Spring term of Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI)

About

The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program encourages undergraduate students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers by providing research experiences at the Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories. Selected students participate as interns appointed at one of 17 participating DOE laboratories/facilities (you may access via the original web page). They perform research, under the guidance of laboratory staff scientists or engineers, on projects supporting the DOE mission.

The SULI program is sponsored and managed by the DOE Office of Science’s, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) in collaboration with the DOE laboratories/facilities.

Applications for the SULI program are solicited annually for three separate internship terms. Internship appointments are 10 weeks in duration for the Summer Term (May through August) or 16 weeks in duration for the Fall (August through December) and Spring (January through May) Terms. Each DOE laboratory/facility offers different research opportunities; not all DOE laboratories/facilities offer internships during the Fall and Spring Terms.

Eligibility for the SULI program requires that all applicants:

Must be currently enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student at an accredited institution, and also have completed at least one year as a matriculating undergraduate student at the time of applying (additional undergraduate credits obtained prior to enrollment cannot be applied to meet the minimum one-year completion requirement). Applicants who will complete their undergraduate degree prior to starting their internship may apply as a "Graduating Senior", if (1) the applicant has not yet started a program of graduate study and will not matriculate as a graduate student prior to completing the SULI term, and (2) the time period between receipt of an undergraduate degree and starting the SULI term is less than one year. Community college students are eligible to apply.
Must have an undergraduate cumulative minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all completed courses as a matriculating student.
Must be 18 years or older at the time the internship begins.
Must be a United States Citizen or Permanent Resident Alien at the time of applying.

Proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident Alien status will be requested at the time an internship offer is accepted. Acceptable form of proof of U.S. Citizenship includes, but is not limited to, a Certified Birth Certificate, an U.S. State Government Issued Enhanced Drivers License, U.S. Passport, U.S. Passport Card, Naturalization Certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, Consular Report of Birth (of U.S. citizen) Abroad, or Certification of Birth. Permanent Resident Aliens must hold an active United States Permanent Resident Card.

Must have earned a high school diploma or General Education Development (GED) equivalent at the time of applying.

Proof of an earned High School diploma or for passing all five GED tests required to achieve a Certificate of General Educational Development should be provided on the applicant’s undergraduate transcripts.

Additional Eligibility requirements:

Applicants are limited to participation in the SULI program to no more than two internships.
Applicants can apply to the SULI program a maximum of three times.

Benefits

Research interns spend 10 weeks (summer term) or 16 weeks (semester term) at a DOE laboratory engaged in a research project under the guidance of a laboratory scientist or engineer.
Host laboratories provide enrichment activities, including career professional development workshops (e.g. technical and scientific writing skills development, poster, or oral presentation activities, etc.), laboratory tours, scientific lectures and seminars.
Host laboratories provide all required site specific training.
Beginning with the 2013 Summer Term, selected students receive a stipend of $500 per week during the internship period.
Selected students are reimbursed for one round trip domestic travel to the host laboratory (if permanent address is more than 50 miles from the host laboratory). Transportation expenses will be reimbursed on the basis of the most direct route. Travel by a private automobile will be reimbursed at the current government rate up to a maximum of $500.00 or the cost of the lowest commercial airfare, whichever is lower. Travel by air will be reimbursed at the cost of the lowest commercial airfare.
Housing information will be provided to interns prior to arrival at the host laboratory. In general, housing opportunities will vary from laboratory to laboratory. An allowance is available for participants placed at host laboratories that are unable to offer direct housing arrangements.

Participant Obligations

The SULI program is intended to support the intellectual and professional development of students who have the desire to be involved in an intensive scientific research experience. Selected students have the following program obligations:

Must have proof of coverage under a health insurance plan for the duration of their internship. It is the responsibility of each participant to secure insurance coverage before arriving at the appointment site.
Must complete the full 10- or 16-week program. Students should expect to spend approximately 40 hours a week working on their research projects or participating in the provided professional development opportunities.
Must complete the entrance and exit surveys through the online system provided at the beginning and the end of the internship. Host laboratories may choose to withhold initial or final stipend payments until the surveys have been submitted.
Must behave in a responsible and professional manner.
In advance of completion of their appointment, SULI participants must make either an oral or poster presentation on the outcome of their SULI related research activities, complete and submit a 1500 - 3000 word research project report, a general audience abstract, and a one-page peer review of another SULI intern's talk or poster. Report requirements, submission instructions, and additional guidance will be provided at the beginning of the internship period.
To help maintain accountability and accuracy of its federally-mandated assessment and reporting functions, WDTS requires funded work to appropriately acknowledge its support in the presentations and publications resulting from its funding. When acknowledging WDTS support, please use the following statement - “This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) under the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships Program (SULI).”

How To Apply?

Application Requirement

All Applications to the SULI program must be completed online through the online application system.
The online application system will guide applicants through the application requirements.
Only complete applications submitted by the deadline will be considered for evaluation and placement.
Materials uploaded into the application system will provide the sole basis for evaluation.

Applications must include:

Completion of all required fields in the applications, including:

Contact and Education Information
Citizenship Status
Laboratory/facility choice and research interests
Essays

Undergraduate transcripts, submitted online

Eligibility requires any applicant to submit a copy of their currently/most recently attended university/college-issued transcript. This must be the most recent transcript available at the time of application.
Eligibility also requires that applicants submit undergraduate transcripts from any other undergraduate academic institutions attended as a matriculated student.
Transcripts must be uploaded as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files into the application system, and must be clearly legible, must be labeled with your name and the name of the university/college, and must clearly show all courses, all course grades, and a cumulative GPA. The application system provides an easy to use upload feature. Do not mail or email transcripts directly to DOE - they will not be considered.
Acceptable transcripts may either be (i) a hard-copy transcript issued to you suitably scanned and saved for uploading as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file, and/or (ii) an unofficial transcript provided electronically to you directly from your university/college either via a website or email suitably saved for uploading as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file.
Submitted transcripts must have all social security numbers and/or dates of birth removed (blanked out, blackened out, made illegible, etc.) prior to uploading into the application system. Any applications found to contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the form of Social Security numbers and/or dates of birth will be deemed non-compliant and will not be released to host laboratories or facilities for review or consideration.

Two Recommendations, submitted online

Applicants are encouraged to make the requests for recommendations as soon as possible. It is the applicant’s responsibility to inform their recommenders that they must submit their recommendation using the online system by the application deadline. Additionally, it is suggested that the applicant discuss this request in advance with potential recommenders, and allow adequate time for the recommender to act on this request.
Applicants must have two recommendations submitted in support of their application. Recommendations from individuals familiar with the applicant’s education, training, experience, aptitude, or promise relevant to the SULI Program are suggested.
Based upon recommender contact information entered as part of the application process, the application system automatically sends an email message to recommenders with information on how to access and submit their recommendation. Requests for recommendations can be made by using the “Final Submit” action in the recommendation request section.
WDTS will not accept any mailed or emailed recommendations.
Applicants may solicit a minimum of two, but up to three, recommendation requests from individuals familiar with the applicant’s education, training, experience, aptitude, or promise relevant to the SULI Program. The first two recommendations that are completed in the system will be the only ones included with your application.

For more information click "Further official information" below.

Spring term of Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI)

Deadline:

October 07, 2016