Optics in the City of Light, an International Physics REU - summer 2026
University of Michigan·Ann Arbor, MI·2026 cycle
Closed for cyclePhysical Sciences✓ verified
We are awaiting NSF approval of our renewal grant. We do not have funds to run the program in summer 2025 at this time. However, we are collecting applications as normal. We will keep all applicants up to date with our funding situation on our website. We hope to have word from NSF in January. Our deadline may be moved to a later date if we don’t hear from them. The Optics in the City of Light Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) will offer 8 undergraduate junior level students the opportunity to spend 2 months in a variety of laboratories in Paris performing research with a wide range of ultrafast lasers. Optics, especially the new discoveries in Extreme Light, is one of the most exciting areas of science. Students in this program will experience strong collaborative science that is currently taking place between University of Michigan (UM) Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (GM-CUOS), University Paris-Saclay, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris-Sud 11 Orsay, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, and l’Institut d' Optique Graduate School. Students will spend one week in Ann Arbor at GM-CUOS for orientation, safety training, preparation for living in France, and immersion into the Ann Arbor laboratories of the REU faculty. Students will also learn basic lab skills as well as basic reporting skills. Students will begin the weekly reporting process that involves preparing a summary and analysis of the previous week’s work. Each student will also prepare a short presentation describing what they think they will be doing for their research in France. These presentations will be sent to the faculty involved in each project. In addition, each student will maintain an electronic notebook (a blog) that all team members will be able to access. More information is available on the website: http://java.engin.umich.edu
ultrafast, femtosecond, optics, laser, plasma physics, high intensity science, extreme light, nano photonics
Must have the following: You must be a junior about to enter your senior year at the end of the summer. You must be a US citizen, US national or a permanent resident of the US (see eligibility below). You must have your valid passport one week after the applications are due. You must submit a scan of your passport on the supplemental application on our website: http://java.engin.umich.edu/parisreu/ You must submit the URL of a 60 second or less YouTube video of you telling us about yourself AND sign the certification document on the supplemental application on our website: http://java.engin.umich.edu/parisreu/ We seek to identify students who are passionate about science and discovery and who are eager to explore other societies and their cultures. Preference is given to students who attend institutions where research is not the primary focus. All eligible students are strongly encouraged to apply.
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