Notre Dame students can earn valuable research experience in the STEM disciplines through the Naughton Fellowship Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. The fellowships offer motivated undergraduates the opportunity to learn through research, gain valuable skills, and be part of a cutting-edge research project. Fellowship recipients will conduct their research within an exciting team atmosphere, working with a faculty mentor, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students.
The program lasts approximately 10 weeks between May and August. Students receive airfare, accommodation, health insurance, airport pickup upon arrival in Dublin, ground transport to and from the research site, cultural enrichment and professional development programs, and a comfortable living allowance to cover food and other living expenses.
Maddie and Amanda took the opportunity to do research at the University of Galway, a highly ranked university in the West of Ireland, in the summer of 2023. We catch up with Amanda and talk about her experience.
How did you find out about this experience and what made you decide to apply?
Amanda: I was looking for an internship or a research position somewhere for the summer. I hadn't really wanted to study abroad, but then some of my friends went abroad. And I was like, man, I loved my semesters at Notre Dame, and I wouldn't want to miss that, but it would be so cool to go to Ireland. They had fliers up in my research building for the Naughtons programme. And I knew that I wanted to do it. As soon as the application opened, I wrote it, read over it, turned it in. There was another internship available, it was kind of difficult making this decision, but ultimately I ended up here, and it's been so great!
What was your experience working with your PI at the University of Galway?
Amanda: So it was pretty busy, and people were coming in and out for the summer. But he was very supportive, he helped me a lot. I came in not knowing how to code anything. So he really helped me like, Okay, we'll do what you can get done during the summer. But I felt like I was contributing to something. Maybe my work didn't lead to many concrete conclusions, but it's definitely something that can be built on in the future. And I just really liked the atmosphere. I wasn't really in a wet lab. So we're in an office space with a lot of grad students, and they were all really welcoming: when they go get coffee or ice cream, they'd invite me to come along. It's been really nice.
What's been your favourite thing about your time at the University of Galway and being in Galway in general?
Amanda: I've really enjoyed the flexibility of the research position and kind of getting my work done on my own time. This is different I think depending on who you were with and what circumstances, but for me I didn't have a lot of hard deadlines. It's more about getting the work done at the pace you can get it done, which is really nice and allowed me to go to daily mass, or, you know, get books from the library, and one thing I just love about Galway is the live music. I really liked the atmosphere.
And what's been the biggest challenge during your time here?
Amanda: Sometimes, just because my PI was busy, you know, we'd have meetings, but I kind of needed the meetings to jumpstart me to the next thing. So there was a week when he was gone to a conference, and I had finished up my work. And then I was like, I'm stuck. I just read some papers and fiddled around, but I know he was working more directly with grad students and other members of the lab.
And would you recommend the REU experience to a friend?
Amanda: Oh, yeah. It's been an amazing experience. Being able to get that really valuable research experience, but also getting to do it in such a cool place.
I know a lot of people went to Dublin and only a few of you came to Galway. Do you feel like you missed out on some things not being in Dublin?
Amanda: No, it was honestly one of my biggest fears.When I got matched on this project, I was worried I'd just be kind of dropped alone in Galway. But things like having other ND roommates really helped. And then I think we missed some stuff during the week. But, honestly, there wasn't much, like the professional development dinners. But I was able to join for the big things, they worked really well with us with that. And I'm not a huge city person, and Galway doesn't really have that much of a city feel. So I actually prefer being out in Galway in hindsight, and also the amount of time that I got to spend out at Kylemore was way more than other people in Dublin.
Are you interested in applying for the Naughton REU program in Galway in summer of 2024? Then submit your application before December 2023 here: https://naughton.nd.edu/undergraduate/notre-dame-students/