Summer Research

On Campus

During the beautiful Berkshire summer, a few dozen students are hired for up to 10 weeks to work with individual Biology faculty members on the faculty members’ research projects.  Most of these students spend their summer doing research at Williams College but some accompany their faculty mentor to field sites.

Information on applying for a summer research position (Williams students only):

  • Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors are welcome to apply.
  • A lab open house and information session is held during January to provide you with an opportunity to learn about the research opportunities available.  After attending the open house and researching which labs you may be interested in, you should make an appointment to meet with each faculty member with whom you may want to work.
  • Fill out and submit the Summer Research Application Form.

 


Whitehead Scholars Program

Through the generosity of John Whitehead (class of 1967), an endowed program was established to support an academic collaboration between Williams College and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA. As part of this program, two positions are available to sophomores to participate as interns at the Whitehead Institute for a ten-week research experience during the summer and a subsequent four week term during Winter Study.

The Whitehead Institute is ranked as one of the top three biomedical research institutions in the world, and has an outstanding scientific staff. Each student selected to participate in this program will work in a Whitehead faculty member’s lab. In addition to a summer stipend, housing (in MIT dorms during the summer and a local hotel in January) will be provided.

For further information about this program, please contact Professor Lois Banta by e-mail.

To Apply:

Interested students should apply by submitting the following information:

  • Name, class, and intended major
  • A list of science courses taken at Williams
  • Any previous research experience, and future plans

Please designate “Whitehead Science Program” at the top of the submission and email completed application to Lois Banta in early February (TBD).

 


Fred Hutch Summer Research Program

About the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)

The SURP is an intensive, 9-week internship designed to provide research experience and mentorship for rising-senior undergraduate students who are interested in biomedical research.  Under the guidance of a faculty mentor, students will:

  • Complete an independent research project;
  • Attend weekly research seminars;
  • Participate in professional development workshops designed to facilitate the preparation of competitive applications for graduate/medical school; and
  • Present their findings at a competitive poster session.

The program runs from Monday, June 12 through Friday, August 112023.

An online application is available on the SURP website. Applications are due by midnight Pacific Standard Time (PST) Friday, January 6, 2023. Letters of recommendation are due by midnight Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Friday, January 13, 2023. 

 


Other Summer Opportunities

Many students apply for summer research positions elsewhere and end up working in labs or at field sites at other institutions (MIT, NIH, Princeton, University of Washington, Harvard University, etc.).  If you are interested in opportunities to do research at other institutions:

  • take a look at the websites for institutions at which you might like to work—search for “summer undergraduate research” or “SURF” to see what opportunities might be available.
  • check out the resources at ’68 Center for Career Exploration
  • look at this catalog of biomedical research internships offered nationwide for high school, undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, graduate, and first-year medical students.
  • look at this fairly comprehensive list maintained by a colleague at RIT:   http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/