Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU)

CREU is a joint project of CRA-W and the Coalition to Diversify Computing.

Andrea Danyluk Program Co-Director (CRA-W)

Jamika Burge Program Co-Director (CDC)

 

Contact: creu@cra.orgProposals Due May 21, 2012 (Was: May 11, 2012)Frequently Asked Questions about the program
CREU Projects Since 1998

Sample CREU Proposal

About CREU

The Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) and the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC), are pleased to announce a program that encourages and supports undergraduate student research. The goal of this initiative is to increase the numbers of women and minorities who continue on to graduate school in computer science, computer engineering, and allied disciplines. The program, called Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU), is designed to provide positive research experiences for teams of undergraduates who will work during the academic year and optionally the following summer at their home institutions (provided they haven't graduated before the summer). Formerly administered as two separate programs - CREU and MRO-W - the program includes not only computing research, but also multidisciplinary research. Each research team will consist of undergraduate students and sponsoring faculty members. In the case of multidisciplinary projects, each team will consist of faculty from both the computing and non-computing fields as well as students from these respective fields. For example, a project in computational biology might consist of a computer science major, a biology major, a computer science professor, and a biology professor. The program begins in the fall and runs either through the academic year or through the following summer.  Students will be required to maintain a weekly journal and website documenting their progress. A mid-year progress report will also be required. At the end of the project, students will be required to submit a one-page summary of their work. These summaries will be posted on the CRA-W web site. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to submit papers to appropriate journals and to present papers or posters at national or regional conferences. The program provides travel funds to support such participation and past CREU participants have found such activities to be extremely valuable.

Stipends and Other Financial Support

For the 2012-13 CREU year, we are introducing a new type of support option for CREU projects (#2 below).  Thus each project may choose one of the following:

1. Academic year stipend + optional summer stipend + $1,500 travel/special equipment/supporting materials

Each underrepresented student will receive a stipend of $3,000 for their work during the academic year and $4,000 during the summer (if the optional summer extension is proposed as part of the project). Each project may also request in the proposal up to $1,500 to be used for special equipment, travel, or supporting materials. Note that the additional funds cannot be used to purchase laptops or other general purpose computing equipment.

2. Academic year travel support + optional summer stipend + $500 special equipment/supporting materials

Each underrepresented student will receive a travel budget of $2,000 for their work during the academic year and a stipend of $4,000 during the summer (if the optional summer extension is proposed as part of the project).  Each project may also request in the proposal up to $500 to be used for special equipment or supporting materials. Note that the additional funds cannot be used to purchase laptops or other general purpose computing equipment.

For a summary of all undergraduate research programs sponsored by CRA-W, see Resources for Undergraduate Students.

General CREU Guidelines

Basic Eligibility

• Students should have completed two years of undergraduate study at the college level, though in some instances we are able to support second year students who are particularly advanced in their computer science course work. Priority will be given to students who will be juniors in the fall of 2012. We cannot support students after their graduation date.
• Students must have completed at least four courses in their respective majors. Projects must be either directly related to computing or, in the case of multidisciplinary projects, contain a significant research component in computer science or computing. It is not sufficient to propose a project that will just use computer science or computer engineering students to write code in support of other research.
• Projects must be suitable for undergraduate research.
• Applications must be jointly submitted by the proposing students and one or two sponsoring faculty members from each of the disciplines represented.
• Because of restrictions from our funding sources, only proposals submitted from institutions located in the United States will be considered. In addition, undergraduate student participants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions.
• Students must be conducting their research onsite during the program.  That is, students and advisors must be at the same institution, at the same time, during the CREU program.

Team Membership

• Teams consisting of all women or all underrepresented minorities are especially encouraged to apply.
• Projects will be considered that also include student(s) from non-underrepresented groups. Because of funding limitations, however, financial support is available only for students from underrepresented groups.
• Teams of two to four students are strongly encouraged, but proposals consisting of a single student working with a faculty mentor will be considered.  In these cases we especially hope to see a project plan that involves conference travel or other activity that provides opportunities for the student to meet other research students.
• Students must be conducting their research onsite during the program.  That is, students and advisors must be at the same institution, at the same time, and students must not be participating in a study abroad program.

Evaluation Criteria

• The project should further the goal of the CREU program to increase the numbers of women and students from other underrepresented groups who continue on to graduate school in computer science and computer engineering.
• The scope and goals of the project should be reasonable and realistic, based upon the students' prior education and experience.
• The plan for the project should be well-defined and should describe the collaborative approach to be taken. The proposal should identify the expected role and contribution of each member of the team.  In the case of one-student projects, the proposal should make clear how the student will interact with other researchers through, for example, conferences, future summer REU experiences, etc.  CREU projects are not intended to be done in isolation.
• The project should warrant background research on the part of the students, and should have an active, investigative and experiential nature by which the students can discover their results.
• The project should enable student empowerment, leadership development, confidence-building, and skill-building in project management.
• The proposal should be complete and well-written.
• Students should be actively involved in writing the proposal, with guidance and support of the sponsoring faculty mentor(s).
• The students should have good potential for doing independent work.
• The sponsor(s) should have the background necessary to oversee the research and there should be an appropriate strategy for keeping the students on track.
• The sponsor(s) should understand their responsibility to mentor the students in regard to their consideration of graduate school.
• The sponsor(s) and students must have enough time to devote to the research project so weekly meetings can occur with additional independent work taking place outside of these meetings.
• It is assumed that all students will be active participants in the project throughout the entire project. It is expected that students will spend approximately 10 - 15 hours per week on the project during the academic year and 40 hours for 10 weeks during the optional summer.
• If the participants have had previous CREU funding, performance on the earlier project will be considered.
• For teams that previously received CREU funding, new proposals must include a section titled, "Prior Results".  In this section,  you should (1) enumerate the years you have received funding from CREU, and (2) itemize the results from those project in terms of student publications, posters, travel to conferences, and where the students that participated are today (graduate school, etc.).

Applications

Applications should include the following information

• Project title
• Participant names
• Project description
• Specific questions to be addressed; hypotheses to be investigated
• Methods to be used, including background research to be studied
• References
• Impact on the goal of CREU
• A description of student activities and responsibilities on the project
• A description of faculty activities and responsibilities on the project
• Project timeline
• Budget - Include all funds requested
• Role of the CREU project within the larger scope of this research project (if the CREU project is part of a larger project)
• Prior results of CREU projects (if applicable).
• A complete transcript for each student to be funded.

The proposal should be submitted as a single file in pdf format to creu@cra.org. In addition, each student will be required to complete a form with the following information. A link to the form will be sent to each student upon receipt of the proposal.

• Name
• Project title and college/university
• Year in school (sophomore, junior, senior)
• Anticipated date of graduation
• Major and GPA
• Gender
• (Optional) Minority status (specifically ethnicity/race)
• Email address and mailing address
• List of courses taken relevant to this project
• Any other information pertinent to the proposal
• Confirmation of expectations and hours worked on the project

Each faculty member will be required to complete a form with the following information. A link to the form will be sent to the faculty sponsor upon receipt of the proposal.

• Name
• Project title
• School/Department Address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Relevant background in this research area

Timeline

Application Deadline: May 11, 2012 Notification of Awards: will be emailed June 13, 2012 Project Research: academic year 2012-13 plus optional summer 2013 Midterm Progress Report: December 30, 2012 Final Summary Report: May 4, 2013 for academic year projects; August 15, 2013 for projects with summer extension

Questions

Please see the list of Frequently Asked Questions for useful information. Send any inquiries or questions about the CREU program to creu@cra.org

Sponsorship

This initiative is currently sponsored by the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) in cooperation with the National Science Foundation.

CREU is a joint project of CRA-W and the Coalition to Diversify Computing.