Returning to the OSU main campus for its fifth year, the Ohio Five-OSU Summer Undergraduate Research Experience will offer up to 30 research internships exclusively for Ohio Five students. The 2022 program will include new opportunities in microbiology, adding to internships in chemistry and biochemistry, statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, physics, and mathematics offered previously. After two years of a reduced virtual internship offering necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 program will be the largest in the SURE program’s history. The collaboration is made possible with the joint support of The Ohio State University Colleges of Arts & Sciences and Public Health and The Five Colleges of Ohio.
The 10-week program, offered from May 23 – July 29, 2022, will partner OSU faculty members with Ohio Five interns who will conduct individual projects that contribute to the faculty members’ research priorities. At OSU, students will gain experience working in an R-1 university laboratory alongside senior faculty and OSU undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, an ideal introduction to the graduate school research experience. Students will conclude their internships at a capstone event at OSU where they will present their research to OSU faculty and faculty and academic deans from their home institution, followed by a presentation at their college early in the fall semester.
Participants in the program credit their summer experience with building their skills and confidence in developing independent research projects, using advanced lab techniques, and presenting their research to peers. Working in an R-1 environment with a mentor, leading research projects, and experiencing “the independence and trial and error of being an experimentalist” topped their lists of program attributes. “Learning what research in my field actually entails in practice was very beneficial for me,” one student commented, “I learned a lot by being pushed out of my comfort zone intellectually.”
The program is open to currently enrolled students at The College of Wooster, Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, or Ohio Wesleyan University with a special focus on students completing their sophomore and junior years. Students may be from any major, but are expected to have completed foundational coursework in the proposed area of research. Those who initiate research projects they wish to continue may be invited to continue these activities with OSU following the internship. The program is especially suited to students interested in a graduate degree in the sciences that they may consider pursuing at OSU.
Students will work 38 hours per week at $13.15 per hour, earning approximate gross wages of $5,000 (increased from $4,000 offered in 2021) for the anticipated full 10 weeks of full-time research, though individual mentors may adjust the contract term based on their research programs’ needs. Housing for participants is included.
Ohio Five invites student applications, including a cover letter, resume, transcript, and faculty recommendation, which are due by February 15, 2022 and may be submitted through the Ohio Five online application. Successful candidates will be notified in late March.
For more information about the program, please visit the Ohio Five-OSU SURE Program website.