University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
Program Details
Location Type: In Person
Duration: 10 weeks
Application Status: open
Application Deadline: Feb 14, 2025

Program dates: May 27 - August 1, 2025 (10 weeks)

Location: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Compensation: Students receive a stipend of $6,000 for the summer. Additionally, students receive free housing, travel to the REU site, and other benefits.

Application Deadline: February 14, 2025

Application info:

To apply to the Illinois MRSEC REU, please click here.

You will need to prepare the following materials:

  • Statement of interest: A one page document that addresses the following: What sparked your interest in materials research, and what have you done to pursue that passion? What are your research interests? Do you have any preference toward experimental or computational projects? What are your academic and professional goals, and how would participating in the Illinois MRSEC REU program help you achieve those goals? Advice on preparing personal statements can be found here.

  • Resume Advice on preparing a resume can be found here.

  • Two reference letters: At least one should be a faculty member in a scientific field. References are submitted electronically: Within the application, you'll enter contact info (name and e-mail) for your references. After each is entered, an e-mail will be generated that asks them for the letter on your behalf, with a link to where they should submit the letter. Advice on getting strong reference letters can be found here.

  • Unofficial transcript

Eligibility: Must be U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident, 18 years of age or older. Must be an undergraduate currently enrolled in 2- or 4- year program who has completed at least one year of studies by the start of the program; studying engineering, physics, chemistry, materials, or related fields. Must not complete a Bachelor's degree until after the program ends. Applicants cannot be currently enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. UIUC students interested in finding a materials-related REU program can explore REU options at the national site or Pathwaystoscience.org. There are also MRSEC REU programs at many other Universities, which also offer opportunities for interdisciplinary materials research- find out more at the MRSEC program website http://mrsec.org.

We especially encourage those with limited access to research, community college students, people with disabilities, and those from groups historically excluded from STEM to apply.

If you would like to be notified when the Summer 2025 application opens, please send an e-mail to Pamela Pena Martin ([email protected]).

Apply Here→
2025 Mentors
Nikhil Chandra Admal
Mechanical Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Computational modeling and simulation, Geometry of crystal interfaces, Grain boundaries and two-dimensional heterostructures, Nanoscale friction
Paul Braun
Materials Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Materials for electrochemical energy storage
Placid Ferreira
Mechanical Engineering
Research Areas
Micro- and nanofabrication, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, Process and tool engineering, Precision engineering
Axel Hoffmann
Materials Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Spin transport, Magnetization dynamics, Magnetic heterostructure synthesis and characterization
Harley Johnson
Mechanical Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Atomic scale simulation of defects and strain in 2D materials, Data science for quantum and electronic materials, Electronic structure and multi-scale modeling
Alexa Kuenstler
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Research Areas
Sustainable polymers, Soft material structure-processing-property relationships, Advanced manufacturing for energy applications
Kathryn H. Matlack
Mechanical Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Wave propagation in periodic media, Phononic crystals
Nicola Perry
Materials Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Functional ceramics: Oxides, halides, Solid state ionics for energy conversion and storage, Point defect-mediated properties: ionic/electronic transport, Chemical expansion, Catalytic activity, Thin film growth by pulsed laser deposition, Electro-chemo-mechanical coupling
Shaloo Rakheja
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Areas
Multi-physics modeling and simulation of nanoscale devices for energy-efficient computing and communication, Ferroelectric and spintronic devices, Computational electronics
R. Mohan Sankaran
Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Research Areas
Plasma-enhanced deposition and conversion of thin films, Plasma/ion irradiation for material modification and defect generation, Low-temperature synthesis for flexible device manufacturing, Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and diamond growth for extreme environment devices and quantum information applications, Impurity doping, Solvent-free surface treatment and cleaning
Andre Schleife
Materials Science & Engineering
Research Areas
Quantum-mechanical computer simulations of excited electronic states, Optical properties, and defect diffusion in materials, Screening of candidates for photo-ionics with machine learning
Daniel Shoemaker
Materials Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Materials discovery and synthesis, Crystal growth;, Magnetic and semiconducting properties, Low-temperature transport; in-situ diffraction
Antonia Statt
Materials Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Polymer physics, Molecular dynamics simulations of soft materials, Polymer structure-processing-property relationships, Self-assembly of soft materials
Arend van der Zande
Mechanical Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Properties of strained nanomaterials
Jeffery Baur
Aerospace Engineering
Research Areas
Polymer composite and additive manufacturing, Materials characterization, Recyclable thermoset resins (REMAT)
Randy Ewoldt
Mechanical Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, Rheology, Soft matter physics, Additive manufacturing, Experiments using highspeed video and quantitative image analysis (REMAT)
Philippe Geubelle
Aerospace Engineering
Research Areas
Multiphysics analysis of composite manufacturing, Modeling of frontal polymerization, Finite element analysis, Machine learning (REMAT)
Jeffrey Moore
Chemistry
Research Areas
Monomer, polymer, and thermoset network chemistry, Thermoset deconstruction and reactivation, Models of frontal polymerization (REMAT)
Nancy Sottos
Materials Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Circular life cycle for plastics and composites, Additive manufacturing, Recycling and upcycling of plastics (REMAT)
Sameh Tawfick
Mechanical Science and Engineering
Research Areas
Bio-inspired materials and manufacturing, 3D printing of novel materials on earth and in space, Artificial muscles, ligaments, actuators, synthetic organs, and bio-inspired intelligent robots (REMAT)