Non-Williams Summer Research Opportunities

Summer Research Opportunities on University Campuses

Summer research opportunities are a great way for sophomores and juniors to conduct research at another university or institution. These programs typically require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency (with a few exceptions). Programs take place during the summer and are typically eight to ten weeks long. They are a great opportunity for students to meet new faculty, conduct innovative research, collaborate with peers, and foster new mentor relationships. Most programs have application deadlines in January through March and award stipends for living expenses. Click on the links below to find out more about each individual program.

 

Program Listings

Multiple Regions

American Economic Association Summer Program and Minority Scholarship Program
The American Economic Association’s Summer Program and Minority Scholarship Program is now based at Michigan State University. A program begun in 1974, the AEA Summer Program seeks to prepare talented undergraduates for doctoral programs in Economics and related disciplines, by offering a unique opportunity for students to gain technical skills in Economics, and conduct research with prominent faculty.

AEA Committee on the Status of Minorities in the Economics Profession
The AEA established the Mentoring Program to support under-represented minorities in entering and/or completing doctorate degrees in economics. Mentoring Program matches African-American, Latino, and Native American economics Ph.D. students with mentors in the field, and also facilitates networking between minority economists and students at all stages of the educational pipeline. This website has more information, current and past participants, mentors, conferences, resources for economists and students, and other helpful information about minorities in the field of economics.

American Psychological Association (APA) Undergraduate Research Opportunities & Internships

Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) SROP

This program is a gateway to graduate education at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities. The goal of the program is to increase the number of underrepresented students who pursue graduate study and research careers. SROP helps prepare undergraduates for graduate study through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors and enrichment activities.

The Leadership Alliance

The Leadership Alliance offers summer research experiences in all academic disciplines. SR-EIP participants are engaged in scholarly research projects at 20 member institutions and one corporate partner. Programs involve weekly seminars and regularly scheduled field trips and social and cultural activities.

National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates:

The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation.

C3 Undergraduate Fellowships

C3 Undergraduate Fellowships provide rising juniors and seniors from LADO colleges with paid and mentored graduate-level, research experience, plus training about applying to and succeeding in graduate school. Undergraduate fellows experience a new academic and social environment in dynamic and diverse regions of the country by spending eight to nine weeks working with faculty mentors, graduate student mentors, and fellow undergraduate summer researchers at Columbia University; University of California, Berkeley; the University of Chicago; or the University of Michigan.

 

Northeast

Columbia University: Summer Research Program (SRP)

This program expose underrepresented students to graduate-level academic research so that they can begin to view the academy as a viable and realistic career path and to address the shortage of underrepresented minorities in doctoral study. The SRP promotes and develops skills that are necessary for success in doctoral study as students receive an introduction to the rigors and pleasures of advanced academic work.

Junior Fellows Summer Internship Program

The Library of Congress Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program enables undergraduate and graduate students to experience the integrated analog and digital collections and services of the world’s largest, all-inclusive library. Working under the direction of Library curators and specialists in various divisions, fellows explore digital initiatives and increase access to the institution’s unparalleled collections and resources. Fellows are exposed to a broad spectrum of library work: copyright, preservation, reference, access, and information technology. In the past, summer fellows have identified hundreds of historical, literary, artistic, cinematic and musical gems representing the Library’s rich cultural, creative and intellectual assets. No previous experience is necessary, but fellowships are competitive and special skills or knowledge are usually desired. Selections are based on academic achievement, reference calls, and an interview with a selection official.  The program was converted to a virtual program in 2020 and will be conducted again online in 2021.

MIT Summer Research Program

MSRP facilitates the involvement of talented undergraduate students in research aspects of the fields of engineering and science-particularly those who are underrepresented in these fields. This summer program seeks to identify talented college sophomores, juniors and non-graduating seniors from around the country who could benefit from spending a summer on MIT’s campus, working in a research laboratory under the guidance of experienced scientists and engineers.

Rutgers English Diversity Institute (REDI)

REDI is a week-long program designed to encourage current students and recent graduates from diverse cultural, economic, and ethnic backgrounds to consider graduate study in Literatures in English. Students will learn about the different subfields in English and American literature, and emerging fields and approaches, from Rutgers University faculty.

Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute

The Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute encourages minority students and others with an interest in African-American, African, and African Diasporan Studies to pursue PhDs in the humanities. The program offers a six-week session for ten undergraduate rising seniors.

Yale University: Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

The SURF Program is intended for students with a strong desire to pursue research careers at the Ph.D. level. The program is particularly interested in identifying and providing research experience to talented underrepresented minority students.

 

South

University of Georgia: Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)

SURP offers undergraduates the opportunity to work closely with faculty in an intensive summer research experience. This eight-week long program gives undergraduate students first hand exposure to the experiences of graduate school and faculty life by placing them with faculty whose work is closely related to their academic interests and professional goals.

University of Louisville: Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP)

SROP provides undergraduate students who would like to know more about graduate-level education with a 10-week research experience in departments that offers graduate degrees. Mentors will guide students on individualized research projects and the program will provide group seminars on topics related to research and graduate education.

University of Maryland College Park: Summer Research Initiative (SRI)

Participants in the SRI will work side-by-side with a faculty mentor on a guided research project, attend weekly seminars and visit local research institutions in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area.

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill: 
Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program

MURAP is a graduate-level research experience for highly talented undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds who are interested in pursuing doctorates in the humanities, social sciences, or fine arts. MURAP aims to foster the entrance of students from underrepresented minority groups, as well as others with a proven commitment to diversity, into PhD programs and faculty positions in academia.   

University of Texas at Austin: Research Experience for Undergraduates Program

The University of Texas at Austin hosts a number of undergraduate research programs on campus each summer. These programs select academically talented and motivated students to participate in exciting research in a variety of disciplines. Please contact each program directly for more information about eligibility, application, and deadlines. Many of these programs are funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program.

University of Texas at San Antonio: The African American Literatures and Cultures Institute


The University of Texas at San Antonio African American Literatures and Cultures Institute cultivates students to join the US professoriate by providing research stipends, rigorous mentoring, and innovative academic training. The program responds to the pressing need for diversifying all areas of US higher education — from graduate study to academic research through administrative leadership.

Midwest

Big Ten Academic Alliance SROP

All fields of research at Northwestern are open to SROP participants including the social sciences and humanities, physical sciences, chemical and biological sciences, technology, math and engineering fields.

Purdue University: Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)

The Purdue SROP has the goal of enhancing diversity in academic, government, and industry positions that require graduate degrees. It is our aim to encourage talented undergraduate students from social and economic backgrounds that are underrepresented in research careers to pursue graduate education, and to enhance their preparation for graduate study.

University of Michigan Humanities Emerging Research Scholars Program

The Michigan Humanities Emerging Research Scholars Program (MICHHERS) is designed to encourage rising seniors, recent B.A.s and terminal Master’s students from diverse cultural, economic, geographic, and ethnic backgrounds to consider pursuing a doctoral degree in humanities at the University of Michigan.

University of Michigan: Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP)

This program is designed for outstanding undergraduate students who are underrepresented in their field of study. The goal of this program is to provide students with the opportunity to conduct an intensive graduate level research project with faculty and graduate students at the University of Michigan. This 8-week program, held on the Ann Arbor campus, culminates in a research symposium where each participant presents their research project.

University of Chicago: **MMUF Summer Research Training Program

The MMUF Summer Research Training Program prepares rising junior and senior undergraduate students for graduate study by enhancing their critical and analytical thinking capacities, developing their scholarly writing and presentation skills, introducing them to methodology and research design relevant to their areas of study. **For current MMUF Fellows only.

American Bar Foundation: Montgomery Summer Research Diversity Fellowships in Law and Social Science for Undergraduate Students

The American Bar Foundation sponsors a program of summer research fellowships to interest undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in pursuing graduate study in the social sciences. The summer program is designed to introduce students to the rewards and demands of a research-oriented career in the field of law and social science. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the American Bar Foundation is an independent nonprofit research institute dedicated to the study of law, legal institutions, and legal processes. The Foundation conducts empirically based research on a broad range of civil and criminal justice issues. Current research areas include: professionalism and the transformation of the legal profession in the United States and abroad, the dynamics of employment discrimination disputes, the impact of civil rights law on the economic progress of minorities, jury decision making, public interest lawyering and social reform, historical analyses of labor, group libel, and regulatory law, and the role of law in racial relations, postcolonial settings, and globalization. The Foundation’s research is conducted by a multidisciplinary resident research faculty with academic training in law, sociology, psychology, political science, economics, history, and anthropology. Many ABF Research Professors hold joint appointments at Chicago-area universities. Recognized as a major institution in the field of law and social science, the Foundation offers a rich environment to students considering an academic or research career.

University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign: Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers a summer research program that provides undergraduate students from populations underrepresented in graduate study at Illinois with an opportunity to explore careers in research. The program at Illinois provides each student with an experience that will help strengthen his or her knowledge, skills, and understanding of graduate school. The many activities offered through the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) will afford participants an opportunity to establish important relationships with faculty in their respective fields of study, conduct graduate-level research under the supervision of a renowned University of Illinois faculty member, become acquainted with the culture of graduate school, and to learn what is needed and expected of them as graduate students in their discipline at the University of Illinois.

 

West

CalTech WAVE Fellows Program

WAVE aims to foster diversity by increasing the participation of underrepresented students in science and engineering Ph.D. programs and making Caltech’s programs more visible and accessible to students not traditionally exposed to Caltech. The program is extended, but not limited, to underrepresented minorities, women, first-generation college students, geographically underrepresented students, educationally or financially disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.

Sevilleta Research Experience for Undergraduates Program

This program trains up to 10 undergraduate students who will conduct independent research under the guidance of a University of New Mexico faculty mentor from Biology and/or Earth and Planetary Sciences. We welcome applications from students at four year colleges, students that are the first member of their family to attend college, non-traditional students, and students from traditionally underrepresented groups.

Stanford Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP),
Stanford University

This program sponsors several paid summer research programs designed to encourage students from underserved and underrepresented groups in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to consider doctoral study. Undergraduates work for eight weeks under a faculty research mentor in order to gain theoretical knowledge and practical training in academic research and scientific experimentation.

University of Arizona- Summer Research Institute 

The Summer Research Institute (SRI) offers you an outstanding opportunity to learn how to conduct research, enjoy your summer, and prepare for graduate studies at The University of Arizona (UA), a highly-ranked Research Extensive (Research I) Land Grant institution with a large multicultural student body and over 200 graduate programs in a myriad of fields. The program, fully sponsored by the University of Arizona, has been in existence for 20 years. Over 75% of participants have gone on to graduate, medical, law and other post-baccalaureate programs, both at The University of Arizona and at other prestigious universities.  Many have already obtained a graduate or professional degree.

University of California Berkeley: Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) 

The SROP program offers research experience through mentorship with faculty or advanced graduate students for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. It is an eight-week program that offers a summer stipend, travel expenses and GRE preparation.

University of California Irvine: Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

UCI’s unique Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program offers undergraduate diversity students with outstanding academic potential an opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors on research projects. The program provides students who plan to pursue a Ph.D. degree and enter academic careers with the tools needed to facilitate the application, admission, and enrollment process for graduate school. The program is open to virtually all academic fields (e.g., arts, education, humanities, social sciences, social ecology, biological sciences, engineering, computer science, physical science, etc.).

UCLA Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research

UCLA’s Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) provide diverse undergraduate students with the chance to work side-by-side with faculty mentors on various research projects.  The programs, available in nearly every academic field, are intended for students who plan to pursue academic careers in instruction or individual research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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