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Summer Research Programs?
aantn writes "I'm currently looking for a science-related summer program. I'm an 11th grade Israeli high school student interested in computer science and robotics. I have a high GPA and take afternoon classes in computer science and mathematics at Israel's Open University. I have several years of experience with C, Python, C#, and Java. I'm actively involved in several open source and freelance projects. Through a program at my school, I will be entering Trinity College's Fire Fighting Robot contest later this year. I enjoy writing and liberal arts, but I'm not interested in a "Learn to Program" or any other "Learn to ______" summer program. I'm looking for something that will be academically challenging and research-oriented. My top choice would be a university research program in either computer science or robotics, but I'm also looking at other science-oriented programs. Does anyone have suggestions for such programs? I'm mostly looking in Israel and the United States, but I'd love to hear about programs in other countries which accept international students. If it's relevant, I have a US citizenship."
I believe that many National Science Foundation funded Research Experience for Undergraduates programs will take exceptional high school students.
See http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/
http://www.scitech.technion.ac.il/index1024.html
http://www.weizmann.ac.il/zemed/english/float.php?page_name=float&cat=256&incat= (I participated in this, good program, but for graduating seniors only)
it's not research-y, but it'd be totally awesome.
I don't know how it is in Israel, but when I was in high school here in the US, I just e-mailed a bunch of professors around the city who were doing interesting work, until I found one willing to take me on as a lab assistant, and I did research there for the rest of my time in high school. I worked for free for a while, but it eventually turned into a nice part-time job (as well as a great activity to put on college apps). My high school even had a program that got me credit for doing it, so that's something you may want to look into. With your strong background, you shouldn't have a hard time finding a lab willing to take you (scientists love cheap/free labor).
The Haiku project which is making a clone of the BeOS had its own summer of code last year in addition to the google summer of code and probably will repeat this year
www.haiku-os.com its a cool little OS that is beginning to snowball in potential
the students that completed their projects were paid well for their efforts
Stanford and CMU have good programs in general, there must be some good summer programs. Plus, both have a presence in Silicon Valley (Stanford is just there, CMU has a campus at Moffett Field), so you can find a good job afterwards. You seem really talented, so you should be able to get into those places if you know how to talk to people (find a professor who wants you to attend, and the application process will be MUCH easier).
-Taylor
Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
slashveresume?
THL phish sticks
I recommend Google Summer of Code. Check out the 2008 projects: http://code.google.com/soc/2008/
Seriously, are we all supposed to congratulate you because you're so involved in computer stuff while being "only" grade 11? And you want something that will be academically challenging and research-oriented? And you have dual citizenship? Whoa!
Even more seriously, please take a break from all the computer and robot stuff. You get enough of that every day by the sounds of it. You need to take the summer off to travel, see new things out there in the world, volunteer in the community, make some friends, meet some girls. You know, the real stuff that will get you ahead in life. Computers and robots will be there for you for the rest of your life, whether you still love them or not, but your friends, youth, health and curiosity may not be.
Really? I never would have figured that.....
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
Who tagged this "get a life?" You shouldn't even make a joke like that.
To the student--check out the Ross Young Scholars Program and other similar summer math programs. Also, if you haven't already, check out artofproblemsolving.com.
asphinctersayswhat
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
The US National Labs take high school students as interns. Sandia National Labs in particular has research programs on robotics. It is possible for foreign nationals to intern, although it is significantly more hassle for foreign nationals from "sensitive foreign countries" (this DOE list includes Israel.) Still, it is the time of year for finding summer students, so move on it if you're going to.
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has an interesting program called Operation Catapult that might be of interest. I attended many years ago, and the program was great. All the facilities -- libraries, labs, machine shops, etc -- were available to you and you worked with full professors and department heads for your project. It's an invitational program, but it sounds like you're qualified.
The school itself is not widely known to the general public, but it is very well respected academically. Check out the wikipedia page.
PS: Sorry to post as a reply to an early post, but the thread is getting heavily trolled and I didn't want this post to get pushed back to page 3 of a troll-a-thon.
3 things about computers: they're alive, they're self-aware, and they hate your guts.
Even applying today, there's enough lead time to get clearance for a foreign national to visit a US National Lab this summer.
We've had to turn away europeans from one of our tour groups at Sandia, who applied with six months advance notice. DOE could not get them cleared in time.
BU offers a High school research internship
http://www.bu.edu/summer/high-school-programs/research-internship/how-to-apply.shtml
You might be able to swing something in the CS department there.
The Problem is you really have to start a month or two applying to programs like these...Check out PROMYS, and there is a Stanford one as well.
The "best" is supposed to be RSI...but again they have stopped taking apps.
http://www.cee.org/rsi/
no thats the other end of the double sided marital aid.
I'm currently establishing a new research lab, estimating how many booms to drop in destinated locations in order to achieve world peace. The project is (expected to be) funded by major weapon manufacturers. Frequent travel between US and Israel is needed because there's where we found major suppliers and clients.
I think this suit your interest very well, please submit your CV.
not to mention that his hands are behind his back.
http://www.lanl.gov/education/precollege/
Los Alamos (where I work) is always interested in having bright students (of any level, high school and beyond) come and work here. My particular group hosted a high school student last summer. I'm sure the other national labs have similar programs. Just snoop around the website (this might be a place to start for ideas: http://www.lanl.gov/education/profiles/index.shtml), email people who are doing cool things, and you might be surprised at the opportunities that open up.
Not necessarily Slashdot specifically, but you'll find it here as often as elsewhere -- people spouting all sorts of opinions with no basis in fact. Occasionally, you'll find that not only do they not have any actual statistics or facts to back up their position, nor does their opponent, but in fact, no one does.
That would probably be an interesting place to start your research.
Can't think of anything right now, though. I suppose you could start with my post, here -- am I completely full of shit, or are there interesting research projects hidden in Slashdot comments?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
If you go the University route, email or pop into departments other than Computer Science. You would be surprised at the number of projects there are to do in the sciences over the summer. Last year, my group had 3 high school students plugging away at code all summer for x-ray telescope design.
I would highly recommend the University of Florida Student Science Training Program, http://www.cpet.ufl.edu/. I was a student and multi-year counselor years ago. Unfortunately, there usually aren't many computer science projects, but with your background, you would be set apart from the average kid looking for a science project. About half the professors that take in students are in medicine but the rest are quite diverse. I recall a computer modeling group that focused on orthopedic knee reconstruction. Very cool stuff.
Dual Citizenship is a pretty great thing to have, but it shouldn't be listed as a grand life achievement. Its one of the greatest gifts that a parent can give a child. There are many ways, but the easiest is for the mother (a citizen of one country) to deliver the baby in another country. Presto! Dual citizenship. Its not something I would trumpet about, but its nice to have.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
There's a research program at MIT called RSI. It's pretty competitive, but they take about 20 international students every year.
If I submit my resume to Slashdot will they post it on the front page too? I can't pay for that kind of exposure.
http://www.cee.org/rsi/honors.shtml
RSI takes "top" 50 rising seniors from the US and about 30 from overseas. I believe the deadline is already past though.
... is build a robot that kills Palestinians and cleans up the bodies. You'll be a national hero!
As if not enough Palestinians are being killed by bloody Israelis already. You sir are an idiot.
Most people on Slashdot have a high GPA, have taken advanced comp/math classes early, know several programming languages, and are involved in open source and freelance projects. All these things were certainly true of me, also before my 18th birthday. So, you're in your element - welcome. But saying, "I have enjoyed dipping my toe in a million different things," is very different from suddenly saying, "I want to get involved in a university research project." The geek equivalent of the capricious valley girl is a dime a dozen: do you have evidence of strong potential to master theory? Appropriately chosen and well completed Israel OU courses are an excellent start. Ensure you read the classics of computer science and have at least a solid grounding in first year undergraduate maths (this for the US corresponds to the last years of high school for Europe - I don't know enough about how early specialisation occurs in Israel). Then you will be able to make some productive contribution to academic research, which is a very different ability from writing GNOME toys or entering robotics competitions.
Second thing, don't lie, especially if you want to impress smart people who will catch you out in a second. I'll throw out one example, in the hope it'll bring you in line a bit, though I'll save you the embarrassment of a more egregious slip. From your blog, Dec 10, 2007:
In order to work on my latest task for GHOP, I need to do some coding in Python. I'm attempting to learn the language in under two days while I'm on vacation at the Dead Sea with limited internet access. So far, its gone (going?) surprisingly well.
Iâ(TM)m reading over Dive Into Python (a free book [...]
Your Slash-resume reads like you have several years of experience in Python. You actually learnt Python from scratch under 14 months ago. Come interview, be prepared for a deflating exchange like, "But 14 months isn't several years, is it?" "But what I meant was..." "But that's not what you said."
Irony is not a synonym of ferrous.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Many universities offer summer research opportunities for undergraduates. My robotics lab at the University of Michigan, for example, (april.eecs.umich.edu) has a large population of undergraduate researchers.
Students from under-represented backgrounds can often get help with placement (e.g., ARTSI, www.artsialliance.org).
In short, I encourage you to find labs that you are interested in working with. Keep in mind that PIs get many solicitations from potential students... as a result, it can be fairly competitive.
The Weizmann institute outside of T.A. runs a summer program (two versions actually, one for HS students and one for undergraduates) called the Karyn Kupcinet International Science School for Overseas Students. At least, that's the part of the program I participated in, as an American undergrad. But there were a lot of Israeli HS students around, so I think you would be eligible. You get to troll the institute's websites and rank the distinguished faculty members you would like to do research with in order of preference. If you get into the program, they'll assign you one of your choices, and that advisor will help you with a research project. The CS/Math department is very strong. I don't know much about the other departments, But it's worth pointing out that Weizmann has its own particle accelerator (!), now used mostly for nMRI I believe.
This may be obvious (and it may have been pointed out before, because I'm too lazy to read today), but you should see if you are eligable for Google Summer of Code. Specifically, you should see if you can join Haiku. Why? They've still got tons of work to get done, and learning it's API alone will give you a research challenge. Hey; you could be the one to finish our WiFi stack (finally!).
But at my university, the chemistry department does take on high-schoolers with an interest (and some background) for chemical research, part-time unpaid during the academic year, and $10/hr for 10 weeks during the summer (the standard research period). Just start emailing everyone you can find who's doing work that sounds interesting - you're bound to find something.
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
I don't frequently vent, but I have to submit that the responses to this earnest young scholar from Israel have been bigoted, insensitive, and broadly creepy. If you replace all the holocaust comments with 9/11 comments, and replace all the jewish-world-domination-conspiracy comments with stupid polack or shiftless nigger comments, maybe it'll become apparent just how gratuitous, bigoted, ignorant, and insulting this thread really is.
I've always been proud to associate myself with the slashdot community - irreverant, biting, and insightful - the cream of the nerd crop. After reading the responses to this post, I feel like I need to take a shower. Then seriously rethink my image of the slashdot crew, and rethink my desire to associate myself with the community.
ick.
I'm looking for a summer research stance in the US. Unfortunately, in a lot of places can only apply US citizens for NFS requirements, and I'm from Spain. Do you know about any program that are open to foreign students?
Thanks!
Hi! In most of the stances I have seen, for NSF requirements only US citizens can apply, and I'm from Spain. Do you know any summer research program at the US that accept non US citizens? Thanks ;)