DOE/SULI Argonne Internship Housing

[mtsolmn]

Hi PhysicsForums,

I have a question for former students who have participated in internships at Argonne National Lab. I am lucky enough to have received an offer to intern for Spring 2020 and will be starting in January, with the possibility of staying on to continue work throughout the summer.

I was wondering if anyone who has knowledge with the program at Argonne could tell me about the housing and their experience with it, as the information is rather scarce and hard to come by. The information I received states that Argonne maintains housing for student use, and the campus map (included pdf below) shows "Student Housing," in the 600 Area. However, I cannot find any information on this student housing and the packet of information I received with my offer goes on to describe the "Guest House" (building 460) and seems to imply that this is actually where the housing is for students. It says that there are 4-bedroom suites available for students, with a combined kitchenette/living room and 2 baths for 8 students per suite. Can anyone with experience confirm this?

In addition, can anyone provide information about what they do for meals? The information packet lists a fridge, microwave, and toaster, but no stove or oven. This would make it quite hard to prepare meals for lunch and (more importantly) to cook dinner. Do students eat all their meals out, or do they cook? I was under the impression that meals are not provided and as I will be at Argonne for 4-7 months, this would be a huge expense if I have to eat out all the time because there is no stove/oven for me to prepare meals. As part of my research, I will also be working at a lab at UChicago weekly and will be having some late working days as a result, for which I would not make if back in time before the on-site catering closes (I am aware their are cafeterias, and a few restaurants on the facility).

Any information about Argonne from past students or members of the community would be greatly appreciated as I work out the logistics of my post there! Thank you for any help the community can provide.

 

[WWGD]

I think @ZapperZ is from the general area? I think @gleem may know it too?

 

[ZapperZ]

There are student housing on site at Argonne. Most summer interns that work there stay at the student housing. I am not sure if there are kitchens in the student housing (I'm guessing there might be, but don't quote me on this since it has been years since I've visited that area). Most students usually either eat at the cafeteria, or they make trips to the supermarket and buy stuff to make sandwiches, etc. When I had my interns, I usually offer to take them to the grocery store if they needed supplies, since most of them don't have wheels. Off--site facilities are a bit far (but not as far as if you're at Brookhaven).

As for the type of program, it depends on who picks you. Usually the staff that will participate in the SULI program gets a list of students, their info, and letters of recommendations. Each one of us will then make our selection.

Zz.

 

[WWGD]

@mtsolmn ,

Can't you take a cheap flight to Chicago or nearby arriving early in the morning and stay there , return 1-2 days later, explore Argonne for that time? Maybe if you're not too far away, you can drive in?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Can't you take a cheap flight to Chicago

Or, if he has a smart phone, some of them have this feature called "telephony". He could call the person who sent him the packet and ask. Cheaper than a flight, providing his phone has this feature.

 

[WWGD]

Or, if he has a smart phone, some of them have this feature called "telephony". He could call the person who sent him the packet and ask. Cheaper than a flight, providing his phone has this feature.

A "little" cheaper and _much_ more convenient. :).

 

[ZapperZ]

@mtsolmn ,

Can't you take a cheap flight to Chicago or nearby arriving early in the morning and stay there , return 1-2 days later, explore Argonne for that time? Maybe if you're not too far away, you can drive in?

One needs a gate pass to get into Argonne's grounds, so you can't just show up and explore. Someone has to authorize a gate pass for you.

Zz.

 

[mtsolmn]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the responses. I have been in touch with both my supervisor and the HR department who has been the liaison with all these arrangements.

My supervisor himself (who I have been in talks with since the summer about our research interests) is uncertain on many of these aspects, as the students he hosts are usually on separate arrangements; this is the first time he has hosted a student through the SULI program so the housing situation is unknown to him.

I have had multiple conversations with the HR liaison to try to get answers on these questions, but have been having trouble getting straight answers. Posting on the forum was a sort of last resort of me, as I'd seen many students talk about their applications from previous years, so was looking if any of those former participants where still active on the forum and could provide insight.

 

[sysprog]

You seem to be contemplating traveling in the evening from the Hyde Park Area out I-55 to Argonne -- off Cass Ave at the forest preserve just outside of Darien. Please understand that as a practical matter, you can't do that without a car. Assuming you have a car, you can go to the grocery before returning to Argonne -- Whole Foods is open until 10:00 PM, and Open Produce is open until 2:00 AM.

The student housing at Argonne is clean and modern, and is free for SULI participants -- here's a link to a page with some overview information: https://www.anl.gov/education/science-undergraduate-laboratory-internship -- Offsite housing, e.g. in Darien, is prohibitively expensive (over $1k/mo.) compared to the onsite free housing.

As far as I know, there are still no full-scale cooking facilities there for student use, nor will there ever be. I think it's considered to be part of the overall extreme concern for safety at Argonne. Hazard minimization is necessarily a big part of what goes on there.

 

[DEvens]

When I was in university, if I had been given such an opportunity, meals would not be in my top-ten worries. I'd have been happy to look for lost peanuts down the back of sofa cushions. Fridge and a microwave and you're concerned that cooking will be difficult? When I was writing my thesis I barely had time to microwave stuff. Pretty happy if I had time for a shower every day.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I'd have been happy to look for lost peanuts down the back of sofa cushions.

Yum!

 

[mtsolmn]

@sysprog yes, that is exactly what I am contemplating, and it is precisely this fact that one needs a car to get around the area that I am asking these questions, as I do not currently have my own car. If I was only going to be working at Argonne, then it would be a simple choice to stay at the student housing and figure out the rest of my logistics from there.

However, because I need to be commuting between these two facilities the situation is complicated. As I am aware, there is limited transport to and from the facility, and local housing is very expensive. There is a private shuttle that runs directly from Argonne to Hyde Park; however, I have been informed from staff that I am not allowed to use this shuttle for the purposes of my commute as it is reserved for irregular trips and special events. Further my communications and investigation, it seems infeasible for me to make it from student housing at argonne to hyde park via public transport, so I have been trying to figure out what is the best of two options, if I can even afford either.
1: I find housing somewhere such as Westmont, where I can take the train (into the city and get to Hyde park) or take the bus (to Argonne) as needed.
2: I stay at the student housing and find a short-term lease/rental/etc on a car so that I can drive between Argonne and Hyde Park.

I am on an extremely tight budget, and with the additional of my dietary requirements, I have to carefully budget my grocery expenses as they do affect the total cost analysis of what I can afford, hence my question on cooking facilities at the student housing. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in the research at these facilities and am very much looking forward to starting. I am just trying to plan in advance to make the most of my time and follow the five P's to prevent poor performance.

Thank you again. I think I have gathered everything I can from the forum, so no need for further responses.

 

[ZapperZ]

I don't quite understand your situation. Do you have your SULI internship with Argonne, or with UofC?

If it is with Argonne, then I do not understand why there is a need for you to also do your research work at the UofC campus. If it is with UofC, then you should be there, unless all the experimental work associated with the faculty member in question is at the Argonne site.

It is unreasonable to expect a summer intern to go back and forth between Argonne and UofC campus. It is not easy and it is quite a distance, and we haven't even mention about the traffic issue. If you really have to do this, your supervisor should be the one who make such an arrangement. Have you asked him/her?

There used to be a "campus bus" between UofC and Argonne, since there were UofC graduate students doing research work at Argonne, and they all were staying on the UofC campus. You misunderstood the purpose here. You are not "commuting to work", i.e. you are not an employee living in the city, and going to Argonne to work. So that rule does not apply to you. I'm sure if you asked your supervisor, he/she will probably tell you to ride the shuttle. But it has a very limited schedule and you need to have an understanding with your supervisor that you can only arrive and leave at certain times. Otherwise, you'll be stranded, and the UofC campus is not a place you want to get caught being all by yourself at night.

Zz.

 

[sysprog]

I agree with @ZapperZ on this -- if you do get stranded on campus at night you should either stay indoors in your work area or call the UC Police (123 from a campus phone; 773.702.8181 from your cell phone) and state your predicament. As for traffic, I-55 is usually not too bad, and Lake Shore Drive, though it's slow during peak hours, is only about 1/5 of the appx. 25-mi. distance of the trip. According to https://today.anl.gov/2017/02/argonne-uchicago-shuttle-bus-new-service-provider-new-look/ the shuttle bus contact person as of 02-28-2017 was Tracy Lozano (FMS) at tlozano@anl.gov or ext. 2-9625.