How to apply

Last updated: 7 February 2023

Eligibility Requirements

Application Process

All applicants will be notified of a yes/no/waitlist decision by the end of March. This year, there will be a two-part application process, as detailed below.

Part 1 (informational). WAS due by noon on Friday, January 20, 2023, but you were encouraged to submit earlier.

In the first part of the application process, you will fill out an online application form. The form will ask questions about your background, experience, and interests. You do not need any prior experience to participate in the research program. This application is informational; your answers will be used in a match-making capacity only, not as a metric to determine who is accepted to the program. Based on your responses, you will be matched with a faculty mentor, either with our help and/or by contacting faculty mentors on your own (see here for suggestions to help identify a faculty mentor). All students must submit this part of the application, even if you have already identified a potential faculty mentor.

Part 2 (project and mentor specific). Due noon on Friday, February 24, 2023.

Part 2 of the  application will require a short (1 page) statement named Lastname_Firstname_summary.pdf, e.g., Carbajal_Elva_summary.pdf.  This summary statement  file should include the following: 

1. A brief summary of your proposed research project.  Include a description of:
          a) the overall physics goal of the project and b) what you will be working on for the project,  as best you understand it now.
2. A description of what you hope to learn and/or accomplish this summer.
3. New due to COVID: If your project is not compatible with remote work, you will also need to submit a suitably altered project description that can be completed remotely.

In addition, you will be asked to submit:

1. Your unofficial transcript downloaded after January 27, i.e., after the Winter drop/add deadline with grades through Fall 2022; name this file as Lastname_Firstname_transcript.pdf e.g. Carbajal_Elva_transcript.pdf
2. The Faculty-Mentor Agreement is available as a view-only Docx file that you should download, have your faculty mentor sign, save as a pdf, and then you upload it with the other documents for Part 2.  Name this file as Lastname_Firstname_FMA.pdf e.g. Carbajal_Elva_FMA.pdf

Faculty Mentor

Prior to submitting the Application, you need to find a faculty member to be your research mentor for the summer. Many faculty members make positions available for undergraduates to do research over the summer. Refer to the table of available positions at Undergraduate Summer Research Positions to find potential projects and faculty members with whom you may be interested in working.  The table also includes information on skills or coursework needed (often minimal!), whether at least one project is suitable for beginning students, etc. You are encouraged to contact faculty members directly to discuss available opportunities. In addition, for students that request it, we plan to help you identify potential faculty mentors based on the answers to part 1 of the application.

Note that this table of available positions is only a list of suggestions—you may work with any faculty member in Physics, Applied Physics, or SLAC.

Those who wish to work with faculty in the School of Engineering should apply to that faculty member's department; see this SoE REU webpage for information.

What to Submit: 

• Part 1 (due by noon on January 20, 2023): Online Application form. All students must complete this form.
• Part 2 (due by noon on February 24, 2023): Now open. Below is a list of items you will need to submit.
  • A one-page description/abstract of the research work you will do this summer as you currently understand it.
  • A copy of your unofficial Stanford transcript through Fall Quarter 2022.
  • A signed 2023 Faculty Agreement Form