Clean Energy Bridge to Research (CEBR) is a summer program run by the University of Washington (UW) Clean Energy Institute (CEI) and Undergraduate Research Program, and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF CHE-1950904). The CEBR Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program supports a select group of undergraduates, community college students, and tribal college students to participate in authentic research in solar, energy storage, and grid technologies under the mentorship of UW’s world-class faculty and grad students. Participants embark on a nine-week immersive research project in a single UW clean energy research lab, and produce an abstract and poster summarizing their work. All students that are accepted into the program are supported financially with competitive stipends. Housing, food allowance, and up to $500 in travel allowances are provided.

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Participating students gain research experience in nationally recognized labs, prepare for graduate school, network with peers and research professionals, receive mentoring from top faculty, create potentially publishable work, receive a competitive stipend and restitution for travel and housing, and may be eligible to receive academic credit and attend professional conferences.

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Research projects within CEBR labs cover a broad range of disciplines, including chemistry, physics, materials science & engineering, and electrical & computer engineering. Students can choose to work on the theory that drives the development of new molecules for trapping solar energy, new electrode materials and chemistry for batteries, or models for grid management of renewable energy. Other labs work on integrating these new materials into devices at both the nano- and macro-scale.

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By the end of the summer, students are familiar with both the technical skills of performing research within the lab, and the social and cultural skills necessary to succeed in industry and academia. Students are generally exposed to a variety of research activities which may include literature search, experimental design, bench work and lab notebook management, mathematical modeling, instrumental characterization, computer/software control and analysis, lab safety, as well as communication, organizational and interpersonal skills.

• This program is open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are 18 years of age or older.
• Participants should be from Washington state or attending college in Washington state.
• This program prioritizes non-UW students who have completed one or two years of college, community college, or tribal college.