Application Information
May 24 - July 30, 2010

Last Updated: February 4, 2010

The 2010 application is online!

Students are expected to arrive in Norman by Monday, May 24*, ready to begin bright and early on Tuesday, May 25! The program ends at 5p on Friday, July 30*. With the exception of students at schools on quarter systems, you must be here for the duration, as the program is designed for a full 10-week emersion in a research career!

Apply by completing the application and mailing all materials as instructed on the application form:

• NWC REU 2010 Application [PDF]

All application materials are due by COB Wednesday, February 17, 2010! Questions? Please check the FAQ before writing or calling!

Eligibility: you must be a US citizen or permanent resident and be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program during the summer to be eligible for this program. If you are graduating from a community, tribal, or other 2-year college you are eligible if you have enrolled in a 4-year institution to complete an undergraduate degree.

*Students on quarter systems can negotiate later start and ending dates!

More Information on Research Locations:

New!! We have an opportunity to exchange with another REU at The City College of New York! The City Tech REU partners with the NOAA CREST, or Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing, meaning a whole new suite of potential research topics! This student would spend weeks 1 and 10 in Norman, then travel to New York City for weeks 2-9 to do their research project.

Exciting things are happening in the world of weather! In addition to the new interdisciplinary studies (e.g. see WAS*IS in the subject areas below), we are also partnering with private companies to do our research. These companies thus far include Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., or AER, and Weather Decision Technologies, or WDT. The latter, WDT, was formed and is still located in Norman, Oklahoma, right next door to the National Weather Center. AER presently has just a small contingent in Norman, also next door, but is also forming partnerships between scientists at their other locations with NWC scientists.

AER mentored two REU students in 2007, one each in 2008 and 2009. The students have sometimes opted to be located in MA for weeks 2-9 and sometimes opted to be here, traveling there for week 5. Both situations have worked out well. There is a place to indicate your interest in this unique opportunity on the application form! Incidentally, one of our 2007 REUers has now graduated and is working for AER!

More Information on Subject Areas:

The following has not been updated as yet with the projects are proposed for 2010.

Our Student Selection Process

The selection committee is comprised of a variety of scientists and graduate students from throughout the National Weather Center, thereby representing people from real careers that involve meteorological research. The committee reviews applications and comes to consensus. The students initially selected are called by telephone and invited to participate. They are given one week to accept/decline. If anyone declines our invitation we then call our alternates until we have filled all slots. Notification letters are then sent to the remaining applicants.

The selection decision is always very difficult! We consider all parts of the application, especially the content of the student's essays, year in school, letters of reference, grades (including trends in grades and which courses students do well in), and other answers. The majority of students we select express surprise, saying they didn't think they would get in. Ultimately we seek a diverse group of students who are from both large and small schools, mostly older (juniors and non-graduating seniors) but a few younger students, mostly meteorology majors but several other majors, women, men, those from underrepresented groups, etc.

More Information

For more information concerning this program call or e-mail the Director, Daphne LaDue: 405-325-1898, dzaras@ou.edu.

Other Opportunities

Any experience in research is helpful in making career and graduate school decisions. Here are a few opportunities we are aware of:

• Multi-agency sponsored program search tool: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/Undergrads.asp
• CASA's REU Program, 4 sites including Norman: http://www.casa.umass.edu/educationandoutreach/students/reu.html
• Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science - SOARS: http://www.ucar.edu/soars/
• Other REU programs, search at NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm
• Other REU programs, listing from IGERT: http://www.igert.org/reus.asp
• Student jobs in the government: http://www.studentjobs.gov/
• Coop program at the Meteorological Development Lab of the NWS: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/coop/coop.htm
• American Meteorological Society resources for students: http://www.ametsoc.org/
• NOAA Educational Partnership with Minority-Serving Institutions Undergraduate Scholarship: http://www.orau.gov/orise/educ.htm

All institutions of the National Weather Center are equal opportunity employers.

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