2-summer REU in Polymers

Lon J. Mathias (lmathias@whale.st.usm.edu)
Thu, 29 Feb 1996 09:25:05 -0600

We are offering a unique Research Experience for Undergraduates in the area
of Polymer Science. This will be a 2-summer opportunity that is funded in
part by NSF and in part by industry. We are restricting applications to
sophmores in chemistry (and related physical science disciplines on an
individual basis). For details, see the announcement on our homepage at:

http://www.psrc.usm.edu

We are targeting the "best and the brightest" science majors we can find and
already have 8 (of 15 or so) participants confirmed. These include top
students from New York (RPI), Wisconsin (St. Norbert College), Oklahoma
(Cameron University), to name a few. In short, this will be a truly
national-level interaction for the participants. We are currently lining up
industrial partners that will work with the students the first summer in
designing the projects and host them at their sites the second summer.
Thus, this is a combination of traditional REU offering with a
summer-semester COOP, but forcused on the same project for both. This gives
the students solid training in polymers and how to do research (1st summer)
on an industrially-relevent project followed by application of this
knowledge and training the 2nd summer focussed on expanding the 1st summer's
work into more development and product-oriented areas. In short, this is
the ideal opportunity for students to learn how to do good science and see
how good science is applied industrially; ie, perfect as job training and
for evaluation of career options.

Reply to the address below. Thanks.

LJM
Lon J. Mathias
Department of Polymer Science
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0076
601-266-4871 FAX X-5504