This award supports a new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program entitled "Imaging in the Physical Sciences". (IPS) is a new program hosted by the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science (CIS) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), which will support seven undergraduate students per year in summer research projects based on imaging in its various forms. CIS is a highly interdisciplinary University Research and Education Center, dedicated to pushing the frontiers of imaging in all its forms and uses. The IPS REU program will introduce young scientists to research in a highly interdisciplinary environment, where cross-disciplinary team problem solving is the norm. The IPS REU has the following seven specific goals: (i) Involve undergraduates from a wide range of host institution type, gender, and ethnicities in a coherent research experience; (ii) Involve undergraduates originating from a specific science or engineering major in an interdisciplinary research environment, engaging them to work in teams across traditional disciplinary boundaries in problem-based research; (iii) Expose students to the emerging field of imaging science and its many and varied application areas; (iv) Encourage students to pursue graduate studies in STEM; (v) Assist students in the dissemination of their research; (vi) Create an ongoing research incubator environment for the students, including feedback from scientists external to RIT, mentoring in public speaking, scientific writing, and social engagement; (vii) Assess the implementation and impact of the REU Program. The following application areas of imaging research within CIS create an array of research opportunities for undergraduate REU students: astrophysics, remote sensing, biomedical research, environmental science, vision science, nano-technology, materials science, color science, computer graphics, archaeology, and microelectronic engineering. This award is co-funded by the Division of Physics and the Directorate for Engineering.
Through the three-year duration of the REU: Imaging in the Physical Sciences program, 28 undergraduate students have been engaged in active research projects in the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science. Participating students were funded through a combination of stipends from this National Science Foundation award, from internal funding at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the support of external international programs. Over the course of the program, we received a total of 497 applications, giving us a very competitive applicant pool with an acceptance rate of under 6%. Our participants have been a diverse mix of students from all sizes of college and university across the US, and every level in school from rising-sophomores to rising-seniors. 14% of our participants have been Native American, and 4% Deaf or Hard of Hearing, two areas in which we were particularly keen to increase recruitment into STEM research fields. Our selection committee of four faculty members reviews each application on its merits, and select those students for whom their background experiences and future goals would be best supported by participation in our REU program. The majority of our REU students have no major research experiences before joining us in the summer, so we are able to begin their engagement in the world of active STEM research during their summer here. Students have participated in projects across the field of Imaging Science: from Biomedical Imaging, though Earth Observation, to Astronomical Imaging, and everything in between. Our research students have gone on to participate in scientific conferences across the nation to share the outcomes of their research, and several research papers have been produced with our participants as co-authors as a result of their work. Several students have reported that this was a transformative experience in terms of defining their future STEM career paths.
