Summer Programs

Students will spend 10 weeks participating in bench (or in special circumstances, non-bench research) projects and attend weekly seminars/luncheons highlighting cancer research and career development. Students will also participate in a weekly journal club aimed at instructing participants how to critique scientific literature. At the end of the summer, all participants will present the outcomes of their research projects at a capstone poster session where prizes will be awarded for the top three presentations and each participant will receive a certificate of participation. Interested applicants should complete the online application and upload a Personal Statement (“Essay”) and an unofficial academic transcript. Two letters of recommendation are also required that will be submitted by individuals listed as references. Applicants must provide a personal statement describing their career goals, their interest in research in general and cancer research in particular as well as any prior research experience. Although prior research experience is preferred, this is not a requirement. To be considered, all applicants must commit to completing the program if selected.

Apply to the CPRIT Summer Undergraduate Cancer Research Scholar Program

 The  Department of Pharmacology  has a ten-week summer research program which offers participants a variety of experiences that will help prepare them for success in research-intensive doctoral programs.

Participants will have research responsibilities, attend seminars, actively participate in a student journal club and take part in formal coursework. Applicants to the summer program must be classified as undergraduate students, have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, and have completed at least one semester each of college-level biology and chemistry by the end of the spring semester of the year of application.

Apply to the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

SPURRS is a program designed to encourage talented college students to pursue careers in medicine and medical research related to the kidneys and urinary tract. Kidney disease is a very common problem, affecting about 15% of people in the US and is a common complication of such illnesses as diabetes and heart disease. Treatments for kidney disease are currently limited, and many patients may progress to need either kidney dialysis or kidney transplantation. Further research into the causes and cures of kidney disease is urgently needed. Funded by a grant from the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the University of Texas Health School of Medicine in San Antonio is offering undergraduate students opportunities to work with a faculty mentor on a summer research project. In addition to working on a research project, and learning hands-on laboratory techniques, students will participate in seminars and conferences with other students, physicians and scientists to learn about how kidneys work and what causes them to fail. At the end of the summer, students will join students from other research sites around the country at a research symposium to present their summer research findings and participate in career development activities. The program is excellent preparation for students with a goal of attending medical or graduate school and an interest in helping in the battle against kidney disease.

Apply to the SPURRS Research Mentorship Program

Research demonstrates that mentoring relationships are strongly correlated with trainees’ success in pursuing research careers, especially for students from backgrounds underrepresented in science. Therefore, the UT Health San Antonio Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) at the Long School of Medicine is offering an undergraduate summer research program focused on the mentee-mentor relationship for students from backgrounds shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research (African Americans,  Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans/Alaska Natives who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment, Hawaiian Natives and natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands, and others, as defined by the NIH here),

This exciting 10-week undergraduate research program provides “hands-on” research experience for outstanding and highly-motivated college students interested in research careers in the biomedical sciences. The program targets students who are science majors and have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies (i.e. who will be rising juniors and seniors in 2019/2020 academic year) with a complement of basic course work in the sciences. Each student will be  assigned to a faculty member under whose direction she/he will carry out a specific research project designed to yield new research findings.

Apply to the PRIMERA Research Mentorship Program