REU Site: Human-Centered Computing for Social Good

本科生研究体验(REU)网站旨在支持不同的本科生群体以人为中心的研究体验，应用计算机科学来解决社会公益问题。该项目的目标是：(1)为本科生研究提供支持，特别是对那些在本国机构任职人数不足或机会有限的学生；(2)促进明尼苏达大学虚拟现实、社会计算和人-机器人交互方面的领先研究人员的指导；(3)明确培训学生的研究方法并使他们沉浸在科学文化中，以及(4)提供职业发展机会，为学生进入研究生院做好准备。该奖项支持的REU项目将产生新的技术、算法和交互技术，这些技术、算法和交互技术可以丰富和增强人类对计算系统的体验。为了确定其研究的社会相关性，通过该奖项支持的所有学生项目都将与联合国基金会建立的可持续发展目标保持一致。学生将应用这些进展来解决重要的社会问题和可持续发展目标，这可以通过帮助他们将计算机科学与现实世界的影响联系起来，进一步提高参与度。为了实现这些目标，该网站将从研究机会有限的机构招募至少50%的队列，特别强调支持女性、代表性不足的少数族裔和第一代大学生。参与者将沉浸在高度协作的研究实验室中，由长期致力于指导本科生研究人员的教职员工监督。研究主题将包括对成瘾康复的计算支持，研究在线社区阿片类药物使用障碍的替代治疗方法，为气候行动讲述身临其境的数据故事，使用自主机器人定位水下垃圾的智能搜索策略，以及调查使用虚拟现实来缓解隐性偏见。REU的学生还将研究用于决策的算法中的公平问题，并帮助设计能够有效和公平地服务于社区需求的智能系统。学生项目还将利用研究和开发技术，将老年人作为导师与在校儿童联系起来，以提高他们的学习成绩和适应能力。在队列层面，学生将参加研究培训研讨会、特邀演讲和专业发展研讨会，这些研讨会将支持他们的学术发展，为他们进入研究生院做好准备，并提供有意义的社会体验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site aims to support a diverse group of undergraduate students in human-centered research experiences that apply computer science to address social good problems. The objectives of this project are to: (1) provide support for undergraduate research, especially for students that are underrepresented or have limited access at their home institutions; (2) facilitate mentorship from leading researchers in virtual reality, social computing, and human-robot interaction at the University of Minnesota; (3) explicitly train students in research methods and immerse them in the culture of science, and (4) provide professional development opportunities to prepare students for graduate school. The REU projects supported under this award will produce novel technologies, algorithms, and interaction techniques that can enrich and empower human experiences with computing systems. To frame the social relevance of their research, all student projects supported through this award will be aligned with a Sustainable Development Goal established by the United Nations Foundation. Students will apply these advances to address important societal problems and sustainability goals, which can further increase engagement by helping them to make the connection between computer science and real-world impact. To achieve these goals, the site will recruit at least 50% of the cohort from institutions with limited research opportunities, with a particular emphasis on supporting women, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation college students. Participants will be immersed in highly collaborative research labs supervised by faculty with longstanding commitments to mentoring undergraduate researchers. Research topics will include computational support for addiction recovery, studying alternative treatments to opioid use disorder in online communities, immersive data storytelling for climate action, intelligent search strategies for locating underwater trash using autonomous robots, and investigating the use of virtual reality to mitigate implicit bias. REU students will also carry out research on addressing equity in algorithms used for decision-making and help in designing intelligent systems that can serve the community needs both effectively and fairly. The student projects will also leverage research and development of technology for connecting older adults as mentors to school children to improve their academic performance and improve their resilience. At the cohort level, students will participate in research training seminars, invited talks, and professional development workshops that will support their scholarly development, prepare them for graduate school, and provide a meaningful social experience.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.