Along with Professors Jarrod French (Hormel Institute of the University of Minnesota) and Andrew Torelli (Ithaca College), Dr. Hicks is a part of the Molecular Interactions Virtual Research Experience for Undergraduates (MIV-REU) program. MIV-REU is a completely online program that is targeted at students who would benefit from the additional flexibility afforded by a virtual research experience.

We piloted the program during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in summer 2020. Since summer 2021, this program has been generously funded by the National Science Foundation. This is the first fully online REU program funded by the NSF chemistry division. For more details see: https://mivreu.com/