NIST Professional Research Experience Program (PREP)
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Professional Research Experience Program (PREP)
A partnership between Georgetown University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
The Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. The program is intended to assure continued growth and progress of science and engineering in the United States.
The Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) is a partnership between Georgetown University in Washington DC, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The goal of the PREP is to provide research opportunities at NIST and to facilitate collaborations between our faculty and NIST staff. The program places graduate students, faculty, staff scientists, and postdoctoral researchers at NIST Gaithersburg labs to gain hands-on research experience working with NIST researchers.
Graduate student participants receive full tuition reimbursement and a monthly stipend or hourly wage work for longer periods of their PhD, on topics of mutual interest to NIST and Georgetown scientists. PREP Fellows with degrees will receive competitive salary and benefits commensurate with their experience.
The opportunity is also available to international scientists. The following positions are supported through the program, and depend on availability of positions at NIST:
Undergraduate Students – Can spend part-time during term at NIST, and as well as summer internships. Depending on mutual interest some students may be able to have joint Thesis projects in collaboration with NIST.
PhD Students – Can spend periods from a semester to a year in collaborations between Georgetown and NIST scientists.
Bachelors or Masters Degree holders – Can spend a year or so working on technical projects as preparation for later study in a PhD program or a more permanent position in industry.
Post-doctoral Scholars – comprise the bulk of the NIST/Georgetown collaborations, working on projects in all scientific areas that NIST Gaithersburg is active in.
Senior Scientists or Sabbatical Visitors – Can spend periods of time in close collaboration on topics of mutual interest.
Applicable disciplines include engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, applied mathematics, and biology; for information about the types of research conducted at NIST, visit NIST’s Projects/Programs (new window) listing and select the Gaithersburg Campus.
Interested graduate students must be in good academic standing, be enrolled full-time, and have a Georgetown faculty reference.
Additional desired qualifications include: research publications/conference presentations, technical work experience, and computer programming/software expertise.
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Georgetown Faculty: Please identify potential NIST sponsors (see NIST’s Projects/Programs listing (new window)) and send them an email introducing yourself and your research and mentioning your interest in a NIST PREP collaboration. You are welcome to contact Mary Rashid at rashid@georgetown.edu or Peter Olmsted at peter.olmsted@georgetown.edu if you would like assistance reaching out.
Georgetown NIST PREP Administrative Contact
Main Contact: Mary Rashid, rashid@georgetown.edu
Georgetown NIST PREP Faculty Contact
Professor Peter Olmsted, peter.olmsted@georgetown.edu