REU SITE: Undergraduate Research in the Demography of the Criminal Justice System

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program

Undergraduate Research in the Demography of the Criminal Justice System
Population Research Center, Initiative for Law, Societies, and Justice, and Department of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin

NSF Support Acknowledgement

This REU Program is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant No. 2349109.
For more information, please view the NSF Award Abstract.

The Population Research Center of The University of Texas at Austin in collaboration with the Initiative for Law, Societies, and Justice and the Department of Sociology, is pleased to announce the 2025 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. The REU program offers talented undergraduates the opportunity for classroom training and hands-on research experience during an 8-week session on The University of Texas at Austin campus.

What is the REU Program? The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program hosts 12 very select undergraduates from around the United States for 8 weeks during the summer and introduces them to careers in social science through an intense program to conduct research that contributes to our scientific understanding of race and ethnicity and the demography of the criminal justice system with relevance for research, policy, and practice. The program features seminars on racial and ethnic differences in exposure to and impacts of criminal justice contact and educational, economic, health, political, and social inequalities of the U.S. population. In addition to the seminars, REU participants will be introduced research ethics and to different methods of inquiry on the causes and consequences of justice system involvement at the UT Population Research Center (PRC). The PRC is the foremost research institute for population studies in the southwestern United States and home to a university-wide Initiative for Law, Societies, and Justice. Over the summer, REU students are expected to develop individual research projects mentored by faculty and/or in partnership with community organizations in policy and practice settings. Students will present findings from their mentored research projects at the conclusion of the summer program. They will also be invited to present their work at a professional conference in the fall following their REU summer.

REU summer program dates are June 2, 2025 through July 26, 2025. REU participants will be part of the UT Population Research Center, the Initiative for Law, Societies, and Justice, and the Department of Sociology community, with a readymade set of faculty members and fellow students eager to introduce them to the collegiality of academic life.

REU participants will receive a $5,600 summer stipend for participation in the program, which should allow the selected students to fully concentrate on their REU experience over the 2-month program. The REU program will also pay for room and board, assuming the program is offered face-to-face. Participants who chose to present their paper at the fall 2025 conference will be provided a travel allowance.

Ideally, REU participants will live and dine together over the summer in a UT residence hall and may arrive as early as May 31. A mandatory orientation will be held on June 2. Participation in the REU program will allow students access the campus shuttle bus and Austin Capital Metro transportation, and a wide range of entertainment events in the Austin community. Students are encouraged to make the most of their stay in Austin and use the extra time outside the program dates to enjoy the city and all it has to offer.

Who is eligible to be an REU student? This program is open to US citizens and permanent residents. Undergraduates who have completed requirements for sophomore or junior standing are eligible to apply, with the ideal time for REU being the summer between the junior and senior year. We would like to encourage applications from students who are currently enrolled in undergraduate programs in the social sciences and adjacent fields and from groups historically underrepresented in graduate education. We would like to encourage applications from undergraduates at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) in Texas, and students who have been acutely impacted by the criminal justice system. A letter of reference from a nominating faculty member will also be given serious weight in our selection decisions.

2025 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program: How do interested students apply for the REU program? 

Applications are submitted electronically through the NSF ETAP system.  To apply to this program and for more inforamtion please visit the NSF ETAP site here. 

Questions or comments may be directed to: service@prc.utexas.edu