Science Center Summer Research Awards

Science Center Summer Research Awards

Every year, the Science Center offers Summer Research Awards to students looking to spend their summer doing scientific research at Wellesley. Please read the instructions below completely before applying.

Click here to learn about summer research opportunites for Wellesley College students at other institutions across the country!

Summer Research Dates: May 28-August 2, 2013 (For 10-week projects) OR June 3-August 2, 2013 (For 9-week projects)

Students must participate for the full 9- or 10-week program, depending on the laboratory they work in, including preparation of an abstract and poster for the summer research poster session. The poster session will be held on August 1, 2013.

Compensation: Students will receive a weekly housing/transportation allowance for a maximum of 9 weeks at $150/week (total: $1,350).  Summer stipends will be $325/week ($2,925 for 9-week programs; and $3,250 for 10-week programs). 

Stipends will be paid in three installments over the summer, contingent on the student successfully completing required program elements.

Students are responsible for all applicable taxes; please check with your tax advisor with questions as the College cannot answer questions related to your individual tax situation.

Summer Housing: Students are responsible for making their own housing arrangements. Find information about on-campus housing here.

NOTE: For Summer 2013, students participating in the 10-week summer program will be able to stay in their spring semester dorm rooms for the first week of the program.  Students will then have to move to the Summer Housing dorm for the remaining 9 weeks of the program.  As a result, students opting to live in campus housing for summer research will only need to pay for 9 weeks of housing (regardless of whether they participate in a 9- or 10-week summer program).

The Application Process:

The following information is tentative for the Summer 2013 Research Program.  Complete and updated information will be available on February 1, 2013.

Application site opens FEB 1st (do NOT attempt to enter information before this date): Log in to your MyWellesley portal and click the "Student" tab. In the "Administrivia" section, select the "Science Summer Research" link.  Alternatively, click here.

You will be asked to enter information in text boxes in the application; we recommend that you write this material off-line and cut-and-paste into the application.  You will be asked to enter user names for Wellesley references: make certain you enter this information correctly or your referees will not be notified to comment on your application.

Students may only apply for support for research either in an on-campus faculty laboratory or at an off-campus location.  You may submit only one application, so please choose your preferred location.  Support for off-campus research is extremely limited for summer 2013.  If you submit an application for off-campus support, you will need to include contact information for the supervisor of the laboratory you wish to work in.  Make certain this information is correct so that we can contact that person.

Application deadline: February 15, 2013 at 11PM Eastern time.

Letter of Recommendation due date: March 1, 2013 at 9AM Eastern time. Letters of Recommendation are required only for students applying to work at non-Wellesley locations.  Applicants are responsible for notifying recommenders of the deadlines and location of the application site. Faculty submitting letters of recommendation will be able to access the site AFTER it closes to students (Feb 15). They will also receive an email notification when the system is ready.

An application to work ON campus (at Wellesley) must include the following:

• Statement describing your post-graduation/career plans.
• Project selection: you must select at least one project that you'd like to work on during the summer. You have the option of selecting up to three projects. If you select more than one project, you should select them in order of preference. If you want additional information on any project, faculty members will be happy to discuss them with you.  Students are urged to discuss projects with faculty in advance of submitting an application. These discussions do not represent a commitment to accepting you into their laboratories for the summer. It is always to the applicant's advantage, however, to have spoken to the prospective supervisor before applying. The list of current faculty projects can be found here (accessible through Wellesley login only).
• Statement of Intent describing what you hope to accomplish by participating in summer research. Your statement of intent should describe how the project(s) you selected fit with your experience and goals.
• Names of two Wellesley College Faculty who are familar with your work and can offer recommendations about your potential for success in the summer research program (please ask faculty in advance of listing their names!).
• Optional: We hope to make the summer research program at Wellesley College representative of the diverse economic, ethnic, and occupational backgrounds of families in the United States. Describe any characteristics or other personal information about yourself that you wish to share with the review committee.
• Resume (one page) - you will be asked to upload a pdf
• Downloaded transcripts (Web Unofficial Transcripts from Banner) - upload as a pdf

For students seeking funding to work at an off-campus institution, a complete OFF campus application must include the following: 

• Statement describing your post-graduation/career plans.
• Project description:
• Statement of Intent describing what you hope to accomplish by participating in summer research. Your statement of intent should describe how the project(s) you selected fit with your experience and goals.
• Three letters of recommendation.  One letter must be from your off-campus project supervisor and must describe how the lab will involve you in research during the summer.  The other two letters will preferably be from Wellesley faculty members familiar with your prior work.
• Optional: We hope to make the summer research program at Wellesley College representative of the diverse economic, ethnic, and occupational backgrounds of families in the United States. Describe any characteristics or other personal information about yourself that you wish to share with the review committee.
• Resume (one page) - upload as pdf
• Downloaded transcripts (Web Unofficial Transcripts from Banner) - upload as pdf
  
   

Students considering off-campus research should note that you must also complete any application materials required of the off-campus program. The Wellesley application provides potential support for working at an off-campus location, but does not constitute acceptance into that program.  Note that Wellesley funding for off-campus research is available only to students accepted into an off-campus program that does not provide a summer stipend (you cannot receive a stipend from Wellesley if the program you are accepted to offers a stipend).  Support for such research is extremely limited.

The Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program (LSSURP) at the University of Minnesota will give special consideration to Wellesley students. Students interested in this opportunity should discuss projects with faculty at Minnesota.

Students may also apply to work at Boston Biomedical Research Institute an independent institute carrying out work in cell biology, especially motility, communication, and growth. If you are interested, check their web site.