REU: Computing for Structure

Participate in a summer research experience focusing on the discovery and visualization of structure in large datasets.

The ten week program runs from May 18 to July 28 at the Department of Computer Science and mentor's departments and laboratories.

The application requirements are simple, as the program mission is to include students new to research. The program will consider applicants based on motivation and interest.

A Program of Exploration

Allison Dusek, Bruno Mochi, Julia Brzac, Ellie Dawson (REU 2022)
Participate in a summer research experience focusing on the discovery and visualization of structure in large datasets.

Training, mentorship, presentation, and peer engagement are all key elements of this project to assist or encourage you to become a research scientist.

The ten week program has working days from Monday, May 20 to Friday, July 26 at the Department of Computer Science and mentor departments and laboratories. Campus housing at The Lakeside Village complex opens Saturday, May 18 and closes Sunday, July 28.

The program includes:
  • A week-long bootcamp to bring you up to speed on the way computers are used in scientific computation.
  • Continuing workshops on advanced topics such as GPU programming.
  • The core experience with your mentor and their group.
  • A concluding presentation, to present your research to your peers and the research community at the site, and some projects and participants sent to national conferences (depending on funding and topic).

Mentored Projects

Computation is becoming increasingly important for finding structure in large-scale complex scientific data. The Department of Computer Science (CSC) in partnership with the Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) and other departments according to the specific project, will provide NSF sponsored summer research experiences (REU) in this focus area.

The heart of an NSF REU is the mentored research experience. You will work on authentic research projects in close collaboration with a UM researcher.

The following projects are proposed:

  • The design of environmentally friendly chemical solvents,
    Orlando Acevedo, Associate Professor of Chemistry.
  • Artificial intelligence-based biomedical image analysis
    Vanessa Aguiar-Pulido, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
    The project's goal is to develop an AI-based model for the diagnosis of disease and extraction of relevant features using biomedical data. The method developed will be applied to cancer images.
  • Modeling big behavioral data to predict typical and atypical development,
    Daniel Messinger, Professor of Pediatrics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Music Engineering.
  • Neural network processing of visual scenes,
    Odelia Schwartz, Associate Professor Computer Science.

Record of past REU's

  • REU 2023:
    • Delaney Dvorsky, University of Miami, with Prof. Acevedo
    • Cole Foster, University of Miami, with Prof. Aguiar-Pulido
    • Elliot Huang, Georgia Institute of Technology, with Prof. Messinger and Dr. Vitale
    • Kavya Jain, University of Miami, with Aguiar-Pulido
    • Mariangeline Merced Perez, University Ana G. Mendez, with Prof. Aguiar-Pulido
    • Lemuel Mojica Vázquez, University Ana G. Mendez, with Prof. Messinger, Dr. Vitale and Prof. Aguiar-Pulido
    • Masa Murry, Pennsylvania State University, with Prof. Acevedo
    • Yash Patel, University of Miami, with Prof. Dilip Sarkar
    • Aaron Philip, Michigan State University, with Prof. Odelia Schwartz
    • Sophia Salamanca, Harvard University, with Prof. Odelia Schwartz
    • Rachel Tomasetti, University of Miami, with Prof. Aguiar-Pulido
  • REU 2022:
    • Bruno Mochi, Lebanon Valley College, with Prof. Acevedo
    • Abraham Abel Arias, Pomona College, with with Prof. Messinger and Dr. Vitale
    • Allison Dusek, Samford University, with Prof. Aguiar-Pulido
    • Alicia Bilbao Martinez, University of Miami, with Prof. Aguiar-Pulido
    • Julia Brzac, Clarkson University, with Prof. Lemmon
    • Ellie Dawson, Cornell University, with Prof. Lemmon
  • REU 2021:
    • Santiago Cortes, Johns Hopkins University, with Prof. Acevedo
    • Annie DeForge, Bentley University, with Prof. Schwartz
    • Christian Jerry, Indiana University, guest researcher with Prof. Messinger
    • Maya Murry, Cornell University, with Prof. Lemmon
    • Nestor Orozco-Llamas, Middlebury College, with Prof. Messinger
    • Thomas Spangler, University of North Carolina Wilmington, with Prof. Acevedo
    • Kevin Wu, University of Miami, with Prof. Ogihara
  • REU 2020:
    • REU 2020 was postponed for COVID-19.
  • REU 2019:
    • Alexis L Delgado, Avila University
    • Angela Kihiko, Spelman College
    • Courtney M Sever, Florida State University
    • Giulia Bronzi, Wellesley College
    • Nicholas Cimaszewski, University of Rochester
    • Victor Jann, University of California, Berkeley
    • Juliana Hemela, UNC Chapel Hill
    • Azhar Moihdeen, Georgia Institute of Technology
    • Chris Fagin, Christian Brothers University
    • Gregory Hubbard, Old Dominion University
  • REU 2018:
    • Tate Bestwick, University of Kansas
    • Michael Castellanos, University of Miami
    • Nathan C. Fox, University of Miami
    • Colin Jiang, Emory University
    • Nancy Newlin, University of Florida
    • Serena Nicholl, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
    • Morgan Rosser, St. Lawrence University
    • Jack Weissburg, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Blake Williams, University of Vermont
    • Joshua Zahner, University of Miami
  • REU 2017:,
    • Rachel Arens, Kenyon College
    • Samuel Cooper, Fayetteville State University
    • Robby Costales, Bard College at Simon's Rock
    • Alex Fischer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
    • Serphina Gibson, Oberlin College
    • David Grossman, University of Miami
    • Ariel Lavi, University of California at Los Angles
    • Leon Lei, Brown University
    • Markandy Ravi, Arizona State University
    • Forrest Wang, University of Pittsburgh

The Science Quadrangle Fountain with
umbrellas for sunny days

Working space in the Computer Science
Department

Application Information

Students might familiarize themselves with the NSF REU and other REU sites by visiting the NSF REU Information For Students web page.

All applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents.

Students in this REU program are offered:
  • Summer housing on the UM campus,
  • A summer stipend of $6,000,
  • A food stipends of $110 per week,
  • A travel allowance of $600 to and from the REU site,
  • A budget for conference travel to present the posters at conferences.

Selection of students is based ,

  1. Two letters of recommendation,
  2. relative GPA and class history as shown in the undergraduate transcript,
  3. and an essay.

The essay is required as a sample of the applicant's writing and self-expression. The topic might be what personal goals the applicant hopes to achieve during the summer, the REU being an element of their summer's endeavors.

We will take a holistic approach in selection but evidence of academic promise and conscientious writing will be heavily considered. Although targeted to students in the first and second year of undergraduate studies, the project is flexible as to the undergraduate year of the applicant.

All applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents, and must be an enrolled undergraduate during the REU summer.

Apply online:

  1. Prepare your essay, the names and emails of references, and know your GPA.
  2. Fill out the online application form
  3. Email your essays to burt@cs.miami.edu
  4. Email a scan of your transcripts to burt@cs.miami.edu.
  5. As your two references to email thier letters to burt@cs.miami.edu, and so provide them this link to the on-line portion of this task.