In 1993, the Regional Research Institute at West Virginia University was selected as the NSF's first Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site in regional science, an interdisciplinary field that links economics, geography, planning, and other social sciences. From 1994-2001, over 55 outstanding students from around the country including West Virginia University spent their junior/senior year as Undergraduate Research Fellows at the Regional Research Institute. Many have fulfilled the program's goal of learning research skills, undertaking a research project with a personal faculty mentor, and furthering their education by attending graduate school and beyond.

The Program
The NSF/REU program offered support for undergraduates to conduct research and participate in the University Honors Program as Undergraduate Research Fellows. Since 1994, over 55 students have worked closely with distinguished faculty mentors, learning research skills and completing a research project. They took an REU seminar each semester to learn about regional science, as well as how to conduct and present research. Students chose the balance of their coursework from among the hundreds of courses offered by West Virginia University, including the small classes in the Honors Program. They participated in other activities of the Regional Research Institute and had access to the Institute's advanced computer facilities.

In 1993, the National Science Foundation chose the Regional Research Institute to be a Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) site. The REU program is an important part of the National Science Foundation’s effort to train the next generation of leading scholars and professors. NSF hoped that exposure to research would help the student become interested in a research career. Undergraduate Research Fellows gained a better appreciation of how research occurred and how researchers produced a better understanding of our world. Students were required to be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S., enrolled in a bachelor's degree program, and classified as a junior or senior. Women, minorities, and students from institutions where advanced research opportunities were relatively limited were especially encouraged to apply.

The Undergraduate Research Fellows who have participated in the Institute’s NSF/REU program and those who participated in the earlier pilot program have presented research papers at conferences, published research reports, and won prestigious fellowships for graduate study. The Institute’s REU program focused on regional science, an interdisciplinary field that links economics, geography, and other social sciences. Regional scientists study economic and social phenomena within regions and human behavior in which the spatial dimension plays an important role. A strong tradition within regional science is the use of quantitative methods to derive and tests theories and to measure the effects of public policies. More recently, regional scientists have begun to embrace a broader range of research approaches, which are strongly represented within the Regional Research Institute. Among the Institute's primary research areas are economic and social development, environmental and resource policy, labor markets and poverty, migration and in-migration, and methods of regional and spatial analysis.

During the fall semester, Undergraduate Research Fellows became familiar with a substantive area of interest. The focus was on understanding more fully the nature of inquiry and the process of scholarly research, as well as learning research and communication skills. During the spring semester, students worked actively on their research projects, learned more about regional science, prepared their draft and final reports, and often presented their research at a conference. Faculty mentors also helped students prepare their manuscripts for possible journal publication.

Program Courses:
ECON 200H Regional Research (Fall), 3 credit hours. Students learned general research skills, including writing well and acquiring and using data, while they learned about the research process and the variety and range of regional research.

ECON 255H Regional Economics (Spring), 3 credit hours. Students learned the core theories and methods of regional science. Topics included regional growth and decline, industrial location, migration, labor markets, and several methods of quantitative regional analysis.

RESEARCH PROJECT (Spring), 3 credit hours. Students conducted research with their faculty mentors. Typically, they joined an on-going research project. They served initially as research assistants, working toward the point when student and mentor could define an independent research role for the student. The final product was a scholarly research paper written by the student.

In addition, participants chose other courses consistent with their plan of study and career objectives.

Scholarships
The National Science Foundation grant provided each Undergraduate Research Fellow with a stipend of $1000. In addition, need-based financial aid was available to help cover any additional expenses from participating in the NSF/REU program. In some cases financial aid could be transferred from the students' home institutions. The goal was to provide sufficient financial aid to enable all students selected for the REU program to participate.