A key factor in my decision to go to graduate school to pursue a PhD and a career doing research were my experiences in summer research programs at the University Michigan and Johns Hopkins University. As one way of paying it forward, I’ve compiled a list of similar summer programs across the US. As I am a social scientist, the focus is on programs for undergraduates interested in possibly pursuing a career conducting social science research (e.g., sociology, economics, political science, public health, psychology, etc.). Nonetheless, some of the programs below are general and open to students interested in pursuing PhDs not only in the social sciences but also natural sciences, math, engineering, and the humanities. Regardless of your field of interest, these programs will provide you with a glimpse into what life as an academic is like and can, thereby, be useful in helping you decide if a PhD is the right path for you.
Communications, Information Science, and Human-Computer Interaction
General
Big 10 Summer Research Opportunity Progam
The Leadership Alliance’s Summer Research Early Identification Program
Political Science
Psychology
Public Health + Epidemiology
CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars (CUPS) Program
- Kennedy Krieger Institute (three locations)
- Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University
- The University of South Dakota/Sanford School of Medicine Center for Disabilities
- University of California, Davis
- Moorehouse College – Project IMHOTEP
Columbia University – Biostatistics Epidemiology Summer Training
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Fostering Advancement & Careers through Enrichment Training in Science (FACETS)
- Summer Internships in Biological Sciences in Public Health
- Summer Program in Biostatistics & Computational Biology
- Summer Program in Epidemiology
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research
University of Pennsylvania – GEAR-UP