HHMI Summer Research Program
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has awarded the University of Richmond a $1.4 million grant for a project to integrate teaching and research across several undergraduate science disciplines. A portion of these funds will be used each year to provide at least five summer research stipends to graduating high school students who are accepted by, and will enroll at, the University. Research stipends will be in the amount of $1,500 plus an additional allowance to cover the entire cost of on-campus housing, meals and campus activities during the week and off-campus excursions on the weekends.
The summer research experience will introduce students to the campus, the research process and individual faculty research projects, and will match individual students with faculty research teams. Each student will be paired with an experienced student team member who will serve as a peer mentor. During the research experience, students will perform hands-on experimentation under the guidance of a UR science professor. Participants will work with state-of the-art equipment, learn various scientific techniques, gain experience with formulating and testing hypotheses and will learn how to critically read, evaluate and discuss scientific literature.
The research experience will take place July to August of each year.
Eligibility
High school seniors who have received and accepted an offer of admission from the University are eligible. Preference will be given to students from underrepresented groups in science.
Science at Richmond
The University has undertaken an ambitious science initiative that will generate a series of science program enhancements totaling more than $60 million over the next few years, intended to make Richmond a first choice college for top science students in America. A recently completed $35 million renovation of the Gottwald Center for the Sciences incorporates the latest technology and research equipment.
The science initiative includes the creation of five interdisciplinary centers for scientific discovery in material science, environmental science, neuroscience, biological chemistry and nuclear and particle physics. Program enhancements also include the addition of 18 new science faculty, greater emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, a new major in biochemistry and molecular biology, and innovative science classes.
Research Areas
UR science faculty are engaged in research in the following areas:
- Neuroscience
- Evolution
- Cell and molecular biology
- Cancer
- Ecology
- Oceanography
- Developmental biology
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Botany
- Chemical dynamics
- Biochemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Biosensor development
- Organometallic chemistry
- Biosynthetic chemistry
- DNA damage and repair
- Computational AIDS and cancer drug design
- Cosmology
- Nuclear physics
- Solid-state physics
- Particle physics
- Infrared radiative transfer
- Programming language design
- Number theory
- Artificial life
- Database systems
- Statistical computing
- Computer networks
- Computer simulation
- Computer architecture
- Computer security
How to Apply
Students who wish to be considered for a summer research stipend should contact Dr. John Vaughan. Annual deadlines will be posted as they become available. Students will be notified of their acceptance into the program by early June.