Undergraduate Summer Research

IRES (International Research Experience for Students):
         Field: Physics and Biophysics for STEM majors only
         Location: Hamburg Germany, June 9-Aug 15, 2025

Funding by the National Science Foundation is under evaluation for this program. If funding is approved, this program will run in summer 2025.

Application deadline: March 1^st, 2025

Purpose

The mission of this summer program is to enable undergraduates from colleges with limited research opportunities to work on important contemporary problems in science. This program will offer cross-disciplinary research experience with world-leading faculty mentors who apply the intellectual, experimental, or theoretical tools of the physical, mathematical, or engineering sciences to biological questions.

As of Dec. 1^st, 2024, funding for this program is still under evaluation at NSF. All applications are due March 1^st, 2025 even if a funding decision has not been made by that time. Review of applications will commence March 1, 2025 whether or not a funding decision is final. If funding is approved, it will commence in time for summer 2025.

Eligibility

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, a rule of the US Congress. We welcome applications of students who are from groups that are historically underrepresented in graduate education or STEM employment. Students from community colleges are especially encouraged to apply. Princeton University students are not eligible.

Eligible applicants must be continuing undergraduates during the fall term following the summer internship. Proof of continuing enrollment in a two- or four-year institution of higher education will be required prior to the research period. Receipt of an A.A. degree is not disqualifying.

All applications and inquiries are handled through our website. Direct all inquiries to the program administrative assistant, Kirsten Mahon, not to program directors or faculty mentors.

The IRES program seeks undergraduates who are in the freshman or sophomore year of study in chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, or physics who are interested in biology, and who are in top standing at their home institutions. IRES applications from students majoring in biology must provide evidence of very strong preparation in one of the above fields.

Program

Each student that is accepted into the program will serve as an assistant in the research group of a faculty member who acts as mentor and research advisor. See the Faculty page(IRES faculty list link) for a list of participating faculty members and their research areas. The program directors in consultation with training faculty match student interests to available faculty projects. Not all faculty or all projects are available in any given year; your rank-ordered list of faculty choices will be used to judge your interest areas for placement with an available faculty mentor.

Regular meetings with the faculty mentor and members of his or her team will provide guidance about research design, methods, and progress. Program participants typically give several brief, informal oral reports on their work during the course of the summer. By the end of the program, students also prepare a formal written report on their research and an oral summary in a slide presentation. Meetings with program directors and staff, daily during the first week and weekly thereafter, provide general guidance and explore related topics including scientific ethics, presentation skills, future opportunities including graduate programs, etc.

In addition to the faculty research mentor, participants will have guidance from an assigned day-to-day mentor in the research group.

The program is a full-immersion research experience and requires full-time commitment (minimum forty hours per week; no other commitments to jobs, courses, exam reviews, etc.).

Financial support

The program provides a 2025 stipend of $700 weekly, paid campus housing, and travel to and from the research site from your home or school location.

Applying

Summer 2025 Application Deadline: March 1, 2025
If official 2024 fall-term transcripts are not available by the application due date, submit an unofficial transcript. If you are selected for an internship, you will be asked to update your file with the official transcript. List all courses you are taking in Spring, 2025.

Freshmen are welcome to apply and may include, in ADDITION to ALL other application materials, an official high school transcript and up to one recommendation letter from their high school.

Application Preparation Checklist

1. Complete your application online and submit: https://etap.nsf.gov/award/7601/opportunity/10340
2. Scanned copies to upload via online application:
   • A scanned copy of your transcript.
   • A scanned copy of your currently valid health insurance card. Princeton University requires all participants to have valid health insurance throughout its programs.
   • A scanned copy of your proof of citizen/resident status (typically passport or permanent resident card; picture need not be included).

If you are a US citizen and do not hold a currently valid passport, please submit scanned copies of either:

1. • your expired US passport, OR
   • your birth certificate AND a currently valid state issued form of ID (e.g., driver’s license)

Photos need not be included.

1. Request three recommendation letters to be submitted by your letter writers directly to:
   Email: reu-rec@princeton.edu
   Subject: Recommendation for <your name>
   Letters must be received by March 1, 2025.

APPLY NOW

After Submitting Your Application

Your completed application and letters must be received no later than March  1, 2025.

If you do not receive a confirmation that your application was received contact Kirsten Mahon, email: km1418@princeton.edu

If your letter writers do not receive a confirmation that the recommendation letter was received, you should contact Kirsten Mahon on their behalf.

Faculty
All inquiries about the program should be directed to the program administrative assistant, Kirsten Mahon.

Please do not contact faculty or program directors.

Contact Us
Do not contact faculty mentors or program directors. For questions about the program please contact:

Kirsten Mahon
Program Administrative Assistant
Department of Chemistry
Frick Laboratory
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Phone: 609-258-4079
Email: km1418@princeton.edu

The faculty who lead the IRES program are:

Professor Jannette Carey, Ph.D.
Program Director
Department of Chemistry
Frick Laboratory
Princeton University
Princeton NJ 08544

Dr. Janina Sprenger
Co-Program Director
Staff Scientist
DESY, Hamburg