Summer Research Opportunities
Why should I participate?
- Gain more research experience
- Get paid for your research
- Live in a different state or country for a summer
- Meet people who are as passionate about your field as you
General things to keep in mind if you are interested in summer research:
- Most programs require or strongly encourage at least one year of research experience prior to beginning the summer program.
- Plan ahead! Try to at least spend your junior year doing undergraduate research at MNSU so you can spend your summer before you graduate in a research program. More ideally, however, you would already have one year of research under your belt before applying.
- Programs may require current status as an undergraduate (i.e. if you graduated in May, you may not qualify for the summer program).
- Deadlines for programs usually vary from November through February prior to the summer you are interested in doing research, so have a running list of the programs you wish to apply to and all of their requirements early in the fall.
- Almost all programs will require multiple recommendation letters- be proactive and ask for these very early in the fall semester.
- Apply for many programs (at least 10). It is not uncommon to apply for 10-15 programs and only receive 1-2 acceptances.
Why should I participate in a summer research program?
- Drastically improves your chances of acceptance into graduate programs, primarily those that will involve research (e.g. Master's, PhD, and MD/PhD programs).
- Provides you with greater research experience, tools, and preparation for furthering your education in graduate programs.
- If you research at an academic institution, you can develop relationships with faculty and admissions counselors to improve your chances of acceptance into that institution.
- Expand your job resume in demonstrating your ability to problem-solve and work in a team setting, as well as improve your public speaking skills through dissemination of your project.
- Many programs provide the chance for students to be paid to live in and experience a new city, state, or country.
This is not an exhaustive list of programs. If you don't see one in a university, location, or topic you're interested in, a quick internet search should let you know what other opportunities exist.
Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Health Sciences
- Life Science Summer Undergraduate Research Program (LSURP), University of Minnesota
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington State University, St. Louis
- Diversity Summer Internship Program, Johns Hopkins University
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute Internship Program, Harvard University
- Interdisciplinary Summer Undergraduate Research Program, University of Iowa
- Integrative Organismal Systems Physiology (IOSP) Fellowship, The American Psychological Society
- Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI), US Department of Energy
- Amgen Scholars Program of Science and Biotechnology - program locations vary (United States- Harvard, UCLA, Washington University, NIH, Caltech, Duke, Columbia, Johns Hospkins, Yale, UT Southwestern, Berkeley, Stanford, UCSF; Europe; Asia; Canada; Australia).
- Marine Sciences Summer Program, University of Delaware
- Medical Education Development Program (MED), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Summer Research Institute, University of Arizona
- Minority Awards Program, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
- Program Health Emergency Medicine, NYU Langone Health
- Programs in Biomedical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Quantitative and Physical Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (QP-SURF), UT Southwestern Medical Center
- National Science Foundation Summer Programs
- Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Sciences (PIPES), University of Hawaii, Hilo
- Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Microbiology, University of Iowa
- REU in Ecology, Evolution, and Genomics, Kansas St. University
- Agriculture and Life Sciences-George Washington Carver Internship, Iowa State University
- Research in Prokaryotic Biology, University of Georgia
Psychology
- Integrative Organismal Systems Physiology (IOSP) Fellowship, The American Psychological Society
- Summer Psychology Research Internship Program, Pace University
- Boston University Summer Term Psychology and Social Policy Track
- Summer Program on Mind and Brain, Colorado State University
- Educational Psychology and Applied Developmental Science, University of Virginia
- Behavioral and Social Sciences Summer Program, University of Maryland
- Summer Undergraduate Research Program, UC Irvine
- Arts and Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Columbia University
Engineering and Math
- Solar Energy Research for the Terawatt Challenge, Arizona State University
- Integrated Nanomanufacturing, Boston University
- UAV Technologies Summer Research Experience, California State Polytechnic University
- Advanced Sustainable Systems and Environmental Technologies, Clarkson University
- Solid State Devices for Electronics, Photonics, and Magnetics Technology, Clemson University
- Engineering and Computing in Rehabilitative and Assistive Technologies, Cleveland State University
- List of Engineering Summer Programs Provided by the National Science Foundation
- Summer Programs by Mathematical Association of America
- MIT Mathematics Programs
- Department of Applied Mathematics Summer Research Opportunities, University of Illinois, Chicago
- Harvard Mathematics Department Summer Program
- Math Summer Research Program, University of California, Santa Barbara
- Mathematical Science Undergraduate Research Programs, Carnegie Mellon University
Art
- Arts and Sciences Summer Research, Columbia University
- Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, University of Washington
- Arts and Humanities Undergraduate Research Programs, Pacific University of Oregon
- Art and Art History Internship and Fellowship Opportunities
- Arts Administration Internship Program, Stanford University
- Summer Research in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Fine Arts, College of the Holy Cross
- Americans for the Arts Internships
- Summer Scholars and Artists Program, Binghamton University, NY
- Office of the Arts Summer Internship Award, Hunter College
- Research in Arts Scholarship Program, University of South Florida
Geography and Geology
- Geography and GIScience Internships
- Geography Research Opportunities, Ohio State University
- American Association of Geographers Student Opportunites
- Interdisciplinary Geospatial Approaches to Watershed Science, University of Iowa
- Global Studies and Geography Internships, Hofstra University
- Geography, Environment, and Society Internships, University of Minnesota
- National Geographic Society Internships
- Human-Environment Research Observatory (HERO) Program, Clark University
- Geology Summer Research Opportunities, Amherst College
- NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Summer Internship
- Summer Undergraduate Research in Geoscience and Engineering, Stanford University
- Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Geosciences
- Earth and Planetary Science Internships
- Geology Summer Research Programs