Participating in a summer research program is a great way to expand your horizons and your network! This is a small collection of opportunities we've been able to curate. Please don't hesitate to reach out at ursoffice@duke.edu if you have other opportunities you think we should list on this page.
Typical Application Components
- Transcripts
- Strong performance in topic area; if not, address any “red flags” in your personal statement
- Letters of Recommendation (2-3)
- Pick professors who know you both personally and academically
- Personal Statement
- Share details about your research interests and experiences, your motivations (your WHY), and a bit of background info about yourself
Summer Research personal statement guide:
General Duke Opportunities
URS Office's Summer Opportunities
- Trinity Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (T-SUMR) Fellowship
- The Trinity Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (T-SUMR) Fellowship (formerly called the Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF)) supports the engagement of Trinity undergraduate students in immersive research and inquiry over the summer as they work towards Graduation with Distinction. The goal of the T-SUMR Fellowship is to provide an opportunity to students for full-time research engagement for 6 or 10 weeks, either on or off campus. T-SUMR can support faculty-mentored research in any discipline in the humanities, social sciences and STEM fields and is open to Duke undergraduate students enrolled for following fall semester.
- Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
- Students who have never engaged in research but have a true passion in learning about the research process and working with a mentor on a project are especially encouraged to apply.
- NOTE: We are pausing the URS-run SURF Program for Summer 2026 as we work with Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Leadership to develop a strategic plan to sustain undergraduate research across departments and disciplines. Be sure to check the DSE database(link opens in a new window/tab) to find various opportunities for summer research across campus.
- Students who have never engaged in research but have a true passion in learning about the research process and working with a mentor on a project are especially encouraged to apply.
Duke Experiential Education's Summer Opportunities Database for Research Programs at Duke:
General STEM Summer Program Opportunities for non-Duke undergraduate students
Listing of undergraduate summer research opportunities across STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) and Healthcare disciplines at Duke University.
General STEM Summer Research Opportunities List
- AAMC Summer Research Programs List (by institution)
- NSF Database* (*Prioritize students from non-research-intensive institutions)
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Summer Research Program Database
- Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program
- Pathways to Science Database (search by region, discipline, institution etc) – Biomedical, Math, Engineering, Computer Science, etc.
- Research Internships in Science and Engineering in Germany
- NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research
- HHMI Cech Fellows Program
Department of Energy National Laboratories
17 laboratories comprise a federal research system, providing the Nation with strategic scientific and technological capabilities to execute long-term government scientific and technological missions and develop unique, often multidisciplinary, scientific capabilities beyond the scope of academic and industrial institutions.
Ames, Argonne, Brookhaven, Fermi, Idaho, Lawrence Berkely, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, National Energy Technology, National Renewable Energy, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, Princeton Plasma, Sandia, Savannah River, SLAC National Accelerator, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
Topic Areas:
- Advanced and Sustainable Energy
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- Genomics
- High Performance Computing
- Large Scale Scientific Instrumentation
- Quantum Information Science
Quick Links:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL):
Duke has a collaboration with ORNL and will hold an internal call for applications for students to be nominated for their summer research program (details available by December 1).
List of Social Science Opportunities
Pacific University of Oregon has a list of resources on their site:
Arts and Humanities Opportunities
Be sure to check with each program on their requirements as each has its own criteria.
- US-UK Summer Fulbright Institutes: 3-4 weeks in length, programs from UK institutions revolve but usually touch on arts, humanities fields with some in creative industries/innovation and social justice. Open only to rising Sophomores or rising Juniors.
- Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute: In previous summers they have offered summer undergraduate research fellowship with funding from the Mellon Foundation.
- Smithsonian Institute Internships: Frequently offered in Art History, Natural History, Material Culture, archival conservation, Folklore & Culture, Community Outreach. Start researching in January.
- Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program: SR-EIP offers a range of arts/humanities programs to explore research at the graduate level connected to CalTech, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Tufts, U Chicago, UVA, Vanderbilt & Yale.
- Michigan Humanities Emerging Research Scholars Program (MICHHERS Rackham): Small stipend but other expenses paid. Program has a rotating focus of disciplines open to prospective arts/humanities students. For summer 2024 the options are for students interested in the fields of Asian Languages and Cultures, Classical Studies, Comparative Literature, History, Linguistics, Romance Languages and Literatures, Sociology (qualitative), and Women’s and Gender Studies (any humanities field, especially English and History). You’ll need to attend a workshop (3 date options between November and January) and applications open November 27 and close February 12, 2024.
- American Bar Foundation Summer Research Fellowship
- Pacific University of Oregon's List of other Arts & Humanities Opportunities
International Student Opportunities
Handy informal list of programs and resources compiled by the University of Michigan Career Center: