DEVELOPMENT, SECURITY, AND COOPERATION
Office for Central Europe and Eurasia (OCEE)

International Research Experiences for U.S. Undergraduates
Visiting Central and Eastern Europe and the
Newly Independent States (INTREU)

For a list of grantees selected in 2004, please click here.

No future deadlines are planned for the INTREU program.

OVERVIEW

Are you interested in organizing a well-focused program to provide hands-on research experiences for U.S. undergraduate students at sites in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) or the Newly Independent States (NIS)? Whether it’s field research in archaeology, anthropology, geology, or environmental science, experimental lab work in chemistry, physics, or biology, or data gathering and analysis in political science, economics, or sociology, the region offers a variety of unique research opportunities and its scientists have a wealth of expertise to share.

With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office for Central Europe and Eurasia of the National Research Council (NRC), the operating arm of the National Academies, announces the INTREU Program, which offers grants to individual U.S. specialists who would like to initiate an international Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site program in the CEE/NIS region. This grant is intended for the U.S. principal investigator who is interested in applying to NSF for a larger, multi-year REU site support but first must work out the international logistics and research plans required to build a solid foundation for future collaboration with foreign counterparts at the international location.

The National Science Foundation’s domestic and international REU site programs involve undergraduate students in meaningful ways in ongoing research activities or in projects specially designed to encourage their active research participation in any of the areas of research funded by NSF. The INTREU Program is designed to offer planning and initiation grants to enable U.S. principal investigators to carry out smaller-scale trial runs of international REU site programs involving approximately five U.S. students for two to three weeks in preparation for applying to NSF for the multi-year REU grant. Projects proposed to INTREU should be designed to make full use of opportunities offered by staging the program in the CEE/NIS region, including unique expertise, field sites, data, or facilities.

U.S. applicants may request support for direct costs related to organizing and staging REU site programs in the CEE/NIS region for approximately five U.S. undergraduate students for two to three weeks. Grants will be in the range of $20,000 to $35,000 and may include travel costs to the foreign site for the U.S. project director, a graduate student assistant (if desired), and approximately five U.S. students; local housing, meals, and incidental expenses; course-related supplies; costs of one preparatory visit to the foreign site by the U.S. director; costs of a pre-trip briefing for students (in person or by teleconference); and certain administrative expenses for local host institutes and staff. No salary or indirect costs may be charged to the grant.

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