About the RET Program

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2024 RET Program Dates: July 1 – Aug 9.  Applications are due Monday April 8.

Apply today!

The Boston University Photonics Center NSF RET Site in Integrated Nanomanufacturing seeks ten public high school science teachers (grade 9 and higher) and community college faculty in STEM fields to join the BU research community for six weeks each summer, to participate in engineering research projects with BU faculty and graduate students. Participants will gain firsthand experience with engineering design as they complete their summer projects. All projects support actual research currently underway at BU.  No research experience is necessary. The aim is to provide participants with research experiences that will enhance their teaching of engineering topics, especially engineering design, and inform their interactions with their students regarding STEM career paths.

Participants are expected to develop curricular lessons and activities from their research experience, to implement in their classrooms. To facilitate this, participants will be coached and mentored by our Curriculum Expert RET.

Highlights
Hands-on laboratory research in engineering faculty laboratories working alongside NSF REU participants, the cleanroom experience in state of the art shared facilities at the Photonics Center, Brown Bag Seminars, laboratory group meetings and presentation opportunities during the summer. The summer wraps up with a final research poster session.

Synopsis
The Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program supports active research participation for teachers (grades 9-12) and community college faculty. This RET Site has three thematic research areas:

  1. Nanophotonics: Using light at the nanometer scale for materials synthesis and characterization
  2. Nanostructures: Using nanofabrication techniques combining optics and electronics to design and manufacture nanoscale devices 
  3. Nanomedicine: Using nanotechnology and nanophotonics for medical applications such as sensing/diagnostics and biological manipulation

The directors will assist in the translation of RET experiences into sustainable STEM education curricula and activities at the teachers’ home schools through team-based development together with faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the teachers’ partnering laboratories. We plan to engage teachers from past and current summers in collective workshops in flipped classrooms, online and blended learning, realtime assessment and other STEM pedagogy advancements, teaming teachers with faculty to focus on the research-intensive faculty’s instructional approaches.

NOTE: Participants in NSF RET Sites or RET Supplements must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the United States.

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Program Guidance

Features

  • $8,000 Stipend
  • $2,000 for school curriculum and lab supplies and conference travel
  • 180 PDPs

Requirements

  • Participants must be U.S. Citizens or permanent residents.
  • Participants must be within commuting range of Boston University. This program does not provide a housing option for teachers. We do provide on campus parking or MBTA pass.
  •  Participants:
    • Teachers whose school districts are active members of the Massachusetts STEM Network are preferred
    • High school and middle school teachers and elementary school teachers grade 3 and higher, from high need public schools with high percentages of underrepresented minorities students in STEM and low-income families
    • Community College Faculty in close proximity to STEM Network schools
    • Veterans, women and underrepresented minorities are strongly encouraged to apply