Undergrads get research experience in leading labs

Students from around the country and faculty from the Princeton Center for Complex Materials are collaborating on research through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program of the National Science Foundation. (Video by Nick Donnoli, Office of Communications)

Princeton University is hosting more than 50 college students this summer who are participating in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. Funded by the National Science Foundation and supplemented by Princeton, the program engages a diverse set of science students from around the nation in original scientific research. 

At Princeton, students are working with faculty mentors in two academic units within the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM) — the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) and Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE). Also, an REU program in molecular biophysics spans the departments of chemistry, chemical and biological engineering, computer science, ecology and evolutionary biology, electrical engineering, molecular biology and physics.

This video provides a glimpse into the experiences of three students at PCCM: Ilana Krause, Jon Wilson and Lee Hampton. The 10 PCCM professors involved ensure that the 11 students they supervise are able to contribute to academic research and the process of discovery in world-renowned laboratories. Additionally, the students are exposed to lectures by top Princeton researchers and take day trips to national research facilities.