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Neurotechnologies to Help the Body Move, Heal and Feel Again

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Interested in gaining research experience in engineering? 
Spend ten weeks this summer performing research in emergent neurotechnologies to help people with disabilities in the Cullen College of Engineering at UH — and earn a $5,000 stipend!

The IUCRC BRAIN at the Cullen College of Engineering (CCoE) at the University of Houston will continue to host Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs in the summer of 2024. The program is designed to inspire bright and motivated undergraduates to pursue graduate education and careers in science and engineering research. In the REU Neurotechnologies Program, participants will work closely with leading neural engineers and neuroscientists at the NSF BRAIN Center at CCoE and contribute to the development of innovative medical devices including diagnostics, neural interfaces, medical robotics and other ongoing cutting-edge research in neural, cognitive and rehabilitation engineering.

For more information on the REU program, click on the links on the top left of each web page.

Program Dates: Summer 2024

Basic Application Requirements

In the ten-week REU program:

  • Build research laboratory skills.
  • Develop written and oral presentation skills.
  • Gain training in safety and ethics.
  • Establish a professional network.
  • Learn to use state of the art neuroscience instrumentation.
  • Explore social activities in Houston!

Research Projects offered by the IUCRC BRAIN Center faculty:

  • Design of Mobile brain-body imaging (MoBI) technology for Recording in the 'Wild'
    Mentors: Jeff Feng, Ph.D., Associate Professor 
    Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture & Design;
    Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
    Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
  • Brain-Computer Interfaces to Help the Body Move Again
    Mentor: Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
    Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
  • Developing virtual reality software for visualizing brain vasculature
    Mentor: David Mayerich, Ph.D., Associate Professor
    Director, STIM Laboratory: Scalable Tissue Imaging and Modeling
    Co-PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Temporal Response Function Modeling to Assess Neural Encoding of Acoustic and Linguistic Features of Speech
    Mentor: Heather Dial, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
    Director, SLAB-Lab
    Department of Communications Science and Disorders
  • Miniature Magnetic Robotic Swimmers (MMRS) for Navigating the Brain Ventricles
    Mentor: Aaron Becker, Ph.D., Associate Professor
    Director, Multi-Robot Systems lab
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Artistic Brain-Computer Interfaces (Your Brain on Art and Wellness)
    Mentor: Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
    Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
  • NeuroExo: A brain-computer interface for stroke rehabilitation
    Mentor: Jose L Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Cullen Professor
    Director, Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Lab
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Director/PI, NSF IUCRC BRAIN (https://nsfbrain.org/)
  • Enhancing Mobile VR/AR User Experience via An Integrated Architecture-System Approach
    Mentor: Xin Fu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
    Director, Efficient Computer Systems (ECOMS) Lab
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • An EEG Headset Research and Development:  Sideline Concussion Assessment for Athletes
    Mentor: Jeff Feng, Ph.D., Associate Professor
    Director, Medical Device Design Lab
    College of Architecture and Design
  • Sex-based Differences in Tissue Oxygen Use in Type 2 Diabetes
    Mentor: Stacey Gorniak, Ph.D., Associate Professor
    Department of Health and Human Performance
  • Neuromodulation to Improve Dynamic Balance in Stroke
    Mentor: Pranav Parikh, Ph.D., Associate Professor
    Director, Center for Neuromotor and Biomechanics Research (CNBR)
    Department of Health and Human Performance
  • Enabling Light-Driven Microfluidics with Laser Streaming
    Mentors: Jiming Bao, Ph.D., Professor
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering;
    Dong Liu, Ph.D., Professor
    Department of Mechanical Engineering
Application Deadline: February 29, 2024

Completed applications will be reviewed on a first-come-first-served basis. We encourage you to send application materials early. Each complete application will be acknowledged via email, and all applicants will be notified in May as to their status.

Stipend: $5,000

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Drs. Jose L Contreras-Vidal and Stuart Long // reu_brain [at] egr.uh.edu (reu_brain[at]egr[dot]uh[dot]edu)

Contact Information

REU Program Director
University of Houston
Cullen College of Engineering
Engineering Building 1, Room N207
4226 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Houston, TX 77204-4006
Fax: 713-743-4503
Email: reu_brain [at] egr.uh.edu (reu_brain[at]egr[dot]uh[dot]edu) (Neurotechnologies to Help the Body Move, Heal and Feel Again)

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) award #2150415 (REU site), #2137255 (IUCRC BRAIN REU Supplement), and #1827769 (PFI REU Supplement).
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed in this materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution.
Minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.