International Research Experience: Bioinspired Autonomy in Natural Environments

Fellowships are available in a new NSF-sponsored program on international research experiences for students (IRES) in Bioinspired Autonomy in Natural Environments. Participating students will study autonomous mobility (sensing, actuation, and control of flying/gliding rainforest animals in the rainforests of Borneo during the summer of 2021. The research will be conducted at 3 partner universities in SE/E Asia: the National University of Singapore (NUS), KAIST in S. Korea, and the University of Brunei (UBD) on the Island of Borneo. Students will participate in an orientation week at Virginia Tech and after that head to either Singapore or South Korea to work with an engineering mentor on their research setup. After that, they will travel on to Borneo, where they will work with a biodiversity mentor to study the animals. Finally, they will return to the US via Singapore or Korea to get advice on how to analyze the data they have obtained. The total duration of the summer program is 13 weeks. Participants will receive a $5,000 fellowship and have all their cost covered. Participation in a project workshop in the US in the fall will also be covered. All participants must be graduate students and US citizens or legal permanent residents.