The SURF Program provides research opportunities for students to work with internationally known NIST scientists, to expose them to cutting-edge research and promote the pursuit of graduate degrees in science and engineering. SURF gives students an opportunity to:

• Gain substantive career experience related to your academic interests,
• Acquire lifelong leadership, management, and analytical skills,
• Learn about a career in public service,
• Build professional relationships, contacts, and networks, and
• Observe the daily operations and working environment of a premier federal laboratory.

Imagine yourself in the NIST laboratories.

NIST seeks students from a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines including (but not limited to) biochemistry, biology, biophysics, chemistry, computer science, engineering, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron research, physics, and/or statistics. Students work under the guidance of a research mentor in the NIST operating units (OU). The following OU's participate in the SURF program: Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL), Engineering Laboratory (EL), Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) in partnership with the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), and Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML). As part of the application process, all students are required to identify and select first and second choice host laboratories where they would like to be considered for a possible placement. Laboratories should be chosen carefully, because the completed application is considered primarily by the first choice host laboratory.

Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of NIST's research, we encourage students to look through the different laboratory websites to discover lots of interesting project areas. For example, a chemistry student may find project opportunities in ITL, PL, and EL in addition to the logical choice of MML/NCNR. Similar opportunities exist for those in other disciplines. For a detailed description of SURF projects in each NIST laboratory and prior summer acceptance rates, students are encouraged to review laboratory descriptions and acceptance rates at https://www.nist.gov/surf/surf-gaithersburg/research-programs.

While duties and responsibilities may vary by laboratory, all accepted students must:

• Attend a weekly technical seminar series
• Participate in extramural group activities intended to enrich their fellowship experience
• Compose and submit an abstract half-way through the program summarizing research accomplishments
• Deliver an oral presentation during the final week of the program