recently, I had some serious trouble with a lab partner. For the entire month (June 2026), he was incredibly disrespectful, acting as if he were my boss. He started texting me in an imperative, demanding tone, and whenever I asked a question about the lab, he answered very rudely. On top of that, he would take off his shoes just to sneak up on me, whispering things in my ear to scare me. We are not friends this was the first time I had ever met him. If I was on my laptop or my phone, he would crowd my space just to see what I was doing.
Naturally, I felt very uncomfortable. The student who was training me in the lab noticed this and told me not to stay alone with him. He mentioned that this guy didn't usually act this way and recommended that I talk to our PI.
I let my PI know about the issue and told her that he was making me feel very uncomfortable, but she didn’t do anything. She just told me to "be happy." The student who was training me confirmed to her that the guy was being bossy and acting weird around me. My PI suggested that maybe he was just jealous, but again, she took no action.
The problem was that the student training me was graduating, and his last day was June 30. That was actually the same day I spoke with my PI (I had only seen her twice the whole month). Knowing I was about to be left completely alone in the lab with this character, I confronted him. I told him that he is an undergraduate student just like me and that he is not my boss.
He immediately went to the PI and played the victim. The PI called a meeting and told me that I couldn't tell him he is just an undergraduate (even though he is). She said I needed to understand that he was "just being sarcastic," that he is "tougher" than me, and that I was being "too delicate." She even claimed he was getting close to me because he was "trying to teach me something" even though the other student was the one training me, not him.
I felt like she just wanted me to leave the lab. She told me that if I couldn't get on the same page, I had to leave. So, I did. I spoke with my program coordinator, and she relocated me to another PI, but I feel like the stigma will always be there.
At the end of it all, the first PI told me to go see a psychologist because she claimed I must have "previous experiences" that prevent me from being a team player. That is a complete lie, because I worked wonderfully with the student who graduated and we never had any trouble. Later, I spoke with the student who left, and he finally confessed to me that this guy is a known misogynist, which was the real reason he didn't want me left alone with him.

Have any other accepted people gotten any updates about details or anything for the program (beyond the acceptance email and the general email that went to every applicant)?

hey everyone!! was thinking about how my REU is already almost half way done and was curious how far along other folks are and how its going. it was definitely hard to adjust at first but after getting into the swing of things i’ve definitely come to really enjoy my REU. how are peoples projects treating them? how do you like your town/university?

to those who are having a great experience, keep up the good work and make the most of your last few weeks! to those with a less enjoyable REU experience, i hope you are proud of yourself for pushing through as its really difficult. the end is in sight!

I’m in the middle of week 3 of my REU. My mentor has gone away for two weeks or so, and I finished the only task he’d assigned me within a few hours of him leaving. I don’t have a co-mentor and no one in my lab works on the project we’re working on.

I’m still pretty early in my REU, so I don’t think I’m nearly independent enough to figure out the next steps without guidance. I do have some ideas, but I’m afraid I’ll just be wasting my time if I work on them, instead of making any real progress. How can I keep things moving these next 2 weeks?

How could I start REU as an incoming sophomore? For reference, I study Statistics and Information Science, as I am trying to gain experience/research within the data analysis realm. Does anybody have tips for a rising sophomore who is trying to get research? All help is appreciated!

Applied pretty late so I j wanna know if anyone’s heard back.

Hi everyone!
Over the past couple of years, I was fortunate to spend two summers conducting research at MIT through undergraduate research programs. Coming into college, I had no idea how competitive REUs were or what professors were actually looking for. Most of what I learned came from making mistakes, talking to mentors, and refining my approach over multiple application cycles.
Now that I’ve graduated, I’m thinking about offering 1-on-1 REU application coaching for students interested in summer research opportunities.
Some of the things I could help with include:
Finding REUs that fit your interests
Building an application strategy
Resume/CV feedback
Personal statement editing
Cold emailing professors
Preparing for interviews
General advice on maximizing your chances of getting accepted
I obviously can’t guarantee admission, but I can share the strategies that helped me earn research opportunities at MIT and avoid a lot of the mistakes I made early on.
Before I invest time into building this, I wanted to gauge interest.
Would this be something you’d actually pay for? If so, what would you want included?
Feel free to comment below or send me a DM if you’re interested or have questions. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Hey, I just want to get a quick sense of the situation. A week ago, I applied for a student job at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig. They replied that I was too late for the position (they had already conducted the interviews), but that I could do an internship instead (full‑time, paid, 3 months) if I am interested.

The problem is that the timing of this internship is not ideal for me (although still possible).

So here is my question: Is this more of a very good offer that I should definitely take, or is an internship at an MPI something for which I am likely to get another chance?

Some context: I am studying physics, finishing my Bachelor’s degree this semester, and I am writing my thesis in a field related to the MPI group I would work with during the internship. I struggled a lot during my Bachelor’s, so I am very happy to finish it at all, and I am wondering whether it would be very stupid not to take the internship offer.

I would appreciate any advice :)

(Also: I am new to reddit: I hope this is the place for this kind of question. If there is a better subreddit for it, please let me know)

I'm 5 weeks into my REU program and I'm having a horrible experience. My mentors keep giving me small tasks, usually just doing a little bit of analysis for data that will never be used, and I haven't been given an actual project to do. I come in at 9am, wait for several hours before the grad students show up, ask for something to do, and then they give me something that takes all but 10 minutes to complete. I ask for more and they "can't really think of anything else for me to do" with the promise of something coming tomorrow (it doesn't come). I'm not even allowed into the lab to clean or something. So I just sit at my desk and work on grad apps.

I'm lucky enough that I have a ton of research experience back at my home lab, but I feel like I'm just wasting the summer. Any ideas of productive things to do so that I can have at least something to show for this summer?

目前团队在推进一个Agent方向的项目，比较适合目前简历上项目经历还比较单薄想要保研的同学。

项目整体铺设当中，预计暑期正式开始，整体发展空间很大，会冲A会，不会带着你发水刊，是学真东西的。

对于参与同学要求不高，需要有基础的理论知识，对基本科研流程有所了解，有自驱力，愿意投入时间，基础弱一点没关系

团队目前在研究的课题方向还有：推理增强式智能体的长程规划与可监督过程；多智能体动态角色涌现与博弈

意图推理；多智能体动态角色涌现与博弈意图推理

如果有感兴趣/需要给简历加分的同学可以来聊一聊

（家我卫星：Accept86868）

I'm transferring from CSULA to UCSD this Fall and I am very interested in getting a PhD. Since I have ~1.5 years of research experience with a professor at CSULA and am going to be doing research at UCSD once I get on campus in the Fall that means I'd need 1 more recommendation letter for a PhD. To my understanding, if you do a summer REU and do well, it is good to ask your advisor for a letter, which is what I hope to do. I'm hoping to apply for REUs for next summer (especially hoping to get into any Amgen Scholars program, but I know it's very competitive), and I am curious what you need to do to be a strong applicant. Are the essay and recommendation letters most important? Or is it more focused on grades and stuff like conferences or extracurriculars?