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1. Work-in-Progress: Running an in-person NSF IRES Program in South Korea before and during COVID-19

   Kim, Gloria; Yoon, Yong; Choi, Jin-Woo (July 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition proceedings)

   The goal of the National Science Foundation’s International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program is to provide high quality educational experiences for small groups of U.S. students through active research participation in collaboration with foreign researchers at an international site and provide students with international collaborative research training and a personal network on which to build future collaborations. Interdisciplinary Research in Korea on Applied smart systems (IRiKA) is an NSF IRES Track I program that commenced in 2019. Over the lifetime of this 3-year project (2019 - 2021), a cohort of 5 students selected from three participating U.S. institutions are to be supported each year, making the total number of participants 15. In Summer 2019, the first cohort of five students completed their 8-week immersive research internship at Korea’s top-ranked university. COVID-19 affected most, if not all, in-bound and out-bound international programs. IRiKA was no exception. In late February 2020, the program was canceled altogether because no viable alternative could be offered for Summer 2020, as institutions world-wide were grappling with disruptive challenges the pandemic brought on. In Fall 2020, with contingency plans in place and an additional Korean host site aboard, the project team solicited applications. However, in early 2021, before the final selection of the 2021 cohort was complete, two of the U.S. participating institutions announced that international travel would not be permitted for their faculty and students. The project team went on to select a cohort from one U.S. institution only and continued to monitor the travel health notice level for Korea. While some modifications were made to the in-country program to comply with the COVID-19 regulations in Korea, the 8-week research experience was in-person and remained largely uncompromised for the 2021 cohort. In this Work-in-Progress paper, the three US-based lead investigators compare the two versions of the IRiKA program – before and during the pandemic – and share the lessons learned. The no-cost-extension will allow IRiKA to continue until Summer 2022. Selection of the Summer 2022 cohort will be complete by early March of 2022. 

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2. Broadening Horizons: Graduate Students Participating in International Collaborations through the Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange (LOREX) Program

   https://doi.org/10.1002/lob.10339  

   Beck, Hannah N.; Cohen, Ashley; McKenzie, Tristan; Weisend, Rachel; Wilkins, Keiko W.; Woodstock, Matthew S. (July 2019, Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin)

   Abstract International research is necessary in aquatic sciences because water moves across borders. Historically, international collaborations have been useful in conducting oceanographic research programs, which span large distances and require several funding sources. Although valuable, international research can have unforeseen challenges to the unprepared researcher. Communication with an international collaborator and professional development training can mitigate these pitfalls. The Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange Program (LOREX) is an opportunity for graduate students to gain experience developing international collaborations. The LOREX program aims to help graduate students develop connections and gain experience in international research. During the summer of 2019 and spring of 2020, 26 graduate students from 24 U.S. institutions will travel to one of six different host institutions to conduct a research project that they developed with an international collaborator. To prepare for their research experience, LOREX participants participated in training programs during the 2019 Aquatic Sciences Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The first group of LOREX graduate students will share their experience through social media and blog posts throughout their journey. Applications are now open for the second cohort of LOREX participants, and potential applicants are encouraged to contact potential collaborators to develop a research project. 

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3. Lessons from an Online Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Summer Research Program

   Gobbert, Matthias K; Wang, Jianwu (December 2021, The 17th International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science & Computer Engineering (FECS'21))

   During 2018, 2019, and 2020, the UMBC CyberTraining initiative “Big Data + HPC + Atmospheric Sciences” created an online team-based training program for advanced graduate students and junior researchers that trained a total of 58 participants. The year 2020 included 6 undergraduate students. Based on this experience, the authors created the summer undergraduate research program Online Interdisciplinary Big Data Analytics in Science and Engineering that will conduct 8-week online team-based undergraduate research programs (bigdatareu.umbc.edu) in the summers 2021, 2022, and 2023. Given the context of many institutions potentially expanding their online instruction, we share our experiences how the successful lessons from CyberTraining transfer to a high-intensity full-time online summer undergraduate research program. 

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4. US-Japan NSF IRES Program for Developing Portable Point-of-Care Testing Devices: Preparation and Experiences of Year 1

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2-1139-49362  

   Ryu, Sangjin; Deters, Jessica; Janecek, Jonathan; Sunderland, Christian; Wagner, Laurel S; Wagner, Rachael (September 2024, ASEE Conferences)

   The International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) focuses on developing a diverse, globally engaged STEM workforce through international research experiences. This NSF IRES project aims to develop a portable point-of-care testing (POCT) device for efficient detection of infectious pathogens by integrating microfluidic devices and a filter-free wavelength Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor in a portable platform. The program supports an 8-week-long summer research experience at Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) in Japan for a cohort of undergraduate and graduate students. This paper reports on the first year of the program. 

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5. US-Sweden Bioinformatics IRES: Investigating Engineering Students’ Attitudes and Perspectives Throughout a 10-week International Research Program

   Chapman, Mark A; Forbes, Marissa H. (July 2022, 2022 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition)

   The US-Sweden Clinical Bioinformatics Research Training Program is an NSF-funded International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program that aims to develop a diverse cohort of globally competent and engaged scientists/engineers that seek career opportunities and collaborators throughout the world. The program consists of a six-week preparatory virtual training series, a 4-day pre-departure symposium at the University of San Diego and a ten-week research program on site at the Science for Life Laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden. The focus of this paper is to examine student attitudes and perspectives during their time abroad through an analysis of blog entries. In Summer 2021, six engineering undergraduates—three women and three men—participated in the inaugural program session. Over the course of the ten-week program, the students completed blog posts in response to four prompts related to their experiences, observations, and challenges. In this paper, we present a qualitative analysis of the student blogs using a hybrid deductive and inductive thematic analysis approach. Our findings span two primary categories: professional and personal. 

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