Since 2013, the University of Michigan has hosted a semester-long research program for undergraduate students at CERN. The students are selected from a diverse mix of small and large universities across the USA and are embedded in active experiments at the laboratory. The program is modelled on the successful Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, which brings 15 students each year to participate in the CERN Summer Student Program, but addresses large demand for additional opportunities during the academic year. CERN mentors are selected due to their leadership skills and their ability to educate and inspire the students. Projects cover a wide range of activities from detector R&D to software development, physics analysis and theoretical methodology, touching nearly all aspects of the research program at CERN.

Each semester, six students, selected from diverse backgrounds, spend three months working at the laboratory. They live in apartments in neighbouring St. Genis Pouilly, and enjoy periodic excursions to cultural centres around Europe. Funding, which covers travel, per diem and stipend, comes from the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, the University of Michigan Department of Physics, and most recently from the United States Mission in Geneva. We present the growing success of the program, its strategic interest to the US, and describe current efforts to expand and improve its diverse reach to all students across the country.