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Timeline and Events

Fellowship Guidelines

Learning Resources

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Previous Nebula Cohorts

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Applications for Fall 2026 are now closed. 

Follow the Nebula Fellowship on LinkedIn for updates on future opportunities. 

Fellowship Requirements:

• Be a UMD engineering undergraduate student or a new transfer student accepted into an engineering program with an anticipated graduation date of 2028 or sooner.

• Have the ability to work flexible hours/location on campus.

• Meet weekly with a graduate student/postdoctoral research supervisor for progress review of your research project.

• Give a presentation at the closing meeting of the Nebula program.

• Students must apply each semester for consideration, even if they have applied previously.

• Applications will only be accepted through google form. 

• Application materials that can be prepared ahead of time include: 

(1) Your prior data analysis and/or research experience (< 250 words);

(2) A list of the programming and/or data analysis tools that you have used and how experienced you would rate yourself (e.g., MATLAB, Python, R, Stata);

(3) A single paragraph describing your expectations for this program;

(4) Your resume.

Please see the Fellowship Guidelines for more details about the program.

Fall 2026 Application Timeline:

Nebula Undergraduate Researchers will be selected and matched with research labs in the Clark School of Engineering according to the following process:

• Applications are due by May 29, 2026.

• 1st round interviews (5 minutes long) will take place in early June over video conference call. 

• Nebula Supervisors of hosting labs will review applications and contact prospective undergraduates for 2nd round interviews. Please be aware available fellowship positions are contingent on host labs who are volunteering access to their resources and time. 

• On June 26, the Associate Dean for Research Office will announce which undergraduate applicants have been chosen by the host labs. Applicants may choose to accept this opportunity or decline, in which case the lab's next choice of applicant will be contacted.

• The fellowship will begin on September, 8 2026 and ends on December 8, 2026.

Questions? Contact Dr. Alexandra Brozena (abrozena@umd.edu) 

Timeline

At the end of the 12-week Fellowship, Nebula Undergraduates are encouraged to continue their research projects at their host lab through other mechanisms (e.g., research for credit hours, volunteering, or grant-sponsored positions). Click here for more information about undergraduate research programs at the University of Maryland. 

Fellowship Guidelines

Each Nebula Undergraduate Researcher will be paired with a Nebula Supervisor (a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher) who will provide training and guidance on their data analytics project. Nebula Undergraduates should be present in the lab and dedicated to their project to fully reap the benefits of this learning experience. Other expectations include:

1) Nebula Undergraduate Researchers and Supervisors must attend the Nebula Fellowship kickoff meeting to discuss program logistics, requirements, and goals. During this meeting, they will jointly complete a Project Commitment form to establish clear expectations of both parties for the project period. 

2) Undergraduate Researchers are expected to work ~10 hours per week (split between 2-3 days) on their data analytics project. They should conduct this work in-person or remotely as agreed upon with their Supervisor . 

3) Undergraduate Researchers should coordinate with their Supervisor to ensure both parties are present in the lab at approximately the same time so that Supervisors are available to provide training, answer questions, and provide feedback and direction as needed.

4) Undergraduate Researchers and Supervisors should have regular weekly meetings to set assignments with clear deliverables and deadlines.

5) Undergraduate Researchers must complete all appropriate lab safety training.

6) Data analysis guides are available on the Learning Resources page to support Nebula Undergraduate Researchers in their training. 

7) Undergraduate Researchers must track and submit their biweekly work hour logs through Workday.

8) Undergraduate Researchers must give a final presentation of their data analytics project to the cohort. Supervisors should provide guidance and feedback. Top presentations will be awarded at the final meeting. 

9) Undergraduate Researchers and Supervisors are asked to respond to periodic surveys to give feedback on the Nebula program.

10) Undergraduate Researchers and Supervisors are expected to communicate with Nebula program coordinators via email. Please check email daily and respond promptly to requests (within 24 hours). 

Suggested Best Practices for Nebula Undergraduates and Supervisors: 

• Meet at the beginning of each week to plan activities.

• Meet at the end of each week to review what was accomplished.

• Create and maintain a shared google document to track and log weekly progress.

• Remain flexible, but set a weekly schedule.

• Communication is very important to set expectations for any given week. 

• Nebula Undergraduate Researchers and Supervisors should agree on a communication method (e.g., email, Slack, WhatsApp, etc.) and appropriate response times.

If any problems are encountered during the fellowship, Nebula Undergraduate Researchers and Supervisors can contact Dr. Alexandra Brozena (abrozena@umd.edu) for additional guidance. 

Learning resources

Data Analysis Basics:

Foundations of Data Analysis:

Basics of Data Analysis 

basics of statistics

Understanding data

General introduction to R, Python & SQL and choosing right tool for your data

Data Collection & Storage

Data Collection Methods in general

Data Collection in Research Projects

Data collection Methodologies

Data Cleaning and Preparation:

Basics of Data Cleaning

Data Cleaning using Python

Data cleaning using R

Analyzing the Data / Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)

Understanding EDA

Steps to follow for EDA

Data Interpreting / Statistical Analysis & Modeling:

What is Statistical Modeling

Predectice Analytics

Data Visualization and Communication

Basics of Data Visualization

Tool Specific Learning Resources:

R:

Hands-on Programming with R

Basics of R for Data Analysis

Hands on Exercise

R for Data Science

Data Mining Using R

Python:

Basics of Python

Data Analysis using Python

Python library functions for Data Science

Image Processing using Python

Python for building Predictive Models

MATLAB:

MATLAB Essential Training

MATLAB Training

Excel:

Data analysis using excel

Statistical analysis using Excel

Excel basis for data analysis (Coursera)

Introduction to data analysis using excel (Coursera)

Linux

Basics of Linux command Lines

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

We encourage Nebula Undergraduate Researchers and applicants to continue their research experiences through the variety of programs and opportunities available at UMD:

Undergraduate Research Programs at UMD

Nebula Research Data Fellowship 

Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR)

ForagerOne - OUR’s tool for connecting undergraduates to research opportunities on campus

MTech ASPIRE - A Scholar's Program for Industry-Oriented Research in Engineering

Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP)

Training and Research Experiences in Nonlinear Dynamics (TREND) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)

Undergraduate Research Program in IREAP

Immersive Research Internship Experience (IRIE) 

Student-Proposed Innovation & Research Experience (SPIRE)

Research for Intelligence & Security Challenges (RISC) Initiative internship program 

Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program

Undergraduate Research Immersion Program (URIP) 

Independent Research Study for Credit Hours

Research for credit is individually managed at the department level. Reach out to the Department Director of Student Affairs/Undergraduate Studies for more information or talk to your advisor about how to earn credit hours for research.

Electrical and Computational Engineering (ENEE488/499/499L)

Bioengineering

Aerospace

Fire Protection

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CHBE468)

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Nebula Cohorts