Phase 2 of this REU site program is a full-time position designed to fully immerse you in a graduate-level research experience. As such, we require all participants to have the REU as their sole summer commitment during those 10 weeks. The REU offers a $6000 stipend, free housing, and a meal plan to assist with financial obligations.
Research Experience for Undergraduates Site
REU Site: Animal Language Processing and Understanding
How much time do I need to spend for Phase 1, and what is the expected outcome?
Phase 1 is part-time only. You are expected to spend up to 5 hours a week on the project. We expect you to acquire the necessary knowledge about animal behaviors and communications as well as some necessary computing skills before you come to the full-time summer program in Phase 2. We also expect you to collect some animal communication videos and annotate them if possible that will facilitate further research in Phase 2.
Can I take summer courses/work while participating in the REU?
How do I submit my sample recordings? The application website doesn't provide a place to upload my videos.
Please upload your sample videos (must be recorded by yourself) to a personal web storage (e.g., Google Drive), and provide a link in your personality statement.
I am graduating this Spring. Can I still apply?
REU participants must hold undergraduate status during the summer in which they are applying. You may still apply if you are graduating in the Fall.
Do I have to live on UTA campus?
A very strong element of an REU experience are the many extracurricular activities that you and your REU cohort of 10 students can take part in. We do require that all REU participants live on UTA campus during the summer. The dorm is available starting May 23rd and will be available for the REU students during the program. The REU Housing will be at UTA's West Hall.
What are you looking for in an REU applicant?
We are looking for undergraduate researchers that have a "maker spirit" i.e., students that demonstrate that they enjoy to pursue independent projects, pick up new skills outside of their school work, and share their work with others.
The REU is designed to be interdisciplinary. We will be recruiting a balance of skills within your cohort of 10 students so that you can mutually benefit from interacting with others to solve problems that may be outside your personal knowledge base.
As a common base, we would like REU participants to have some background in Computer Science, ideally taking courses in Data Structures or Object-Oriented Programming. We want participants to feel comfortable reading, writing, and debugging code; you will likely need to pick up a new programming language for many of the projects.
No prior research experience is required, but it does help us to see independent projects that demonstrate some of your critical thinking skills.
You should have some interest in pursuing a graduate degree. If your plan is to directly enter and stay in industry, the REU may not be the best road for you. If you are still exploring what pursuing a graduate degree, especially a Ph.D., would entail, you are in the right spot.
We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive REU experience. We are looking to recruit students from all backgrounds whether this be: gender, ethnicity, discipline, sexual orientation, or students with disabilities. We welcome students from community colleges or primarily undergraduate institutions (i.e., those that don't have graduate programs).
What should I write in a Personal Statement?
A SOP for applying this project should consist of two parts. The first part should be the MOTIVATION, please describe why you would like to participate in this project and what you want to achieve in this project?
The second part should be the proposal for the Phase 1. In Phase 1, you are expected to collect high quality animal video data which should contain consecutive and meaningful audio segments as well as your personal speculation about the content of that audio segment. The proposal should include the relevant plans you have made for this, including the types of animals, methods of capturing sound, total duration of captured videos, equipment used for filming, and other relevant aspects. The project admission leans towards a detailed and comprehensive proposal.
This project has a total of how many spots available?
The REU Site project allows a maximum of ten participants. However, in Phase 1, there will be more than ten participants due to the inclusion of two students on the waiting list. If any participants withdraw or are no longer suitable for participating in Phase 2 research work, participants on the waiting list will be admitted in order of priority.
Can I get the stipend in Phase 1?
Phase 1 is on a part-time basis and will not take too much of your time. The $6,000 stipend is for the 10-week full-time Phase 2 Summer Research.
Is there any specific project I would do in this project?
The students admitted to this REU Site project will participate in every aspect of the entire pipeline, including data collection, data organization, audio classification, video content comprehension, speech transcription, content alignment, etc.