SURE - USC Viterbi | Prospective Students

SURE Program: Summer Research for Undergraduates

PROGRAM DATES: June 10 – August 2, 2019

Applicant Criteria

Research Projects

Deadline & Notification

Apply

Program Benefits:

Participate in cutting-edge research with top USC faculty
Receive $4500 stipend, university housing, and travel to/from Los Angeles
Gain experience and tools to enhance your application to competitive PhD programs
Explore the rich and diverse culture of Southern California during a two-month stay in Los Angeles while learning about the resources at USC
Develop lasting friendships with fellow participants
Receive an application fee waiver for future graduate study at USC

Applicant Criteria:

Sophomore or Junior-year undergraduate students who are citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or Canadian citizens
Interest in conducting research and pursuing a PhD program
Strong academic background (GPA of 3.5 or higher is recommended) in the fields of engineering, math, or hard science (biology, chemistry, physics)
Application requires transcripts, a resume, statement of purpose and 2 letters of recommendation

Research Project Description:

The USC Interaction Lab focuses on socially assistive robotics: developing systems capable of aiding people through social interactions that combine monitoring, coaching, motivation, and companionship. To create these systems, we use techniques such as machine learning algorithms for human-robot interaction and reinforcement learning for dynamic environments with uncertainty, and our research involves both hardware and software designed for human subject studies. To address the inherently multidisciplinary challenges of this research, the work draws on knowledge from neuroscience, cognitive science, social science, health sciences, and education.

Possible projects may include:
-Creating empathetic human-robot interactions with computer vision and machine learning
-Facilitation of physical therapy for older adults with robots
-Hardware and software integration for robotic systems
-Shared world, collaborative robot expression and direct interaction through augmented reality

You must have experience with one or more of the following: Python, C++, or C# programming; computer vision; image processing; ROS; natural language processing; Hololens; Unity

Deadline & Notification:

2019 SURE Application Deadline is March 8, 2019, 9am PST
Participants will be notified in mid-March 2019

** Please do not contact faculty directly until you have been formally accepted into the program

For questions regarding the SURE program, please contact SURE@gapp.usc.edu

SURE 2019 Application

Please complete all fields & submit the form below to be considered for the summer research program hosted by the USC Viterbi Graduate & Professional Programs.
Deadline to apply for this project is March 8, 2019, 9am PST

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Resume/ CV*
Statement of Purpose*
Transcript*
Please upload your scanned .pdf of a registrar generated transcript
Letters of Recommendation
Please select and upload two letters of recommendation
Note: Letters of recommendation can also be emailed directly to SURE@gapp.usc.edu.
Email subject line text MUST include:
1) the student(applicant) name
Applications without letters of recommendation received by the deadline will not be considered.
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Other research opportunities...
In addition to the SURE program on our main campus, additional USC Viterbi summer research internship opportunities exist at our Institute for Creative Technologies and Information Sciences Institute!

2016 program photo album

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