Frequently Asked Questions

Q1 Why do I have to participate in the programs over two summers?

Typically, undergraduate students who start research in a foreign country face two problems: scientific difficulty and cultural and language difficulty. We expect that research activity at UIC during the first summer will provide you with a sufficient research background, reducing your scientific difficulty in Japan. Hence, you will be able to concentrate on overcoming cultural and language gaps at the early stage of your summer in Japan, while working on a project with which you are familiar.

Q2 What is the merits for me to participate in the program?

Many American students go oversee, but only few engage in research in foreign research institutes. Over the two-summer program, we expect that our REU students can gain strong research background in an international setting. It seems that many multinational companies would like to have students with such a distinctive research background.

Q3. I don’t know UIC. Why do you recommend the summer research program at UIC?

UIC is one of 88 Research I universities with approximately 25,000 students and one of the youngest among the universities ranked in the top 50 for federal research expenditure. We are also in the top 35 of chemistry departments in Ph.D. production (17 PhDs in 2000-01). Our faculty members are also very serious about undergraduate education. UIC recently became the nation’s 5th largest producer of bachelor’s degrees in chemistry. Two of UIC undergraduate students were recently selected to USA Today’s All-USA College 1st Academic Team; only Yale Univ. exceeds the number. It means that UIC and UIC Chemistry Department can provide you with ideal research environments as well as strong undergraduate education. Among many prestigious NSF REU programs, there are only handful programs involving international components in chemistry. This program was made possible by our faculty’s strong connections with Japanese universities.

Q4. What is the quality of research in Japan in the field of chemistry?

Top universities in Japan usually accommodate internationally recognized chemists in many fields. The table below shows most cited research institutions in Chemistry. In research papers, researchers usually cite papers by other researcher. Typically, more influential institutions are cited more often and thus, the number of citations gives a measure of quality of the research institutes. As indicated below, US (blue) and Japanese (red) universities share the top 4, which include one of our partner institutions, Kyoto University. Other partner institutions are also internationally well recognized; our partners are all renowned scientists who are often invited to international conferences.

Chemistry: World's Most-Cited Institutions in 1991-2001 (* Based on ISI Research index)

Rank*	Institution	Number of papers	Citations
1	UC, Berkeley	3,846	57,039
2	Kyoto Univ.	7,215	56,981
3	Univ. of Tokyo	6,781	56,860
4	Univ. of Texas	4,052	50,919
5	Univ. of Cambridge	4,287	48,634