summer research programs undergraduates

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Skip to content

• Research Opportunities
• Summer Opportunities

Summer research opportunity programs are designed to introduce undergraduates to leading scholars at the nation’s top research institutions.

Participating undergraduates are engaged in graduate level research with faculty guidance over an eight- to- ten-week period in the summer. Funding is often provided. Applications are typically due in early January.

Cornell Programs

• Cornell Cooperative Extension Summer Internships
• Cornell Agri-Tech Summer Research Scholars Program
• College of Arts and Sciences Nexus Scholars Program
• Bowers CIS Undergraduate Research Experience (BURE)
• Cornell Center for Materials Research
• College of Engineering Student Grant Program
• Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source
• Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE)
• Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility Research Experience for Undergraduates (CNF REU) Program
• Food Science Summer Scholars Program
• Molecular Biology and Genetics will consider Leadership Alliance applicants.
• Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Summer Research Program
• Mathematics REU
• Microbial Friends and Foes
• Molecular Biology and Genetics Research Experience for Undergraduates
• National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center Summer Student Program
• Nexus Scholars Program in Arts & Sciences
• Plant Genome Research Summer Internship
• Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials Research Experience for Undergraduates (PARADIM REU) Program
• REU Program in Astrophysics and Planetary Science
• Shoals Marine Lab in Maine
• Information on Summer Internships with aerospace companies in New York State
• Summer Mathematics Institute

National and International Programs

• American Economic Association Summer Program (Pre-graduate study and research)
• Amgen Scholars Program
• REU Programs in Engineering
• Graduate Horizons (A four day intensive course for Native American, Native Alaskan and Native Hawaiian students)
• Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers (for prospective grad students interested in humanities, social sciences, and education)
• Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program (includes programs funded by the Mellon-Mays Foundation for students in the humanites)
• Pathways to Science (Use this website to search for programs in STEM, including undergraduate summer research opportunities as well as graduate fellowships and post-doctoral positions)
• Ralph Bunche Institute
• Summer Internships through Space Grant for prospective grad students in government and political science

Additional Resources

• The Cornell Graduate School lists summer research opportunities for undergraduates
• The Office of Undergraduate Biology lists summer research opportunities on their website
• The National Science Foundation lists summer research opportunities for undergraduates
• Experience.cornell.edu helps Cornell students find research opportunities
• Cross-Institutional Initiatives
• Weill Medical Opportunities

• Recommendations
• Notifications
• My Favorites

Favorites, recommendations, and notifications are only available for UCLA Graduate Students at this time.

Access features exclusively for UCLA students and staff.

As a student, you can:

• Add funding awards to your favorites list
• Get notified of upcoming deadlines and events
• Receive personalized recommendations for funding awards

 We're Sorry

You've signed in with a UCLA undergraduate student account.

UCLA Graduate Programs

Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research (SPUR)

Program purpose.

The UCLA Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) offer upper division undergraduate students with outstanding academic potential the opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors on research projects.  The programs are designed for students who wish to learn more about the graduate school experience and possibly pursue an academic career in teaching and research.  Opportunities are available in virtually all academic fields (e.g., arts, humanities, social sciences, life sciences, health sciences, physical sciences, etc.).

Student participants in many SPUR programs will work with a faculty mentor with special expertise and interests matched, as closely as possible, to the student’s research interests and career goals. Most, but not all, SPUR programs pair students with a faculty mentor.  Students will either assist the faculty member in an ongoing research project or work collaboratively with the mentor in designing a new project of mutual interest.

Most SPUR programs feature seminars on:

• writing and research skills
• strategies for enhancing success in applying to graduate school
• graduate school funding opportunities
• opportunities for informal discussion with UCLA graduate students
• academic career opportunities
• cultural and educational activities

For further details about specific programs, please refer to the  UCLA Summer Programs for Undergraduate and Graduate Research Booklet .

As a condition of acceptance into the program, program participants will be asked after their departure to update information on their educational and career activities. This tracking is done solely to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. It is critical that we be able to conduct this long-term evaluation in order to maintain continuing funding for the programs. The information collected remains strictly confidential.

Please check with your respective summer program of interest about whether it will be conducted remotely or in-person.

2024 Program Dates

Most programs run eight weeks, from June 2024 to August 2024. Some programs in the sciences, technological, engineering and mathematics fields run 10 weeks, from June 2024 to September 2024.  One program in the humanities and social sciences runs six weeks, from June 2024 to August 2024.

The tentative dates for SPUR 2024 are June 23 to August 17 (8-week programs) and June 23 to August 30 (10-week programs).

All application materials and supporting documents must be  received by March 31, 2024 unless otherwise stated in the program description.  Preference will be given to applications that are completed by the program’s deadline. Notification of decisions will be made by the end of May 2024.  Please contact the individual program coordinators for questions regarding the application and application deadline.

Programs interested in being added to the those included in SPUR (or those on hiatus and seeking to resume inclusion) must reach out to RaShawna Williams, SPUR Program Representative, at  [email protected]  by March 31, 2024. We do our best to include all requests, but cannot guarantee participation.

Participating Programs

There are multiple programs participating with UCLA SPUR. Below are brief summaries of each program. The summaries include the specific program components, eligibility requirements and length of the summer program. Please view the  chart of participating summer programs at UCLA  for a quick reference of programs and their related academic fields.

Please click on the links to learn about each program. You will be able to apply to a maximum of two (first choice and second choice) in our online application.

Amgen Scholars Program

Application Deadline: February 1, 2024

The Amgen Scholars Program is a national program to increase learning and networking opportunities for students committed to pursuing a career in science or engineering. Students interested in summer research in any area of biomedical science, chemistry, bioengineering or chemical engineering are encouraged to apply. Students will be paired with a UCLA faculty mentor if the student does not already have one. Program typically includes stipend; housing; meals; 2-day biotechnology in Los Angeles; luncheons with faculty; workshops; seminars and poster presentations.

• For undergraduates enrolled in four-year colleges and universities in the U.S., Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.
• For sophomores (with 4 quarters or 3 semesters of college experience), juniors and non-graduating seniors (who are returning in the fall to continue their undergraduate experience).
• Must have a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.2 or above.
• Must be interested in pursuing a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D.
• 10 weeks (all participants must be able to attend the program for its entire duration. Be sure to check your fall term start date before applying).
• If you have questions, please contact Kim Mendez at [email protected].

Bioscience Scholars Program

Application Deadline: TBD

The Bioscience Scholars Program (formerly known as SPUR LABS) provides a rigorous eight or ten-week research training experience for undergraduates with interests in a broad range of bioscience disciplines– —from molecules to organisms and from basic to translational science. Exceptional research training, integrated with professional development activities, will prepare students to succeed in leading Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. programs. The program aims to contribute to diversity, inclusion, and the elimination of barriers to participation in bioscience research careers and is designed for students participating in honors research programs that foster transition to doctoral programs (e.g., Minority Access to Research Careers, MARC). Participants receive a stipend & food allowance of $4,000 for 8 weeks or $5,000 for 10 weeks. Participants will be matched with an appropriate faculty member based on research interests. There are over 400 faculty mentors in ten bioscience research areas.

A complete application includes the submission of the online application form as well as all supplementary materials, including two letters of recommendation and a personal statement that describes your bioscience research interests and any research experience, including how these interests and experiences have shaped your personal and professional goals, and how Bioscience Scholars Program would help you meet these goals. See Bioscience Scholars Program website for full details of supplementary application materials.

Selection criteria: academic preparation and achievement; leadership potential; relevance of research interests and experience; potential for the program to help the applicant achieve his/her career goals; and potential to contribute to the diversity and excellence of the bioscience research enterprise.

• U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or AB 540
• Prior to beginning the program, completion of at least two years of undergraduate study
• Participants may not be UCLA students; UCLA students should consider other summer research opportunities such as CARE SEM or Amgen Scholars
• Minimum cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0
• Intention to pursue a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. in a bioscience field and not admitted or enrolled in a graduate program (M.S. or Ph.D.) at the time the program begins

For additional information see Bioscience Scholars Program website or contact the Program Directors, Drs. Gregory Payne and Diana Azurdia at [email protected] .

B.I.G. Summer (Bruins In Genomics) 8-week Summer Research Program for Masters and Undergraduate Students

Application Deadline: March 1, 2024

Bruins-in-Genomics (B.I.G. Summer) is an 8-week full-time immersion program for undergraduates interested in learning how to read and analyze genes and genomes. Through this program students will have the opportunity to experience graduate-level coursework, and learn the latest cutting-edge research, tools and methods used by leading scientists to solve real-world problems.

Applicants must be:

• A U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or F-1 visa holder
• Be a rising junior or senior
• have a GPA of 3.0 or higher
• have some familiarity with at least one programming language (e.g. python, pearl, R, Java, MAT-LAB, C++, etc.); preferably have taken bioinformatics or biostatistics courses

Students interested in applying should only do so here.

For more information:

Email: [email protected]

Brain Research Institute Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (BRI-SURE)

The UCLA Brain Research Institute (BRI) sponsors a summer undergraduate research experience (BRI-SURE) pathway program for students currently participating in the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) and other honors research programs whose goal is to increase diversity. This program solicits applications from students from universities and colleges across the nation. BRI-SURE Pathway is an 8-week, intensive summer research-training program for exceptional students interested in pursuing research careers in Neuroscience or Physiology. The program is designed to provide a rigorous, in-depth research experience to prepare participants for top-quality Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. graduate programs. The BRI-SURE residential program offers a summer stipend. The BRI-SURE non-residential program does not offer a summer stipend. Although we anticipate an on-campus summer experience, we may have to resort to an online-only Summer Research Experience for 2022.

• Applicants must be in good academic standing with a minimum GPA of 3.0;
• Applicants must submit the following: 1) UCLA SPUR Online application form, 2) Academic transcript, 3) Personal statement (limit to 1000 words) that describes your past, present or future leadership in and commitment to research and diversity in science, 4) Summary of prior research, if any (limit to 1000 words), 5) Two letters of recommendation from science faculty, and 6) Paragraph (500 words or less) summarizing your interest in neuroscience or physiology;
• In a separate file, applicants need to rank in order of preference, the top three research training areas: Neuroendocrinology, Sex Differences, and Reproduction; Neural Repair; Neural Microcircuits; Neurobehavioral Genetics; Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology; or Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology;
• Submit additional application materials directly to [email protected]

To learn more about how to apply to this program, please contact Dr. Gina Poe (Program Director) at [email protected]

California State University (CSU) Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholars Program

Application Deadline: Contact the program representative for your campus’ CSU Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholars Program

This program is restricted to undergraduate and master’s-level students in the California State University Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Program. The Program is designed to increase the pool of potential university faculty by supporting the doctoral aspirations of CSU students who have experienced economic and educational disadvantages. Each of the selected CSU Sally Casanova pre-doctoral scholars works closely during the academic year with a CSU faculty sponsor to develop an overall plan leading ultimately to enrollment in a doctoral program. Each of these plans is tailored to specific goals and educational objectives of the student. The Program places special emphasis on increasing the number of CSU students who enter doctoral programs at one of the University of California institutions. Summer Program includes: stipend, on-campus housing or housing allowance, meal allowance, funds toward roundtrip transportation cost, GRE test preparation, workshops and oral presentations.

• Open to all current CSU Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholars, both graduate and undergraduate.
• 8 week program.
• CSU Scholars complete only the UCLA SPUR online application after they have approval from the UCLA SPUR Coordinator; do not submit supplemental materials.
• To become a CSU Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholar, please contact the program representative on your CSU campus.

Community College Field Biology Alliance

Application Deadline: February 16, 2024

This is an 8-month research internship designed for community college students. Student interns are assigned a graduate and undergraduate research mentor and meet remotely on the first Saturday of each month from May to June to design a field biology-based research project. In July we travel as a group to a remote field station for 7 days to enact the planned intern research projects. The program culminates with student research presentations in December.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Full-time community college student.
• Interest in environmental science, ecology, animal behavior, botany, and similar fields.
• Ability to attend all monthly meetings and field excursion (all expenses covered by the program).

For more information and to apply, please visit the Community College Field Biology Alliance website . If you have any questions, please email them Amanda Robin (Program Director) at [email protected].

Cultivating Interest in Research Careers (CIRC)

Application Deadline: March 18, 2024

The Cultivating Interest in Research Careers (CIRC) program is a partnership between University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU). The program starts with a ten-week summer research program at UCLA, AND extends into a year-long continuum. The goal of CIRC is to provide community college students underrepresented​ in medicine and science (UIMS), such as African American, Latinx, Native American, Pacific​ Islander, disabled and socioeconomically disadvantaged students, with hands-on exposure and training in scientific research aligned with the scientific mission of the NHLBI.

The CIRC program will provide these community college students with educational workshops, near-peer mentoring, and skills to help them transfer to a 4-year college or university and ultimately be prepared to pursue a health profession or scientific research career.

• A current high school senior who has taken at least a semester of community college classes and plans on transferring to a community college in the Fall,
• OR Current community college student attending a community college in Los Angeles County (Must have at least a year of classes to complete before transferring to a four-year college or university) attending a community college in Los Angeles County
• Qualify as a student from an underrepresented group as defined by either A OR B:

A) Identify as a member of one of the following racial/ethnic groups:

• Black or African American
• Hispanic or Latinx
• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

B) Have a disadvantaged family background, defined as either 1 OR 2 below :

• having been or currently being homeless, were or currently are in the foster care system, were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years, have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (e.g., “First-Generation”),
• were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants, received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children coming from an educational environment such as that found in certain rural or inner-city environments that has demonstrably and directly inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to develop and participate in a research career.

C) US citizen or permanent resident

D) Have taken at least one college course in the general domains listed below and have composite grade point average of 3.2 or above in this coursework:

• Oral Communication
• Written Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning.
• Must be able to attend the entire duration of the program.

To learn more information please visit the program website or email Humberto Sanchez, BA, Program manager CDU, [email protected] .

The Diversity Project

The Diversity Project is a 10-week* research-intensive summer program funded by the UC-HBCU initiative and the National Science Foundation focused on increasing participation of underrepresented minority students in marine and evolutionary biology. Through fieldwork and laboratory training, students will learn an integrative approach towards the study of the ecology and biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems at the Gump South Pacific Research Station on the island of Mo’orea, French Polynesia.  TDP complements student-centered fieldwork and laboratory research with mentoring on career development, ranging from successfully applying to graduate school to choosing a career. TDP faculty also work with students to publish their research and to present their work at national and international meetings. Some funding dedicated to students from Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). *Note: This year’s program begins Monday, June 5, 2023.

Requirements:

• Current sophomore or junior standing, or non-graduating seniors
• Great attitude and willingness to learn SCUBA diving

To learn more information please see program website .  To request The Diversity Project application, please contact Program Director, Dr. Paul Barber ( [email protected] ).

HBCU: Evolutionary Medicine – Pathways to PhDs

The HBCU: Evolutionary Medicine-Pathways to PhDs program is open to undergraduate juniors and seniors from HBCUs.  Participants will work on Evolutionary Medicine topics at UCLA.  Evolutionary Medicine is the study of how evolutionary and ecological principles affect medicine and medical applications, and how medical and clinical problems generate new research questions and ideas in evolution.  Evolutionary medicine is fast emerging as an important new field in the biomedical sciences.  Representing an interdisciplinary subject that combines ecology and evolutionary biology, anthropology, psychology, zoology, systems biology and microbiology with medicine, the field of evolutionary medicine has the potential to transform the way biomedical researches and doctors examine medical questions, conduct biomedical research, and treat patience.  Summer interns will work closely with a principal investigator (PI) from UCLA’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department and a PI from the David Geffen School of Medicine.  Application requirements:

• Undergraduate juniors and seniors from HBCUs to work on Evolutionary Medicine topics at UCLA.
• Send all application materials to Dr. Pamela Yeh at [email protected]

Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) U*STAR Program

The Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) U*STAR Program is a two-year, NIH-funded, undergraduate honors program that seeks to increase the number of biomedical scientists from diverse backgrounds that significantly impact health-related research. The program specifically seeks to strengthen the skills and research training of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. This program is appropriate for students interested in pursuing a PhD or dual PhD degree upon completion of their baccalaureate degree.

The MARC Program offers research training, financial support, mentoring, networking opportunities and academic preparation for strong and motivated students. The UCLA MARC program is one of the longest-standing MARC programs at Research I universities across the nation, and graduates from the program have embarked on highly successful careers.

• 3.2 GPA at the time of application; borderline GPAs also encouraged to apply
• Junior or senior standing (completed 90 or more units) by the time that the student will begin as a MARC trainee, AND have two years remaining at UCLA at the start of the program
• Citizen or permanent resident of the United States

To learn more about eligibility, program requirements, and scholarship/funding please refer to the MARC website . Additionally, the online application and other details about the application process will be hosted on the MARC website . For any additional questions, please contact Larone Ellison ( [email protected] ).

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Writing and Research Training Program

Application deadline: March 15, 2024

*Deadline may be extended as needed.

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Writing and Research Training Program at UCLA is an intensive writing and research program for 20 current Mellon Mays Fellows from participating Mellon Mays colleges and universities. Fellows participate in a rigorous scholarly writing and research methodology course, individual and group mentoring sessions, workshops, events, and a final research colloquium. The program also includes on-campus housing and a meal allowance.

• Applicants must be current Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows at their colleges or universities
• For rising juniors (first-year MMUF students) or seniors (second-year MMUF students)
• Please note that students will NOT be paired directly with a faculty mentor but will take an intensive writing and research course.  Students will NOT take a GRE preparation course as part of the program.
• Admission to the program is rolling; applicants are advised to apply early due to limited space.  Applications will be considered after the deadline only if space is available.
• A complete application includes the submission of the online application form, as well as a brief research statement, a description of summer research goals, and a statement from the student’s MMUF coordinator. See the program website for full details of supplementary application materials.

To learn more about this program, please visit the program website or contact the Undergraduate Research Center– Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at [email protected] .

Summer Training for Excellence in Education Research (STEER)

Application Deadline:  TBD

The Summer Training for Excellence in Education Research (STEER) program has been a successful staple of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE&IS) at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Through participation in the program, Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students and faculty, and GSE&IS faculty share in a research apprenticeship experience that has contributed to STEER students’ admittance to some of our nation’s finest graduate programs including the UC system. In the proposed effort, our aims are to continue to: (1) Develop relationships between the UCs and HBCUs, (2) Prepare students for UC graduate application, and (3) Prepare and mentor a cohort of tremendously talented students to conduct educational research in competitive UC programs and beyond.

All applicants must refer to the STEER website for the most up-to-date information regarding the application process.  Additionally, the online application and other details about the application process will be hosted on the STEER website.

• Eligibility is extended to upperclassmen and recent undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Open to all disciplines, however training will be in Education research.  Applicants are expected to be seriously interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Education.
• Major GPA of 3.0

For additional information, see STEER program website or contact the Program Coordinator, Brande M.Otis, at [email protected] .  The Program Co-Directors are Dr. Robert Cooper and Dr. Kimberley Gomez.

University of California Leadership Excellence through Advanced Degrees (UC LEADS) 2nd Summer

This program is restricted to current University of California undergraduate students in the UC system-wide UC LEADS Program. In line with the goals of the two-year program, the 2nd summer research program seeks to develop the students by providing research and educational experiences to further prepare them to assume positions of leadership in academia, industry, government and public service. UC LEADS students who are considering UCLA for graduate studies/PhD should seriously consider applying to UCLA’s summer program as a way to familiarize themselves with the campus and to network with potential mentors. The UCLA UC LEADS Summer Program includes: GRE test preparation, workshops and seminars, and the opportunity to present summer research findings at the end of summer symposium/poster session.

• Academic Level: Open to 2nd-Summer UC LEADS students (those from other UC campuses who have completed their first year in the program).
• Open to Depts/Disciplines: Open to all departments and disciplines in Science, Engineering & Math.
• It is the UC LEADS scholar’s responsibility to secure a commitment from the UCLA faculty host BEFORE applying to the program. Questions about the process should be addressed to the student’s UC CAMPUS UC LEADS Coordinator.
• UC LEADS Scholars complete only the UCLA SPUR online application after they have summer placement confirmation from the UCLA UC LEADS Coordinator. Scholars do NOT need to submit supplemental materials with their applications.

UCLA-HSI Superior Opportunities for Maximizing Access to Neuroscience (SOMA)

The SOMA-Neuroscience program supports a deeper Hispanic/LatinX participation in neuroscience, and ultimately the pursuit of a neuroscience doctoral degree. Each summer, we will select and invite a small group of interested students (3-7 students annually) from our partner Hispanic-Serving Institutions, or HSIs, for an 8-week summer immersive, in-person experience at UCLA to do research in a host laboratory. Open to undergraduate students.

The requirements for acceptance into the program include:

• Must be student at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) institution.
• A major in one of the natural sciences, including Psychology
• A minimum GPA of 3.0
• Academic transcript
• Curriculum Vitae
• Two letters of recommendation from science faculty
• Summary of prior research, if any (500 words or less)
• Summary of interest in neuroscience (1000 words or less)

To learn more about this program please visit the website or contact the program director, Dr. Alicia Izquierdo ( [email protected] ) and Larone Ellison ( [email protected] ).

UCLA-HBCU Neuroscience Pathways Program

The UCLA-HBCU Neuroscience Pathways program is open to undergraduate students that attend historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. The goals of this program are: 1) to increase the impact on students and faculty at both HBCU partner institutions and UCLA and, 2) to incentivize quality mentorship of the interns in our UCLA host labs. We will engage in active research and teaching partnerships that accompany students before and beyond the 8-week internship at UCLA.

A group of interested students, selected jointly by the HBCU partner institutions and UCLA will be invited to spend 8 weeks at UCLA doing research in an appropriate host laboratory. Ideally, the research at UCLA will be commensurate with the experience at the HBCU partner institution. We will engage in active research and teaching partnerships that accompany students before and beyond the 8-week internship at UCLA of mentorship in the lab. Interns will be mentored and trained by the faculty members who run the respective labs. Additionally, we will host one “chaperone” HBCU faculty member per year to accompany the student for the first week of the internship- which is intended to foster both scientific collaboration and quality mentoring. To incentivize graduate studies at UCLA for HBCU interns, the BRI will offer a full 5-year stipend annually for at least one student, annually, who applies for and is accepted by the NSIDP. Furthermore, we will conduct outcome studies and publish them in a peer-reviewed journal, similar to other BRI outreach efforts. In short, we will take an innovative and holistic approach by providing not only a summer opportunity but by following the student before and after through online tools.

• 8-week program
• Applicants must submit the following: 1) UCLA SPUR Online application form, 2) letters of intent
• Letters of Intent due by December 14, 2022. Please send to Larone Ellison ( [email protected] ).
• If you will have a delay with any supplemental application material, contact Dr. Ketema Paul or Larone Ellison and inform them of the delay.
• To learn more about this program, please contact Dr. Ketema Paul ( [email protected] ) or Larone Ellison ( [email protected] ).

UCLA Neuroscience Scholars Program (NeuroScholars)

The UCLA Neuroscience Scholars program is a 10-week intensive summer research training experience for exceptional UCLA sophomore and junior undergraduates that are committed to pursuing a graduate degree in neuroscience. Neuroscience Scholars will be paired with a UCLA faculty mentor based on their research interests. Students will conduct discovery research in the laboratories of their faculty mentors. The program also includes: on-campus housing, $5000 stipend, journal clubs, lunches with faculty, career development workshops, seminars, and poster presentations.

• For sophomore and junior undergraduates in Neuroscience, Physiological Sciences, Psychobiology and other neurobiology-related fields.
• Must have a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.2 or above
• Must be able to devote full-time effort over the entire duration of the 10 week program
• Previous research experience is preferred
• Applicants must submit must submit 1) UCLA SPUR online application, 2) personal statement summarizing your neuroscience research interests (limit 1000 words), 3) list of 3-5 neuroscience faculty mentors that you would like to work with, 3) summary of prior research, if any (limit 1000 words), 4) two letters of recommendation from science faculty, 5) resume/CV, 6) academic transcript

To learn more about this program, please contact Program Directors Dr. Jeff Donlea & Dr. Elaine Hsiao;  [email protected]

UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program

Application deadline: January 31, 2o24

*Applications for summer 2024 cohort open November 1, 2024 and close January 31, 2024.

The UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program provides undergraduate students the opportunity to explore the field of public health through hands-on training, structured workshops, group excursions, and leadership and professional development. Located in Los Angeles, the program offers scholars the opportunity to train at UCLA, to explore public health in one of the most diverse counties in the US, and to experience the city’s vibrant culture. We work with community The UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program provides undergraduate students the opportunity to explore the field of public health through hands-on training, structured workshops, group excursions, and leadership and professional development. Located in Los Angeles, the program offers scholars the opportunity to train at UCLA, to explore public health in one of the most diverse counties in the US, and to experience the city’s vibrant culture. We work with community-based organizations, health systems, and government agencies to offer field placement opportunities for scholars that focus on health equity.

• Must be a U.S. citizen, national, or resident (DACA recipients eligible) Must attend an institution in the U.S. or in a US territory.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. Must possess an interest in exploring a career in the field of public health by the start of the program
• Applicants must be: Community college graduates or transfers to four-year institutions OR In a four-year institution and have completed at least two years of undergraduate education (regardless of credit standing) by the start of the program OR Recent college graduates (Fall or Winter 2024 or Spring 2024) who have not enrolled in a graduate program by the start of the program.
• Interest in exploring a career in the field of public health
• Open to all majors/disciplines
• Ability to be present in LA and participate in program activities from June 21 – August 14, 2024
• Willingness to attend social and volunteer events on evenings and occasional weekends
• Willingness to stay engaged with program for alumni tracking, professional development opportunities, maintaining contact with cohort, and participate in recruitment for the 2025 cohort
• Successful submission of all application materials
• There is no GPA requirement

Additional criteria outlined in the application and website. For questions, please contact [email protected] .

Diversity in Vision Science Undergraduate Summer Research Program

Application deadline: April 15, 2024

This research experience is a full-time, 8-week immersive research experience in vision science at the Stein Eye Institute, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). This program is designed to increase the diversity of undergraduates in vision science through dedicated faculty mentorship, hands-on research training/interactive learning, and career development opportunities. The program is open to undergraduate students with disadvantages backgrounds in the Greater Los Angeles Area in 2024.

Students will have the opportunity to learn and work on an original research project in laboratories with research focuses including but not limited to:

1. Understanding of vision and ophthalmology research and their importance in advancing the understanding of the visual pathways, developing novel therapeutic in various eye diseases, including glaucoma, degenerative retinal disorders, and corneal diseases.

2. Understanding the use of various state of art technology in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine in ophthalmology.

Students learn how to be a scientist in weekly lab meetings and will have the opportunity to present their findings at a UCLA scientific poster session as well as at their home institution. Additionally, students will engage in social activities and career development workshops with other summer research students on UCLA campus, thereby expanding their science community and faculty/peer network.

• Express an intention to pursue a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. (or other professional joint degree) in a bioscience field.
• Should not admitted or enrolled in a graduate program (M.S. or Ph.D.) at the time the program begins.
• Minimum cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0. preferred
• Reside in the Los Angeles area.

To apply to the program, please send the following to [email protected] :

• Transcript (unofficial is acceptable)
• Personal statement: up to 1 page providing your interests in vision research and how your participation can add to diversity to vision research.
• Two brief letters of support (Professors can send these directly to [email protected]).

For questions or additional information, please contact [email protected].

For Further Information Contact

Please contact the Program Director of the individual summer program. Contact information for each of the SPUR programs can be found in the program description.

You may also contact the Diversity, Inclusion, and Admissions office at [email protected] .  You may also find program information in the UCLA Summer Programs for Undergraduate and Graduate Research Booklet .

How To Apply

You must submit an Online Application & Support Materials . Please make sure you submit a complete application by sending all pertinent supporting materials via mail or private carrier.

Additional Opportunities

Other Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research at UCLA.

• Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

Albert Einstein College of Medicine  - Bronx, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Augusta University  - Augusta, Ga. Summer Student Training and Research (STAR)

Baylor College of Medicine  - Houston, Texas Summer Medical and Research Training Program (SMART)

Boston University School of Medicine  - Boston, Mass. Summer Training as Research Scholars (STaRS)

Brigham and Women's Hospital (in collaboration with Harvard-affiliated hospitals) - Boston, Mass. Harvard Summer Research Program in Kidney Medicine

Case Western Reserve University  - Cleveland, Ohio Summer Undergraduate Research in Pharmacology

Children's Hospital Research Foundation of Cincinnati  - Cincinnati, Ohio Division of Developmental Biology  Undergraduate Summer Student Program

City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute  -Duarte, Calif. Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy

Committee on Institutional Cooperation  - Champaign, Ill. Summer Research Opportunities Program

Creighton University - Omaha, Neb. Undergraduate Biomedical Research Training Program

Drexel University College of Medicine  - Philadelphia, Penn. Biomedical Graduate Studies-Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Georgia State University, Neuroscience Institute  - Atlanta, Ga. B&B Summer Scholars Program

Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School  - New York, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Gundersen Health System La Crosse, Wisc. Student Summer Research Fellowship

Harvard Medical School  - Boston, Mass. Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP)

Hofstra North Shore/LIJ School of Medicine  - Manhasset, N.Y. Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Student Intern Program  

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine  - Baltimore, Md. Summer Internship Program (SIP)

Keck Graduate Institute  - Claremont, Calif. Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

Louisiana State Health Sciences Center.  Shreveport Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience  - Shreveport, La. Summer Undergraduate Pharmacology Experience in Research Program (SUPER)

Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine   - Chicago, Ill.

• Undergraduate Summer Research Program, Department of Microbiology & Immunology 
• Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics 

MaineHealth Institute for Research - Scarborough, Maine Summer Undergraduate Research Program - MaineHealth Institute for Research

Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Diversity and Inclusion  - Boston, Mass. Summer Research Trainee Program

Mayo Clinic  - Rochester, Minn. Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Medical College of Wisconsin  - Milwaukee, Wisc.

• Summer Program for Undergraduate Research
• Summer Enrichment Programs

Medical University of South Carolina  - Charleston, S.C. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center  - New York, N.Y. Medical Student Summer Fellowship Research Program

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation  - Minneapolis, Minn. Summer Research Internships in Clinical Cardiology

Mount Sinai School of Medicine  - New York, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

New York University School of Medicine  - New York, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine  - Evanston, Ill.

• Summer Research Opportunity Program
• Cancer-Focused Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)
• Pre-Med Undergraduate Intern Program

Ohio State University Medical Center  - Columbus, Ohio SUCCESS Summer Undergraduate Course Creating Excellence in Scientific Study

Oregon Health and Science University  - Portland, Ore. Graduate Studies Program

Penn State University, College of Medicine  - Hershey, Pa.

• SURIP – Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program
• STEP-UP - Short-Term Educational Program for Underrepresented Persons
• SURF – American Heart Association Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Stanford University School of Medicine  - Stanford, Calif. Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP)/Amgen Scholars Stanford CARE Scholars  

Texas A&M University College of Medicine  - Bryan, Texas Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences   - Lubbock, Texas Summer Accelerated Biomedical Research (SABR) Program

Thomas Jefferson University  - Philadelphia, Penn. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Tufts University  - Boston, Mass. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Summer Research Program

University of Alabama at Birmingham  - Birmingham, Ala. Summer Research Programs for Undergraduates

University at Buffalo (SUNY) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences  - Buffalo, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

University of California, Los Angeles  - Los Angeles, Calif. Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research

University of California, San Diego  - La Jolla, Calif. Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program

University of California, San Francisco  - San Francisco, Calif. Summer Research Training Program

University of Chicago  - Chicago. Ill.

• The Leadership Alliance & The University of Chicago Summer Research Early Identification Program
• The Pritzker School of Medicine Experience in Research (PSOMER)

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine  - Cincinnati, Ohio Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center  - Denver, Colo. Graduate Experience for Multicultural Students (GEMS)

University of Connecticut Health Center  - Farmington, Conn. Undergraduate Summer Research

University of Georgia, Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute  - Athens, Ga. Summer Undergraduate Fellows

University of Illinois at Chicago  - Chicago, Ill. Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)  

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine  - Iowa City, Iowa Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

University of Kansas  - Lawrence, Kan. Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

University of Kentucky  - Lexington, Ky. NSF-REU: Summer Program in the Biomedical Sciences

University of Louisville - Ky. Undergraduate Summer Program in Cardiovascular Research for those from Under-Represented or Under-Served Populations

University of Maryland  - Baltimore, Md. Office of Student Research

University of Massachusetts Medical School  - Worcester, Mass. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University  - New Brunswick, N.J. Undergraduate Summer Research

University of Michigan  - Ann Arbor, Mich.

• Frankel Cardiovascular Center Summer Fellowship Program
• UM-SMART Undergrad Summer Program
• Michigan Summer Undergraduate Research Experience: Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases (M-SURE)

University of Michigan Medical School, Rogel Cancer Center - Ann Arbor, MI Cancer Research Internship Program (CaRSIP)

University of Minnesota  - Twin Cities, Minn. Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Programs (LSSURP)

University of Mississippi  - Jackson, Miss. Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

University of Nebraska - Lincoln  - Lincoln, Neb. Undergraduate Summer Research Program

University of Nebraska Medical Center  - Omaha, Neb. Summer Undergraduate Research

University of New Mexico School of Medicine  - Albuquerque, N.M. Undergraduate Pipeline Network Summer Research Program

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center  - Oklahoma City, Okla.

• Native American Center for Health Research Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
• Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
• Stephenson Cancer Center Summer Undergraduate Program

University of Pennsylvania  - Philadelphia, Penn.

• Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP)
• Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine  - Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Premedical Academic Enrichment Program
• MIDAS summer Research Opportunity
• Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities
• Training and Experimentation in Computational Biology

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry  - Rochester, N.Y.

• Strong Children’s Research Center Summer Program
• Summer Scholars Program

University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston  - Houston, Texas Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center  - Smithville, Texas Summer Program in Cancer Research

University of Texas Medical Branch  - Galveston, Texas Neuroscience Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio  - San Antonio, Texas

• GSBS Summer Undergraduate Research Programs
• Greehey CCRI Donald G McEwen, Memorial Summer Undergraduate Research & High School Program

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center  - Dallas, Texas Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

University of Utah  - Salt Lake City, Utah Native American Summer Research Internship (NARI)

University of Virginia School of Medicine  - Charlottesville, Va.

• Minority Health International Research Training Program (MHIRT)
• Summer Research Internship Program

University of Wisconsin  - Madison, Wisc. Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program

Vanderbilt University  - Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy

Virginia Commonwealth University  - Richmond, Va. Summer Research in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health Epidemiology (MIDPH) 

Wake Forest University  - Winston-Salem, N.C.

• Summer Research Opportunities Program
• Wake Forest University Biomedical Engineering REU Summer Program

Washington University  - St. Louis, Mo.

• AMGEN Scholars Program
• Leadership Alliance

Wayne State University School of Medicine  - Detroit, Mich. Summer Research Programs

Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering  - New York, N.Y.

• Gateways to the Laboratory Summer Program
• Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program

West Virginia University - Morgantown, WV

• Biomedical Sciences Summer Research Experience for Underrepresented Students

Yale School of Medicine  - New Haven, Conn.

• NIH-NIDDK/KUH Yale Summer Research Fellowship for Undergraduate Students
• BioMed Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Summer Programs of Affiliate GREAT Group Members

The bylaws of the GREAT Group allow the Steering Committee to appoint individuals from non-AAMC member institutions as affiliate members of the GREAT Group. Individuals from the following programs have been appointed affiliate members:

National Institutes of Health  - Bethesda, Md. Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research

• Medical Education
• Residency & Fellowship
• Research & Technology

• Utility Menu

GA4 tracking code

• CARAT (Opportunities Database)
• URAF Application Instructions
• URAF Calendar

Summer Research

Explore summer research opportunities at harvard through uraf, resources listed here are not exhaustive, but highlight some key residential summer programs and independent funding options to start..

See additional options at the end of this page to expand your search for summer opportunities!

Harvard Summer Undergraduate Research Village (HSURV) Programs

The Research Village is a collection of residential summer research programs for Harvard College students that run for 10 weeks from June through August (summer dates to be confirmed in January 2024). Students conduct research, participate in professional development workshops, program cohort meetings, and program-specific and Village-wide social activities. Students showcase their research achievements in the final week of their summer program through research presentations. Students from the programs of the Research Village live together in the same River House on campus, creating a robust and exciting living, learning, and social community of undergraduate researchers. Students admitted to Research Village programs receive a stipend, free housing, and meals. Programs that comprise the Village are led by URAF and other partnering offices and academic departments at Harvard. Each program has specific application, eligibility and participation requirements and February deadlines .  For application instructions, see each individual program page or this page . Please explore these opportunities thoroughly to find the best option for you! 

• Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE) 
• Summer Program for Undergraduates in Data Science (SPUDS ) - led by Harvard Data Science Initiative
• Summer Undergraduate Research in Global Health (SURGH) Program - led by the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI)
• Summer Humanities and Arts Research Program (SHARP)  
• Building Learning Inquiry for Social Sciences (BLISS) - led by FAS Social Science
• Program for Research in Markets and Organizations (PRIMO) - led by Harvard Business School
• Kempner Research in Artificial & Natural Intelligence for Undergraduates with Mentorship (KRANIUM)  - led by the Kempner Institute (new for Summer 2024)
• Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF)  - led by the Salata Institute (new for Summer 2024)
• Harvard Amgen Scholars Program  
• Harvard SEAS Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)  - led by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Office of Education Outreach & Community Programs
• Harvard Stem Cell Institute Program (HIP)  - led by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute

Want to get a glimpse of past work from PRISE, SHARP, BLISS, PRIMO, SPUDS, SURGH fellows? See here:   HSURV Abstract Books  

Additional Summer Research Programs . 

• Generative AI Research Program

Independent Project Funding Programs 

URAF provides funding for Harvard College students to pursue their independent summer research projects. Independent funding programs typically do not offer organized housing and meals as part of the award; instead they offer larger stipends for use towards accomodations arranged by awardees themselves. Unlike residential programs, these funding programs offer the flexibility to set start and end dates over the summer, and to do research in the field and/or remotely, outside of Cambridge, Massachusetts. There are no obligations to attend workshops and other on-campus programming over the summer. To be considered for funding through these programs, students must have the autonomy and independence over the design, implementation and execution all aspects of the research project proposed. Independent funding awards administered by URAF are: 

• Harvard College Research Program – independent project mentored by Harvard faculty 
• Herchel Smith Undergraduate Science Research Program – independent projects mentored by Harvard OR non-Harvard faculty 

There are many more independent research funding options offered through academic departments and research centers. Explore the following resources: 

• CARAT  - database of funding opportunities at Harvard, including department based thesis research funding, funding at research centers and more  
• Microbial Sciences Initiative Fellowship  
• Research Centers and Institutes

Want to expand your search for more summer opportunities, see here:

Resources for your search

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Immerse yourself in real-world faculty research

Mit undergraduate research opportunities program, upcoming deadlines.

Spring 2024

Spring DLC/Supervisor-Funding (Sponsored Research), Credit & Volunteer UROP Application Deadline

Summer 2024

Summer UROP Direct-Funding Deadline

Outstanding urop mentor awards nomination deadline.

Faculty & Other Mentors

Outstanding UROP Student Awards Nomination Deadline

Student advice & resources.

If you’re excited by the possibility of doing real-world research with MIT faculty and researchers, then you’re ready to UROP.

Eligibility and Participation

When it comes to planning and participating in a UROP, there’s a lot to consider. Review eligibility and participation options under our guidelines section!

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

The SURE program is a ten-week summer program during which undergraduate research fellows conduct full-time independent research under the direction of a faculty mentor.

Our summer researchers receive a housing award for residence on the Emory campus and a stipend to support their full-time attention to research training and professional development. Student researchers benefit from hands-on research, mentorship, networking opportunities, and graduate school preparation.

SURE provides an opportunity for students to discuss research and start building their professional network with world-renowned researchers and the best and brightest peers from Emory and other institutions.

SURE students come from all backgrounds and disciplines, including the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

Eligibility

Both Emory and non-Emory students are eligible to apply for the Natural and Biomedical Sciences Program. Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences is only open to current Emory College students.

Emory College students must:

• Have a mentor and project identified for the summer.
• NOT be graduating the May prior to the summer or during the summer.
• Be enrolled at Emory the semester following the summer program.
• NOT have participated in SURE previously. This ensures equitable access and diverse participation in each iteration.

Accepted Students

• Program Requirements
• Stipend & Housing

SURE participants will:

• NOT be enrolled in summer courses
• Complete all pre-arrival admittance steps
• Attend and participate fully during the entire program  ( May 29 - August 2, 2024 )
• Dedicate approximately 40 hours/week to their research projects
• Participate in all weekly seminars, workshops, discussion groups, and activities as scheduled
• Present a poster or oral presentation during the SURE symposium

Benefits Students accepted into the SURE Program receive a $3500 stipend. 

Housing Successful applicants are offered campus housing (usually 4BR suites in Clairmont Campus housing). If you reside in the Atlanta area, you are still eligible for campus housing. Participants may choose to live off-campus. However, housing award funds are not transferable. If you are selected to participate and accept to attend the summer research program, you agree to abide by the same Emory College student conduct guidelines that are applicable during the academic year. Violation of these guidelines will result in termination, and referral to other College units for follow-up as warranted.

Please address any specific questions about housing to: Summer Intern Housing Program ( [email protected] ).

May 29, 2024: SURE move in

• August 2, 2024: SURE move out

Why does the program target rising sophomores, juniors and seniors and not first-year students?

Many available projects require students who have completed sophomore-level coursework and beyond. 

Are graduating seniors eligible? 

The program is designed to support students currently enrolled in an undergraduate program. You are not eligible for the summer research program if your bachelor's degree has been awarded before the program ends.

Is the summer research program open to students who are not American citizens?

Funding is available to US citizens, permanent residents and international students currently enrolled at Emory.

Can I participate if I have my own funding?

Some external students are eligible to participate if their home institution or special program directly pays their stipend and housing. Assuming the student is a competitive candidate and that laboratory and housing space are available, we will do our best to place the student in our program.

Note that funding availability alone does not guarantee a position All applicants must be competitive as determined by the selection committee. Please contact the program director if you have any questions.

Can I take summer classes while participating in SURE?

SURE participants cannot enroll for summer school. It is also not possible for us to award research credit hours for participation.

When will applicants receive notification of acceptance?

Notifications will be sent via email early March. Accepted students must confirm participation within a week of receiving their offer.

Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard

Share this page.

This program is offered through Harvard Griffin GSAS and the Leadership Alliance .

During this 10-week program, Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard (SROH) interns conduct research and participate in discussions with Cambridge-based Harvard faculty, build their presentation and research discussion skills, and take part in field trips with other Harvard summer programs. Students in the program live in Harvard housing and enjoy access to the outstanding resources of the university.

The program is funded by Harvard Griffin GSAS, Harvard Molecules, Cells, and Organisms , Harvard Genes, Ecosystems, Organisms , and the Leadership Alliance . 

Note that we also have funding for students interested in atmospheric sciences as part of the NSF-supported International Partnership in Cirrus Studies project, a collaboration including the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Washington, and multiple European institutions. The University of Chicago has information on participating faculty . Research focuses on modeling and measurement of high-altitude clouds.

Applicants in the social sciences and humanities should feel free to write to the SROH program and indicate which Harvard faculty they have identified in their area(s) of interest and whether or not they have been in contact with said faculty.

NEW! The Department of the Classics would welcome applicants interested in fields related to Greco-Roman antiquity, including, but not limited to Republican and Imperial Latin literature, Cicero and Roman oratory, Latin historiography, reception of Latin literature, and the history of classical scholarship.

Application Process

SROH takes place between June and August. For information on eligibility requirements and how to apply, please visit the Leadership Alliance Summer Research-Early Identification Program.

Applications open on November 1, 2022, and must be submitted by February 1, 2023.

Room, Board, and Stipends

The in-person version of the program covers travel to and from the program, housing, and typically a stipend of $3,500 and a food allowance of $1,500. Students participating in MARC or similar programs that provide summer support are welcome to apply. Students are required to participate for the full period of the program. 

Looking for other opportunities for summer research at Harvard?

EXPLORE OTHER SUMMER PROGRAMS

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

Spend your summer on science and engineering

The Sustainability, Engineering and Science - Undergraduate Research (SESUR) Program is a 10-week summer research program for Stanford undergraduates from any area of study who want to learn more about environmental science and the planet we live on. Students find a project - or propose one of their own - and work with a faculty member from the Doerr School of Sustainability in the lab or in the field (or remotely) through the summer. Students present their work at  a fall scientific symposium .

Attend an information session

Ask questions and talk to former program participants!

Info Sessions for summer 2024

November 30, 11:00 am - Thursday  location: Y2E2 Bldg, room 299

January 18, 4:00 pm - Thursday location: Hartley Conference, Mitchell Earth Sciences Bldg

What you need to know

Download  our most recent information session presentation below for details on how our program works.

Read what past SESUR students  wish they had known when they applied .

See what it's like

Our program has been going strong for more than 15 years. 

Learn about the research findings of the 2020 SESUR students.  Due to the pandemic the normally in-person research symposium was transformed into this website where you can still learn from the SESUR students. 

Learn about the research findings of the 2020 SESUR students

See also SESUR Research Symposium

Meet some of our summer undergraduate researchers

The science around us.

Taking extreme measures

Effective science communications

Available projects

See the  list of projects proposed by faculty looking for undergraduate researchers (new projects for 2024 are posted). Each year these range from subjects as climate change effects on coral reefs to measuring the trajectory of mammal size growth. Remember, you are NOT limited to only the posted projects.  We encourage you to reach out directly to faculty if you are interested in their research. 

All  research projects with travel or lab research will require a contingency plan if travel or access to labs is limited by University policy. 

Find a faculty sponsor

Students may apply to work with any faculty member in the departments of: Civil and Environmental Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Earth System Science Energy Science and Engineering Geophysics SDSS social science division

The stipend in 2023 is $7500 for 10 weeks of full time effort. There is also a needs-based supplement of up to $1500 based on financial need record.

Funding priority goes to current and prospective students in any of the departments and programs within the School of Sustainability who have not yet received departmental funding. Freshmen and sophomores receive priority, though juniors and seniors in their first research experience will be considered. Coterms are  unlikely  to get funded. 

Students who wish to conduct Honors research should apply for a  Major Grant  directly from Undergraduate Advising and Research. 

How to apply

You will develop the project proposal with a faculty member (and likely a graduate student or post doc) who will act as your advisor(s). Your proposed faculty research advisor must approve your application. Once you submit it online, they will receive an email notification asking for approval.

Applications are due on February 15, 2024 .

Application Information

Application form

Office Hours

Jenny Saltzman, SESUR director, holds office hours in January-February to help with proposal writing.  Email  Jenny  with questions or to set up a time to talk any time of year.

Student FAQs

Find your questions answered here.

Mentor FAQ's

Mentor's questions answered here, plus tips from past mentors.

Info Sessions for Mentors in 2023 (summer 2024)  

• 11/16 at 2 pm at Mitchell Earth Sciences room B04 (basement) 
• 11/28 at 3 pm at Green Earth Sciences room 014 (basement)

Contact  Jennifer  with your questions or to set up a meeting.

Still have questions?

For more information, don't hesitate to contact  Jenny Saltzman .  She is on campus usually on Wednesdays -Thursdays- Fridays and available by Zoom any day.

Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Listing of undergraduate summer research opportunities across STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) and Healthcare disciplines at Duke University. 

H=Housing provided, $$= Stipend provided, and T=Travel Funding Available

Summer Research Opportunities in STEM

Requirements: US Citizen, Rising Junior or Senior

This 10-week program is designed for full-time first- and second-year underrepresented minority (URM) students at any college or university. The program provides high-quality mentored training experience for URM underclassmen to gain the experience, knowledge and skills to pursue and successfully complete a major in a STEM field and prepare for a job or higher learning in a STEM-related field.

Amgen Scholars Program Website

Requirements: US Citizen, rising juniors and seniors

During a period of nine weeks, students will work full-time in a research project, will participate in weekly seminars and workshops, and will attend regular group meetings in their research labs. We strongly encourage students from underrepresented minorities groups and students with disabilities, to apply. REU participants have the opportunity to conduct research in a large spectrum of interdisciplinary topics broadly organized into five areas: energy, environment, health, national security, and learning.

REU Website

Requirements: US Citizen, Rising Sophomore or Junior

This 10-week program is designed for full-time first- and second-year underrepresented minority (URM) students at any college or university. The program provides high-quality mentored training experience for URM underclassmen to gain the experience, knowledge and skills to pursue and successfully complete a major in a STEM field and prepare for a job or higher learning in a STEM-related field. 

Genome Sciences & Medicine Summer Scholars Website

Requirements: Open to all years and experience levels

10-week training program designed to give motivated undergraduate students hands-on experience in graduate-level biomedical research. We welcome applicants from around the United States who are seriously considering joining a Ph.D. graduate program after completing their undergraduate degree. Students from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

SROP Website  

Requirements: US Citizen, open to all years no previous research necessary

The eight-week program,will give participants who are interested in science and medicine real hands-on experience in research methodology and writing. Participants are placed in teams and matched with Duke faculty mentors to work on an original, hypothesis-driven project, originating as a one-page summary and culminating in a complete research paper. A goal of the program is to have every participant qualify for co-authorship on a peer-reviewed manuscript related to their team’s project.

Summer Training in Academic Research (STAR) Program Website  

The  SURPH@Duke  fellowship is targeted to rising juniors and seniors who are interested in future graduate study to obtain a PhD. This ten-week summer research experience focuses on learning how scientific discovery at the bench can be translated to treatment of disease. Students will train with a faculty mentor and carry out an independent research project in Duke’s Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology.

SURPH Program Website

Requirements: Undergraduate and Masters level students

This program allows students to select from a network of projects funded by the the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). All projects at Duke Superfund Research Center focus on early, low dose exposure toxins and their developmental impacts that are usually only evident during later life stages. In addition to working with their project or core, interns will be expected to participate in weekly research discussions and lab meetings and to present their research.

Superfund Summer Research Internship Website

Summer Research Opportunities in Healthcare and Medicine

REACH Equity Summer Undergraduate Research Program (RESURP) is an 8- week summer program for rising junior and senior undergraduate students. The overall goals of the program are to: increase students’ knowledge of the causes and consequences of racial and ethnic disparities in health; introduce students to basic skills in clinical research, professional development workshops, and provide an opportunity to conduct and present a health disparities research project.

RESURP Website

Undergraduate Research Support Office

The Undergraduate Research Support Office (URS) promotes undergraduate research at Duke through workshops, the annual Visible Thinking Symposium, funding independent research, assistantships and conferences and by providing support for summer research programs. See the complete list of  URS programs

Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP)

Welcome to suip.

The University of Pennsylvania Summer Undergraduate Internship Program is a 10-week intensive summer research opportunity for undergraduate students, especially those who embrace and reflect diversity in the broadest sense, interested in pursuing careers in scholarly research. Interns will be matched with a Principal Investigator (PI) based on shared research interests. Throughout their time at Penn, interns will work with PIs and other lab mentors to develop laboratory and research skills essential for future graduate school experiences. In addition to laboratory work, interns will participate in seminars that will enrich their understanding of science, participate in professional development workshops, graduate school preparation seminars, and have the opportunity to present at the SUIP Symposium. SUIP is designed for students who aim to pursue a PhD or an MD-PhD in biomedical studies.

Summer Program Dates

The 2024 program dates are Monday, June 3, 2024 to Friday, August 9, 2024 (tentative move-in dates: Saturday, June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024). Participants can expect to engage in lab and program activities for approximately 40 hours during the week.

Participants must commit to participating for the duration of the program dates.

Eligibility

Residency requirement: The program is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents only. We cannot accept applications from international students who do not meet residency requirements at this time. Applicants must be enrolled in a four-year college for the fall semester after the program ends. Graduating seniors are not eligible to participate. Although it is not required for applicants to have prior research experience, preference is given to applicants who will have completed their sophomore or junior year. Students must be able to attend the full 10-week program. Individuals from under resourced backgrounds that have been historically excluded from the biomedical sciences including but not limited to first generation college students, socioeconomically disadvantaged, attend small liberal arts colleges and universities with limited research opportunities, live with a disability, and/or who bring diversity to biomedical sciences by reason of their culture, class, background, work and life experiences, skills and interests are encouraged to apply for the program.

Compensation

Each intern receives:

• a competitive stipend ($5,500)
• On-campus housing,
• meal plans, and
• transportation costs for one round trip to the University of Pennsylvania.

SUIP Affiliated Programs

SUIP-DAPPG (Diversity Action Plan in Genomics), SUIP-CCI (Center for Cell and Immunotherapies), and SUIP-CFAR (Center for AIDS Research) are affiliated programs with SUIP. Students are selected to the affiliated programs based on their research interests. Applicants do not need to complete a separate application to be considered for these programs. All compensation is the same as the general SUIP. Applicants who apply to an affiliate program will also be considered for the general SUIP program.

If you would like to be considered for an affiliate program, please indicate which one in your personal statement. If admitted into an affiliated program, students still will participate in all SUIP activities and will be offered additional research specific content and activities based on the affiliate group.

SUIP-DAPPG (Diversity Action Plan for Penn Genomics)

The aim of the Diversity Action Plan for PENN Genomics (DAPPG) program is to increase the number of underrepresented students choosing a career in genome sciences and genomic medicine by providing opportunity for hands-on genomics research. The program supports summer research internships and post-baccalaureate programs, designed to augment student’s training for application to professional degrees.

Faculty Contacts: 

• Maja Bucan ( [email protected] )
• Junhyong Kim ( [email protected] )

SUIP-CCI (Center for Cell and Immunotherapies)

The Center for Cellular Immunotherapies hosts a Summer Undergraduate Internship Program in cancer and cellular immunotherapies. Participating laboratories have the general goal of understanding how the immune system interacts with cancer and developing interventions to improve anti-tumor immunity. This field of study represents an intersection of cancer biology, immunology, cellular and molecular biology, and bioengineering.

Faculty Contact: Avery Posey ( [email protected] )

SUIP-CFAR (Center for AIDS Research)

SUIP-CFAR (Center For AIDS Research) Scholars will engage in mentored HIV/AIDS research. Research topics include HIV basic/translational science, clinical/behavioral science, implementation science, and HIV prevention research. SUIP-CFAR scholars will learn key concepts in the biological, clinical, behavioral, and community-based AIDS research and will build their professional skills.

Faculty Contacts:

• Kelly Jordan-Sciutto ( [email protected] ) 
• Florence Momplaisir ( [email protected] )

Application & Admissions

Application & Admissions Process:

Applications for SUIP 2024 open on October 1st, 2023 via the Penn application. All applications are due on February 1st, 2024 by 11:59 pm Eastern Time. All components of the application, including letters of recommendation, must be received by the deadline. Incomplete applications or applications submitted after this deadline will not be considered. 

Applicants who wish to apply through the Leadership Alliance, the application portal opened on November 1, 2023 and will close on February 1st, 2024 at 11:59PM.

Applicants can submit an application through Penn’s portal ( link ) or via the Leadership Alliance ( link ). Our holistic evaluation process considers all components of the application. The  research & personal statement  should describe your meaningful research experiences and career goals and be used to share how your personal history, identity, and experiences motivate your choice to pursue a PhD, and the challenges you have overcome to get to this point. The  letters of recommendation  should include at least one from a research mentor, preferably the most recent one. The  community statement  should describe how your personal perspectives will shape and be shaped by engagement with the Penn community.

Required Documents

• Completed online application form via Penn’s application ( link ), or via the Leadership Alliance ( link ). Applications are accepted through both platforms and are considered equally.
• Research & Personal Statement- A statement describing your interest in pursuing research, any meaningful research experiences you've had up to this point, your academic and career goals and that shares how your personal history, identity, and experiences motivate your choice to pursue a PhD, and the challenges you have overcome to get to this point.
• Community Statement- A statement describing how your personal perspectives will shape and be shaped by the engagement with the Penn community (150-200 words).
• Two letters of recommendation from academic faculty or advisors
• Most recent unofficial undergraduate transcript

Application Instructions

• SUIP applicants who apply through the Leadership Alliance should follow the instructions on the Leadership Alliance’s website ( link ).
• Create an account following the  link .
• Begin the application with your personal information.
• You will be prompted to select which “graduate” program you are applying to.
• Select “Biomedical Graduate Studies, Perelman School of Medicine”
• Select “SUIP” and “Summer 2024”.
• In the “Recommendations” section, please provide the contact information for two (2) recommenders. An automated email will be sent to the email address(es) provided for recommenders to submit their letters. All recommendation letters are due by 2/1/24 at 11:59PM.
• Applicants will be asked to select a graduate group of interest. Applicants can refer to the Biomedical Graduate Studies page for more information about graduate groups ( link ).
• If applicants are interested in an affiliate program, applicants can indicate their choice in this section.
• Follow the remaining prompts.

Leadership Alliance

The University of Pennsylvania is part of the Leadership Alliance . We accept applications for SUIP that are submitted through the Leadership Alliance summer research program portal ( link ). We will consider all SUIP applications regardless of which application platform students use.

Research and Personal Statement

In a 2 page document (8.5”x11”) with a minimum of 0.5’ margins and at least 11 pt font, describe your academic interests and career goals. If you have had any research experiences, please describe them. State your specific scientific interests and any particular research areas or techniques you'd like to explore. We encourage applicants to share their lived experience to document their journey and story, which is valued and considered high priority for our reviewers. Please upload your statement with your application. Please upload your statement with your application.

Transcripts

Your transcript must include all semesters/terms attended at your primary institution. Please also include any study abroad transcripts. Unofficial transcripts will suffice.

Letters of Recommendation

Two letters of recommendation are required. Letters from academic faculty who know you personally and can comment on your academic abilities and your aptitude for research are highly encouraged. Requests for letters of recommendation will be sent through the application portal to the email that applicants provide.

SUIP Overview

Principal investigator (pi) matching.

Successful applicants will have the opportunity to preference mentors based on their research interests. SUIP interns' lab placements are determined with consideration for the mentor's availability and the student's interests.

Areas of Research

Mentors are drawn from a group of over 600 faculty associated with Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) at the University of Pennsylvania. The mentors we work with have a strong commitment to helping students and extensive experience mentoring, training, and teaching students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff.

Research areas available to SUIP students include:

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
• Cancer Biology
• Cell Biology and Physiology
• Developmental, Stem Cell, and Regenerative Biology
• Gene Therapy and Vaccines
• Genetics and Gene Regulation
• Microbiology, Virology, and Parasitology
• Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Genomics and Computational Biology (These faculty are also involved in our DAPPG program)
• Neuroscience
• Pharmacology

IDEAL Research Fellows, who are current graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, will serve as mentors for summer interns. Fellows will lead programming, team building activities, and excursions to explore Philadelphia. Our Fellows are passionate about helping interns succeed and working towards the mission of diversifying STEM.

Seminar Series

SUIP sponsors the Summer Seminar Series, a sequence of talks about timely issues in biomedical sciences presented by distinguished Biomedical Graduate Studies faculty. The seminars provide interns with an opportunity to discover the breadth of research taking place at Penn and beyond.

Social Events

Interns enjoy a variety of events including concerts and performances, trips to local museums, visits to historical sites, and social events with current graduate students and program staff. The University of Pennsylvania has several summer programs and there are many free events on campus that are open to our interns. Philadelphia is a great city to visit, and an even better place to live.

Viterbi Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

The USC Viterbi Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) is an 8-week summer residential research program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to work on cutting-edge research projects with academic-industry collaboration under the mentorship of Viterbi faculty and PhD students. Positive consideration will be given to students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The program allows participants to develop skill sets in research towards their long-term career goals. Participants also will engage in professional network opportunities and build relationships that will expand their academic and professional horizons. The overarching goal of SURE is to help students develop an understanding of research in engineering disciplines, and preparing students with skills for successful academic careers in engineering graduate programs.

Program Benefits

• Learn about cutting-edge research under the guidance of world-renowned USC faculty researchers and mentorship from PhD students.
• Participate in weekly professional development workshops to enhance your skill sets as a researcher. Topics include delivering effective presentations, designing technical posters, developing best practices in research, and applying to PhD programs. 
• Attend professional networking events and research site visits. 
• Explore the vibrant city of Los Angeles through weekend social activities.
• Build lifelong connections with other SURE students who share your passion for research. 

Program Eligibility

• Undergraduate students enrolled at a U.S. higher education institution.
• U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or DACA recipient currently located in the U.S. 
• Strong academic background (GPA of 3.0 or higher is recommended) in the following majors: engineering, math, computer science, or hard science (biology, chemistry, physics).
• Must be available to participate full time (40 hours/week) for the entire duration of the program.

Application Materials

• Transcripts (official or student portal generated transcripts are acceptable)
• Resume  (1 page maximum)
• Statement of Purpose (Provide a brief statement on your research interests, academic and professional goals, and how the SURE program will help you achieve those goals)
• 1 Letter of Recommendation (academic reference preferred)

Questions? Email us at [email protected]

In partnership with

News Release: USC Viterbi and Amazon Announce Joint Summer Research Program for Undergraduates

News Release: USC and Meta Collaborate to establish the USC-Meta Center for Research and Education In AI and Learning

What's Included

• $5,200 stipend for 8-week program 
• Campus housing
• Travel to and from Los Angeles
• Summer health insurance
• Educational and social activities
• End-of-program poster session

Important Dates

Application Launch & Info Session Friday, December 1, 2023

Application Deadline Friday, February 9, 2024 Selection Notifications Mid-March - early April  Program Dates June 10 - August 2, 2024 Participants will arrive on Saturday, June 8 and depart on Saturday, August 3. 

Subscribe for Updates

Research opportunities.

Review the list of available research opportunities for SURE participants

Meet the SURE Fellows

Meet our most recent cohort of SURE Fellows

Frequently asked questions about the SURE program

SURE Information Session

Friday, December 1, 2023 | 12:00 - 1:00 pm (PT)

The Viterbi SURE program will host a general information session for all prospective applicants. This session covers information about USC Viterbi, SURE program components, application process, and selection criteria.

Published on October 19th, 2022

Last updated on April 24th, 2024

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

• 115 Year Celebration
• About Andrew Viterbi
• Diversity Equity & Inclusion
• Facts and Numbers
• Faculty Directory
• Ginsburg Hall
• USC Michelson Center

FROM THE DEAN

• Dean's Message
• Dean's Report
• Initiatives and Priorities
• Engineering +
• Strategic Plan

NEWS | MEDIA | EVENTS

• Keynote Lecture Series
• Media Contact & Press Releases
• Media Coverage
• Public Image Archive
• Publications
• Social Media
• Viterbi News Now

SCHOOL OF ADVANCED COMPUTING

• Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science
• Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Division of Computing Education (DCE)
• Information Technology Program (ITP)
• Interdisciplinary Data Science (IDS)
• Information Science Institute (ISI)
• Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT)
• More to come soon

DEPARTMENTS AND ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

• Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
• Astronautical Engineering
• Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering
• Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
• Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Engineering in Society Program
• Information Technology Program

EXECUTIVE AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

• Aviation Safety and Security Program
• Corporate and Professional Programs

ONLINE ACCESS

• Graduate Programs - DEN@Viterbi

SPECIALIZED GRADUATE PROGRAMS

• Financial Engineering Program
• Green Technologies Program
• Data Science Program
• Progressive Degree Program
• Systems Architecting and Engineering Program

RESOURCES AND INITIATIVES

• Academic Integrity
• Accreditation
• Awards Office
• John Brooks Slaughter Center for Engineering Diversity
• Division of Engineering Education
• Globalization
• K-12 Outreach
• USC Experts Directory
• Women in Science and Engineering

FIRST YEAR APPLICANTS

MASTER'S APPLICANTS

PHD APPLICANTS

TRANSFER APPLICANTS

RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT

• Search Faculty Research Areas
• Departments, Research Institutes and Centers
• Research Infrastructure
• Research Initiatives
• Research Vision
• Student Research
• Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

• NSF I-Corps Hub: West Region
• Office of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• USC Stevens Center for Innovation
• Viterbi News Network
• Diversity Equity Inclusion
• Dean’s Message
• Dean’s Report
• Media Contact & Press Releases
• More to Come Soon
• Biomedical Engineering
• Informatics Program
• Graduate Programs – DEN@Viterbi
• First Year Applicants
• Master’s Applicants
• PHD Applicants
• Transfer Applicants
• Competitions
• Entrepreneurship
• I-Corps Node
• Viterbi Startup Garage
• Viterbi Student Innovation Institute (VSI2)
• Viterbi Venture Fund

Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

New section.

Listing of summer programs for undergraduates interested in pursuing careers in medical research. Please contact programs directly regarding summer research opportunities.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, NY Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Augusta University -The Graduate School & Medical College of Georgia Augusta, GA Summer Student Training and Research (STAR)

Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX Summer Medical and Research Training (SMART) Program

Big Ten Academic Alliance Champaign, IL Summer Research Opportunities Program

Boston University School of Medicine Boston, MA Summer Training as Research Scholars (STaRS)

Brigham and Women's Hospital  (in collaboration with Harvard-affiliated hospitals) Boston, MA Harvard Summer Research Program in Kidney Medicine

Brown University Providence, RI Leadership Alliance Summer Research-Early Identification Program

Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Heart, Lung and Blood (HLB) Summer Research Program Cancer-focused Summer Undergraduate Research (CanSUR) Program

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA CHOP Research Institute Summer Scholars Program (CRISSP)

Children's Hospital Research Foundation of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH Division of Developmental Biology Undergraduate Summer Student Program

City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute Duarte, CA Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy

Cohen Children's Medical Center Queens, NY Summer Internship Programs

Creighton University Omaha, NE Undergraduate Biomedical Research Training Program

Dell Medical School - The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Dell Medical School’s LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes’ Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Drexel University College of Medicine Philadelphia, PA Biomedical Graduate Studies-Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship STAR SCHOLARS Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Duke University School of Medicine Durham, NC Biomedical PhD Programs

East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine Greenville, NC Summer Biomedical Research Program

Eastern Virginia Medical School Norfolk, VA Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR)

Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, GA Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

Georgia State University, Neuroscience Institute Atlanta, GA B&B Summer Scholars Program

George Washington University Washington, DC GW Summer Program Advancing Research on Cancer GW SPARC

Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School New York, NY Gerstner Sloan Kettering Summer Undergraduate Research Program Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center- Summer at MSK

Harvard Medical School Boston, MA Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP)

Hofstra North Shore/LIJ School of Medicine   Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Student Intern Program

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, NY Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)

Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN Indiana University School of Medicine Student Research Programs

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD Summer Internship Program (SIP)

Keck Graduate Institute Claremont, CA Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program

Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Bridging the Gaps

Loma Linda University School of Medicine Loma Linda, CA Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans, School of Graduate Studies New Orleans, LA LSUHSC New Orleans, Summer Research Internship Program

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience Shreveport, LA LSUHSC New Orleans, Summer Research Internship Program

Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine Undergraduate Summer Research Program, Department of Microbiology & Immunology Summer Undergraduate Research program, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine Huntington, WV Summer Research Internship for Minority Students

Maine Medical Center Research Institute Scarborough, ME Summer Student Research Program at Main Medical Center Research Institute

Massachusetts General Hospital Multicultural Affairs Office Boston, MA Summer Research Trainee Program

Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI Summer Program for Undergraduate Research Student-centered Pipeline to Advance Research in Cancer Careers (SPARCC)

Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC MUSC Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center New York, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Medical Student Summer Fellowship Research Program Molecular Imaging Summer Program (MISP)

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Minneapolis, MN Summer Research Internships in Clinical Cardiology

Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai New York, NY Summer Undergraduate Research Program

National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research

New York University School of Medicine New York, NY Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Evanston, IL Summer Research Opportunity Program Continuing Umbrella of Research Experience Cancer-Focused Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) Pre-Med Undergraduate Intern Program

Oregon Health and Science University Portland, OR Summer Research Programs

Penn State University, College of Medicine Hershey, PA SURIP – Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program STEP-UP - Short-Term Educational Program for Underrepresented Persons SURF – American Heart Association Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School New Brunswick, NJ Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Neuroscience Summer Undergraduate Research Program Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) in Molecular and Developmental Neurobiology

Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School Newark, NJ Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, CA Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP)/Amgen Scholars Stanford CARE Scholars  

State University of New York Upstate Medical University Syracuse, NY Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (SURF) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Physician Scientist Program (SURF-PS)

Stony Brook University School of Medicine Stony Brook, NY Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program

Texas A&M University College of Medicine Bryan, TX Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Lubbock, TX Summer Accelerated Biomedical Research Program Amarillo Biomedical Research Internship

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Cambridge, MA Summer Research Programs

The George Washington University Washington, DC GW Summer Program Advancing Research on Cancer (GW SPARC)

The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine Farmington, CT Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The Rockefeller University New York, NY The Rockefeller University Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program

Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA Jefferson College of Life Sciences-Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

Tufts University Boston, MA Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Summer Research Program

University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL Summer Research Programs for Undergraduates

University of Arizona Tucson, AZ Summer Undergraduate Research Program BLAISER Program

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine Little Rock, AR INBRE Mentored Summer Research Program SURP: Summer Undergraduate Research Program to Increase Diversity in Research

University at Buffalo (SUNY) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Buffalo, NY Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine Irvine, CA Summer Undergraduate Research Program SURF- Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research

University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA UCSD Academic Enrichment Programs Summer Research Program (SRP)

University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, CA Summer Research Training Program

University of Chicago Chicago. IL The Leadership Alliance & The University of Chicago Summer Research Early Identification Program The Pritzker School of Medicine Experience in Research (PSOMER)

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Cincinnati, OH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

University of Colorado School of Medicine Denver, CO Summer Research Programs

University of Connecticut Health Center Farmington, CT Undergraduate Summer Research

University of Florida College of Medicine Gainesville, FL UF Center for Undergraduate Research

University of Georgia Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute Summer Undergraduate Fellows

University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine Honolulu, HI High School and Undergraduate Opportunities in Research

University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine Iowa City, IA Biomedical Scholars Summer Undergraduate Research Program Summer Undergraduate MSTP Research Program

University of Kansas Lawrence, KS Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

University of Kansas School of Medicine Kansas City, KS Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) Summer Training Option in Rural Medicine (STORM)

University of Kentucky Lexington, KY NSF-REU: Summer Program in the Biomedical Sciences

University of Louisville School of Medicine Louisville, KY Cancer Biology Training Program

University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, MD University of Maryland Scholars Summer Research Program (UM Scholars)

University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, MA Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine Miami, FL Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI Undergraduate Summer Research Programs UM-SMART Undergrad Summer Program Rogel Cancer Center Cancer Research Summer Internship Program Michigan Summer Undergraduate Research Experience: Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases (M-SURE)

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, MN Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Programs (LSSURP)

University of Mississippi Jackson, MS Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

University of Missouri Columbia, MO Summer Research Internship in Medical Sciences

University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE Undergraduate Summer Research Program

University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of New Mexico School of Medicine Albuquerque, NM Undergraduate Pipeline Network Summer Research Program UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center C-STEPS Program

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine Chapel Hill, NC Summer of Learning and Research (SOLAR) Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE-REU)

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City, OK Native American Center for Health Research Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP) Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program Undergraduate Translational Research Internship Program

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Pittsburgh, PA Summer Undergraduate Research Programs Summer Premedical Academic Enrichment Program MIDAS Summer Research Opportunity Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities Training and Experimentation in Computational Biology

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Rochester, NY Strong Children’s Research Center Summer Program Summer Scholars Program MSTP Summer Scholars Program

University of South Alabama College of Medicine Mobile, AL Office of Undergraduate Research

University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine Vermillion, SD University of South Dakota, CBBRE

University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine Memphis, TN Summer Research Scholars Program

University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston Houston, TX Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Smithville, TX Summer Program in Cancer Research Summer Research Program

University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX Computational Cancer Biology Training Program Neuroscience Summer Undergraduate Research Program Summer Internship in Tropical Diseases Research

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio San Antonio, TX Summer Programs Greehey CCRI Donald G McEwen, Memorial Summer Undergraduate Research & High School Program

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, TX Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Amgen Scholars Program

University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Native American Summer Research Internship (NARI) Genomics Summer Research for Minorities (GSRM) Internship

University of Virginia School of Medicine Charlottesville, VA Minority Health International Research Training Program (MHIRT) Summer Research Internship Program (SRIP)

University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, WA University of Washington Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Washington School of Medicine: Harborview Injury and Prevention Center Seattle, WA INSIGHT Summer Research Program

University of Wisconsin Madison, WI Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program Summer Research Opportunity Programs

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Nashville, TN. Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy

Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville, TN. Undergraduate Clinical Research Internship Program (UCRIP)

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Richmond, VA Student Research Programs

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Roanoke, VA NeuroSURF Translational Neurobiology Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Molecular Visualization Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC Summer Research Opportunities Program Wake Forest University Biomedical Engineering REU Summer Program

Washington University St. Louis, MO BioMedRAP Leah Menshouse Springer Summer Opportunities Program

Wayne State University School of Medicine Detroit, MI SURE Programs

Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering New York, NY Gateways to the Laboratory Summer Program Weill Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program Computational Biology Summer Program (CBSP) Chemical Biology Summer Program (ChBSP) Engineering Summer Program (ESP) ACCESS Summer Internship Program

West Virginia University Morgantown, WV Biomedical Sciences Summer Research Experience for Underrepresented Students

Yale School of Medicine New Haven, CT NIH-NIDDK/KUH Yale Summer Undergraduate Medical Research (SUMR) Yale BioMed Amgen Scholars Program

• Follow us on Twitter

Helpful tools for those applying to medical PhD programs.

Upcoming short presentations will describe features of PhD training, alumni careers, and detailed logistics of the application process.

Learn about PhD Programs from program leaders.

Graduate schools in the biomedical sciences will generally provide a comprehensive funding package to their students.

PhD Programs by School

List of Postdoctoral Programs by School

Postbaccalaureate programs begin after an undergraduate degree and are designed to support the transition to professional school.

• Give to Undergraduate Research

Summer Programs

Summer research programs are full-time immersive research experiences where selected students are matched with a mentor to join their research team and work on a project for a fixed term (often 9-10 weeks).

These programs usually require a formal application process and may be open to students outside of the institution offering the program.

Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities

Our office hosts a summer research program in the Arts and Humanities. Open to UW undergrads only!

More UW Summer Research Programs

Browse through a list of UW summer research programs offered by various research centers and departments

Find Summer Research Outside of UW

Search through a partial list of summer research programs around the U.S. and the world, with links to other searchable summer research program databases.

• Nebraska Medicine
• Prospective Students
• Current Students
• Faculty & Staff

Opportunities for Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate internship opportunities.

Public Health faculty frequently have opportunities for undergraduate students to serve in internship positions for research and community work. Undergraduate students interested in learning more information about the availability of positions should  email Ronald Glenn  or  email the college.

Public Health Early Admissions Student Track

PHEAST is a pathway program for the health professions created to find, train, and graduate enthusiastic public health professionals devoted to enhancing population health outcomes in Nebraska. The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, the University of Nebraska Kearney, and the Nebraska state college system (Chadron State College, Peru State College, and Wayne State College) have joined forces to create this program. The initiative demonstrates a commitment and attention to Nebraskan education. 

How to Apply to the Early Admissions Track  

Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The summer undergraduate research program provides summer opportunities for undergraduate students to become members of research teams and discover first-hand the broad spectrum of research activities occurring at UNMC.

The College of Public Health hosts these students each summer to work as part of faculty research teams on a broad array of public health research topics. Students will experience a 10-week full-time research placement, receive a stipend and attend enrichment seminars.

How to Apply to the Summer Research Program

Ronald Glenn, MA

Pathways Program Student Success Coordinator

Department of Pediatrics will host 18 Shapiro Summer Research Program students

This summer, 14 Department of Pediatrics faculty members from seven divisions will open their research groups to 18 medical students through the Shapiro Summer Research Program .

Since 2002, the Shapiro Summer Research Program has provided opportunities for UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) students to participate in eight- to 10-week research projects in the summer between their first and second years of medical school. Students are paired with UW–Madison faculty mentors who propose a wide range of hypothesis-driven projects in basic science, clinical, translational, health services, population/public health, or global health research. Funding for the program comes from the Herman and Gwendolyn Shapiro Foundation with additional support from the department and investigator grants.

About 125 SMPH students will participate in the Shapiro Summer Research Program this year, which is more than 70% of eligible students.

Below is a list of students who will conduct research with the Department of Pediatrics this summer, their faculty mentors, and the titles of their research projects:

Office of Student Research

• Summer 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) Program Information

The Office of Student Research is currently accepting URA applications for the Summer 2024 semester. URA's offer highly motivated undergraduate students the opportunity to work closely with App State Faculty on the Faculty member’s research, scholarship, or creative activity.

The Faculty member, in consultation with their selected undergraduate student, are encouraged to apply. The URA Program is open to all disciplines at Appalachian State.  

Please review the proposal requirements and URA application questions, as they have changed from semester to semester. We encourage Faculty members to thoroughly discuss the opportunity with an intended undergraduate student and confirm their ability to fulfill the requirements of the position (80 hours of work for the semester) and commit to the time and workload involved with the proposed project.

Undergraduate Research Assistantship applications for Summer 2024 are due Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm with award notifications returned by the end of May.

Students must be enrolled in at least one course during the summer to be eligible for the URA program. 

Please visit the Office of Student Research URA webpage  for further details regarding the application process and to access the form link. These grants focus on the Faculty Mentor’s research, allowing for undergraduate students to assist in any part of the process. URA's can begin work on or after June 16, 2024 with work to be completed by August 15, 2024.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content

Aggie Research Programs

Texas A&M University

Summer 2024: Exploring First-Generation, Low-Income Students of Color Use of Microaffirmations

You are using an outdated browser. Upgrade your browser today or install Google Chrome Frame to better experience this site.

• Professional learning

Teach. Learn. Grow.

Teach. learn. grow. the education blog.

Summer learning loss: What we know and what we’re learning

Concerns about students losing ground academically during summer break go back at least a century, with early evidence suggesting that summer contributed to large disparities in students’ outcomes. This narrative spurred expansion of a variety of summer programs and interventions aimed at stemming summer learning loss.

However, in the last five years, there has been a spirited debate about two long-standing questions about students’ summers: 1) the degree to which test scores actually drop during the summer and 2) the degree to which summer break contributes to educational inequities. A new layer to this conversation is the response to the learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. School leaders and policymakers have used the summer break as a potential time for academic recovery. Summer programs have emerged as one of the most popular recovery strategies offered by school districts, with an estimated $5.8 billion of ESSER funds expected to be spent on summer programs by September 2024.

With more focus on the impact of summer on students’ learning and the potential to extend the school year, it is essential for educators, policymakers, and families to have an up-to-date understanding of the impact of summer breaks on students’ learning patterns. In this post, we aim to highlight what is known about summer learning loss by quickly summarizing recent research and posing some questions that remain unanswered about the role of summers on students’ learning.

Students’ test scores flatten or drop during the summer

While our initial understanding of summer learning loss dates back to studies conducted in the 70s and 80s , a recent collection of studies in the last six years provides a fresh look at students’ learning across summers using four modern assessments ( ECLS-K direct cognitive tests , MAP® Growth™, Star, and i-Ready) with large national (though not typically nationally representative) samples. See “School’s out: The role of summers in understanding achievement disparities,” “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,” “Evidence of ‘summer learning loss’ on the i-Ready diagnostic assessment,” “Findings on summer learning loss often fail to replicate, even in recent data,” and “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”

Figure 1 compares the test score patterns across four different studies. Three important patterns stand out:

• On average, test scores flatten or drop during the summer , with larger drops typically in math than reading.
• Studies using test scores from ECLS-K:2011 show that student learning slows down but does not drop over the summers after kindergarten and first grade. However, research using interim and diagnostic assessments ( MAP Growth , Star, and i-Ready ) has found far larger summer drops across a range of grade levels.
• Given the sizable differences in the magnitude of test score drops across tests, it remains uncertain whether summer slide should be considered a trivial issue or a serious educational challenge.

Figure 1. Comparison of summer slide estimates across datasets

Note: All estimates are reported as the total average summer test score change in standard deviation (SD) units relative to the prior spring test score. Whenever possible, we report the estimate that adjusted scores for time in school prior/after testing in the fall and spring. Sources: Author calculations based on data reported in ECLS-K:20210-11 , MAP Growth , i-Ready , and Star .  

Who is most likely to show summer learning loss.

While all three diagnostic assessments show some degree of summer slide in grades 3–8 on average, the research community lacks consensus about whether summers disproportionately impact certain students. Paul von Hippel and colleagues have pointed out that whether and how much summers contribute to educational inequalities (across students of different income levels, races, ethnicities, and genders) depends on the test used to study students’ learning patterns. Nonetheless, we can present a few key patterns from this line of research:

• Learning rates are more variable during the summer than during the school year. See “School’s out: The role of summers in understanding achievement disparities,”   “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,”  and  “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”
• Gaps between students attending low- and high-poverty schools do not consistently widen during the summer. See “Is summer learning loss real, and does it widen test score gaps by family income?”  and  “Is summer learning loss real?”
• Test score differences between Black and white students hold steady or narrow during the summer. See “Do test score gaps grow before, during, or between the school years? Measurement artifacts and what we know in spite of them”  and  “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,” though results can be sensitive to the metric and test used. See also  “Black-white summer learning gaps: Interpreting the variability of estimates across representations” and “Findings on summer learning loss often fail to replicate, even in recent data.”
• The field cannot really explain why differences in students’ summer learning occur. See “Rethinking summer slide: The more you gain, the more you lose”  and  “Inequality in reading and math skills forms mainly before kindergarten: A replication, and partial correction, of ‘Are schools the great equalizer?’”

Planning effective summer programming

It is clear across recent studies that summer is a particularly variable time for students. Summer break is also increasingly a time in which districts are offering a range of academic offerings.

During summer 2022, an estimated 90% of school districts offered summer programs with an academic focus. However, evidence on the effectiveness of academic summer programs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. One study of eight summer programs in summer 2022 found a small positive impact on math test scores (0.03 SD), but not on reading. The improvements in math were largely driven by elementary students compared to middle schoolers. However, the effectiveness of these programs remained consistent across student groups, including race/ethnicity, poverty, and English learner status.

It is crucial to recognize the challenges associated with scaling up summer programs. In the districts studied, only 13% of students participated in the summer programs , which only lasted for an average of three to four weeks. Prior research indicates that for summer programs to yield measurable academic benefits, they should run at least five weeks with at least three hours of instruction a day. Additionally, getting students to regularly attend summer programs remains a significant hurdle. To address this issue, districts should actively recruit families to participate and offer a mix of academic instruction and engaging extracurricular activities. By adopting these strategies, districts can maximize the effectiveness of their summer programs and better support student learning during the break.

If you’re interested in learning more about effective summer programs, we encourage you to read the following:

• “Effective summer programming: What educators and policymakers should know”
• “Investing in successful summer programs: A review of evidence under the Every Student Succeeds Act”
• “Analysis: Summer learning is more popular than ever. How to make sure your district’s program is effective”
• “The impact of summer learning programs on low-income children’s mathematics achievement: A meta-analysis”
• “The effects of summer reading on low-income children’s literacy achievement from kindergarten to grade 8: A meta-analysis of classroom and home interventions”

Recommended for you

From the pages of  Literacy Today : How to boost reading achievement using dyslexia research

NWEA research snapshot: Insights on academic recovery strategies

How AI can improve digital accessibility in math

White Paper

Worth the investment: Why research and innovation matter for improving outcomes for all kids

Making sound, student-focused decisions amid constant change can feel impossible. Partnering with a research-based assessment provider can help.

Read the white paper

STAY CURRENT by subscribing to our newsletter

You are now signed up to receive our newsletter containing the latest news, blogs, and resources from nwea..

CREEES Professional Resources Forum

Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at The University of Texas at Austin

Lang. Training: Summer, Academic Year Russian Immersion Programs (Moscow)

Deadline: february 1, 2020 (summer); february 10, 2020 (academic year).

Dickinson College is now accepting applications for the 2020  Summer Immersion Program —an intensive five-week language and culture course in Moscow and St. Petersburg—and for the  Dickinson-in-Moscow Program for Fall 2020 and Academic Year 2020-2021.  

Summer Immersion Program  (May 22 – June 27, 2020):

• Experience both Moscow and St. Petersburg in one summer
• Rich cultural syllabus of excursions and hands-on experiences
• Small group setting tailored toward liberal arts model
• Classes for every language level, from beginner to heritage

For more details:  https://dickinson.studioabroad.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=10040  

Fall 2020 or Academic Year 2020-2021

• Partnerships: Higher School of Economics (STEM classes in Russian and English) and Russian State University for the Humanities (language courses, plus humanities and social sciences)
• formal internship opportunities in most fields for students with advanced language abilities
• liberal arts model; 5:1 student/faculty ratio
• guided student-faculty research opportunities in all fields
• opportunities to continue other languages or start new languages (e.g., languages of Central Asia) while in Moscow

For more details:  https://dickinson.studioabroad.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=10012  

Social Widgets powered by AB-WebLog.com .

Schools can close summer learning gaps with these 4 strategies

W hen it comes to summer learning, the benefits are well documented. Students who consistently attend well-planned, high-quality programs achieve higher scores on math and language arts testing. They also earn higher ratings from teachers on their social and emotional skills, research shows. Unfortunately, research also shows that students from low-income and minority backgrounds are less likely to attend – and benefit from – summer learning programs than their affluent and white peers.

Summer learning can play a crucial role in helping these students – and all kids – recover learning lost during the pandemic. The federal government has also acknowledged the importance of summer learning through its Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER. The fund infused states with nearly US$190.5 billion , with 20% allocated to academic recovery, including summer programs .

So how can school districts capitalize on the crucial summer months and make learning more equitable?

In partnership with the Wallace Foundation and the District Summer Learning Network implemented by the nonprofit development organization FHI 360, our team at the Center for Policy, Research, and Evaluation at New York University is studying how districts implement high-quality summer programs with an eye toward equity. We analyzed 2022 summer planning documents from 26 districts and identified four strategies they’re using to make the programs more equitable.

1. Strategically target students

Of the summer learning plans we analyzed, we found that half prioritized students who need academic or behavioral support. Additionally, 42% mentioned English-language learners, and 35% mentioned students with disabilities.

Other distinct groups included low-income students, migrants, racial and ethnic minorities and gifted and talented students. Among districts that prioritized special groups, almost all of them included more than one group in their strategic outreach.

Which students get served in summer learning programs, and how they are served, has implications for equity. For instance, research has found that middle-income students often benefit more from summer learning programs than lower-income students.

This could be because high-quality programs tend to serve higher-income students, which raises concerns that summer learning programs may actually increase the summer gap if they are not targeted. High-quality programs that target lower-income students and other minority students can move the needle toward equity.

2. Reduce barriers to access

For students to access programs outside of the regular school day in an equitable way, simple accommodations , such as transportation, are key.

Several district summer learning plans we analyzed went above and beyond academics. They provided not just transportation but also free and nutritious meals, outreach material in different languages and extended day care services to support working families.

3. Design courses for specific student populations

Students learn best when they feel a sense of safety and belonging. By affirming and nurturing the unique identities of students, districts can make summer programming more equitable and accelerate learning. Research shows, for instance, that summer supports for English-language learners are key for their overall academic development.

Some districts tailored their programming to the individual interests and cultural needs of their students. For example, three districts – in both urban and rural communities – provided language classes for English-language learners, including adults.

Another district designed an arts program for students to explore and celebrate their culture. The program featured programming around ethnic and racial identities.

Despite a shortage of teacher applicants across the country, some districts also made efforts to hire teachers who are not only effective and well credentialed but also reflect the demographics of the student body they serve.

4. Engage families in planning and programming

Some districts held regular family education sessions to provide updates about student needs and progress. Some also engaged families by offering information sessions on topics such as immigration and health.

Programs that include the whole family or community are particularly helpful for racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse populations and families in rural areas, where young people have limited access to adults other than their caregivers.

When parents are included in the planning process, programs can be designed to better fit their schedules. This might mean districts offer full-day, six-week camps to support children throughout the summer while their parents work. This type of arrangement makes it more likely that kids will be able to attend summer programs – and stave off summer learning loss .

These four approaches help make summer learning programs more culturally responsive, accessible and inclusive. Over the next two years, our research will dive deeper into how districts strengthen equity-based practices and strategies to sustain them long term.

This article is republished from The Conversation , >, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.

• How community schools can beat summer learning loss for low-income students
• Year-round school: Difference-maker or waste of time?

Rhea Almeida does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Tier One Scholar Sruthi Mathews was selected to attend the Moscow Summer Intern Program (MSIP) held at Bauman Moscow State Technical University this summer. The workshop, titled Space Development: Theory and Practice, allows students from around the globe to learn about the Russian space program, technology and exploration.

Mathews, a UH biomedical engineering senior, was sponsored by Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy to attend the two-week workshop.

The Moscow Summer Intern Program develops international collaborations for science and engineering students to work together to design, manufacture, and operate space science projects, replicating the success and spirit of cooperation and innovation that formed the basis of the International Space Station.

Mathews was excited for the opportunity to learn firsthand from Russian engineers and cosmonauts, and to work with students from other countries.

“I’ve always been interested in space exploration,” Mathews said. “I never thought I’d get to work in the field of aerospace engineering, but I keep going back to it.” Mathews received a scholarship from NASA last year and sees many opportunities for Houston students interested in working at Johnson Space Center .

In addition to MSIP, Mathews’ summer studies include participation in the UH Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) . She is working under the guidance of biomedical engineering associate professor Kirill Larin in the biomedical optics lab. She uses Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to quantitate differences in growth between alcohol-exposed and control mice embryos. The imaging system is similar to an ultrasound, but uses light waves.

The potential for a career in aerospace engineering is well within reach for Mathews, who seeks to apply her background in biomedical engineering to the study of the effects of space travel. “People react a lot differently in space,” she said. “We don’t really know the long-term implications of having people up in space. We know short-term effects, but there’s still a lot of research to be done in space exploration.”

Share This Story:

Related news stories.

• Mission & History
• Dean's Office
• Faculty & Staff
• Student Organizations
• Executive Leadership Board
• Faculty Advisory Board
• Engineering Alumni Association
• NAE Members
• Faculty in the NAI
• Academic Advisors
• Faculty Awards and Achievements
• Strategic Plan
• Our Community
• Bylaws and Procedures
• Internal Resources
• ABET Accreditation
• Departments
• Technology Division
• Accreditation
• Academic Policies
• Admissions Contacts and Deadlines
• Certificate Programs
• Interdisciplinary Programs
• Best Dissertation Award
• Online Programs
• Continuing & Professional Education
• Scholarships
• UH Engineering in Katy
• Engineering Academies
• International Joint Institutes
• How to Engineer Your Future, Admissions & More
• Contact + Request Info
• Virtual Tour
• Resources for Current Students
• First-Year Experience
• Pathway Professor
• Engineering Career Center
• Engineering Computing Center
• NAE Grand Challenge Scholars Program
• Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ (VICEROY)
• Centers & Institutes
• Faculty Resources
• Sponsored Research Office
• Proposal Timeline
• Funding Opportunities
• Research Computing
• Industrial Relations
• Meet the Faculty
• Student Research
• Research News
• Technology Division Research
• Engineering Program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (EPIE)
• Women in Innovation
• Opportunities
• How to Give
• Office of Advancement
• Get Involved
• Alumni Events
• Alumni Stories
• Research Experience for Undergrads
• St. Elmo Brady STEM Academy
• Engineering Podcast
• Upcoming Events
• Publications
• Media Coverage
• Keep in Touch!
• Office of Communications