Summer Research Opportunities

Summer research programs are held for 8 to 10 weeks at colleges, universities, laboratories, hospitals, and institutes across the country and abroad. They are usually intended for students after their sophomore or junior years of college, but there are an increasing number of programs that seek students after their first year. A student’s time at a summer research program is generally devoted to working in small groups with other undergraduate students on original research projects under the direction of a professional researcher.

Summer research programs usually pay each student a stipend of several thousand dollars to participate. In addition, they often cover travel and living expenses for the duration of the program and fund travel to present research at conferences.

Tips on applying to summer research programs

• Customize your application for each program. Indicate why you are specifically interested in that program.
• Many programs have special niches. For instance, they want to promote graduate school or they want to introduce laboratory skills to students who do not have much laboratory experience. Make sure your personal statement clearly highlights how you fit in this niche.
• Each program has different requirements for its participants, so pay close attention to them. For example, some programs expect their participants to have completed certain classes and the majority require U.S. citizenship.
• Emphasize your potential by mentioning any undergraduate research you have completed and any outstanding projects or term papers you have completed for your classes.
• Indicate any interest in graduate school that you may have. Note that programs in biological or medical fields generally prefer students who have an interest in graduate school rather than students who are strictly interested in medical school.
• Ask a professor in your major to read over your application materials.
• Every application will require recommendation letters. Do not wait until the last minute to request them from your professors!

Links to summer research opportunities on and off campus. 

• On Campus
  • DNA Computing Group
  • Dr. Albert H. & Greta A. Bryan Summer Research Program (Mathematics)
  • Simpson College Ecological Research Program
• Off Campus
  • Education and Social Sciences
    • Collaborations in Discipline-based Education Research 
    • “Hands-On, Minds-On”
    • ICPSR
    • Kentucky P20 Innovation
    • National Opinion Research Center 
  • Political Science
    • Research Experience for Undergraduates in Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science
  • Science, Technology, Mathematics, Neuroscience
    • Biomedical Research Apprenticeship Program (BioMedRAP) at Washington University in St. Louis (International students currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in the United States are encouraged to apply)
    • National Science Foundation list – (if you are in a science, technology, mathematics, or neuroscience field, you should start your search for a summer program by searching the NSF list)
    • American Mathematical Society list (AMS)
    • American Physiological Society list (APS)
    • American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology list (ASBMB)
    • Center for Disease Control list (CDC)
    • Department of Homeland Security list (DHS)
    • NASA list
    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory list (ORNL)
    • The Ohio State University SUCCESS (Summer Undergraduate Course Creating Excellence in Scientific Study) Program
    • University of Alabama at Birmingham Summer in Biomedical Sciences (SIBS) Undergraduate Research Program 
    • University of Alabama at Birmingham Preparation for Graduate and Medical Education (PARAdiGM) 
    • University of Iowa – biological and medical sciences list (UI-B&M)
    • University of Nebraska – Lincoln summer research programs
      • Applied Plant Systems 
      • Bioenergy Systems 
      • Biomedical Engineering 
      • Chemistry   
      • Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) 
      • Minority Health Disparities  
      • Redox Biology 
      • Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures in Rural Environments 
      • Systems Biology of Plant and Microbiome 
      • Virology
    • Virginia Bioinformatics Institute list (VBI)
    • EDGE for Women at Purdue University 
    • APS/IBM Research Internship for Undergraduate Women
    • Carleton College Summer Mathematics Program for Women
    • Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates
    • Gulf Cost Research Laboratory Summer Field Program
    • Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program
    • Statewide Land stewardship Internships
    • Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute Summer Program
    • Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship
    • MSCS Research Experiences for Undergraduates
    • National Center for Toxicological Research – U.S. Food and Drug Administration
    • National Undergraduate Fellowship Program in Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences
    • Real-World Research Experiences for Undergraduates (National Weather Center)
    • Rice University Summer Institute of Statistics
    • Roswell Park Cancer Institute
    • Sanford Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR)
    • Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program (Department of Energy)
    • Stowers Summer Scholars Program 
    • Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in the Biomedical Sciences
    • Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (Mayo Clinic)
    • Tackling the Environmental Grand Challenges of Engineering