Research in Sciences Summer Program FAQ

If you have any additional questions about the Research in Sciences summer program, please reach out to Anika (adane@wesleyan.edu).

  • Eligibility

    The Research in Sciences summer program is open to First Years, Sophomores, and Juniors currently enrolled at Wesleyan University. Students may apply for a fellowship each year and may receive funding for more than one summer.

    Fellows work with faculty mentors affiliated with Archaeology, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Enironmental Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Neuroscience and Behavior, Physics, Psychology, and the College of Design and Engineering Studies. You must have a faculty mentor and a research proposal to apply. 

  • Application Requirements
    You will be asked to provide:
    • A short essay describing your research interests, any previous experience, and how a summer research experience relates to your academic and professional goals (500 words)
    • A draft title of your proposed independent research project
    • A concise description of your proposed independent research project (300 words)
    • A copy of your Academic History (unofficial transcript)
    • The name, department, and email of your proposed faculty mentor
      • Faculty mentors will be asked to complete a reference form supporting your proposal. For the summer of 2026, faculty affected by the move into New Science will be expected to provide a plan for research when their lab space is not available.

    Applications for the CIS Research in Science fellowship are collected through submittable. The application will open in January 2026 and close March 6, 2026.

  • Application Help

    The application is hosted on Submittable, a social impact platform being used by Wesleyan's Gordon Career Center. Please follow the directions below to begin. 

    • Create a free Submittable account or sign in 
    • You can save a draft of your work if you would like to finish filling out the application at a later date.
    • Please note: Mentors will be notified of your request through your application in Submittable, and all must submit their statements by March 6. Your requests can and should be sent through Submittable as soon as you know who you will ask, to give your mentor time to complete and submit the forms by the deadline. As noted above: In Submittable you can send your mentor requests and save a draft of your work at any time, if you would like to finish filling out the application at a later date.
    • If anything changes with the information you submitted, please request to edit the submission. Edits can only be made prior to the deadline.
    • We will follow-up with you about your submission by email. Please be sure to safelist notification emails from Submittable and check the email you used to sign up for your Submittable account regularly. Check out the Submitter Resource Center or reach out to Submittable's customer support team with any technical questions here.
  • Program Requirements
    Research fellows are expected to:
    • complete an independent research project. 
    • attend all required workshops and seminars and complete all assignments. 
    • participate in the Summer Science Symposium. Most of our fellows will present a poster. Students may also give an oral presentation.

    The Research in Science Summer Program is an immersive in-person on-campus research experience. In a small number of select cases, research may be done remotely if required and strongly advocated by the faculty mentor. In many cases, research cannot be conducted virtually. 

  • Program Schedule

    Students are expected to immerse themselves full-time in their research project. There is no set schedule imposed by CIS and often your schedule will vary week to week. Follow the science and reach out to your mentor for help determining an appropriate schedule. 

  • Housing

    Summer Research students are required to arrange their own housing. On-campus summer housing is available on a first-come first-serve basis. Your acceptance to the Research in Science summer program makes you eligible to apply. More information and links to the application will be posted when made available in Spring. The application is expected to open March 2. 

    On-campus housing may be available at no charge or at a reduced rate for students with high financial need. If you feel you are eligible for this, please check the relevant box on the summer housing application and the Office of Residential Life will verify your eligibility.

    Summer housing for research students covers June 1 through July 24 with an additional day on either end for move in and out. If you need housing prior to or after these dates, you will need to secure on-campus employment or another reason you are required to be on campus. 

  • Dining

    The application for summer dining will open April 15, 2026. The deadline for summer dining applications to be reviewed by Financial Aid is May 8, 2026. NO EXCEPTIONS.  You may still apply to purchase a meal plan up until 12 noon on May 15th.

    The summer dining plan is 150 swipes not points. Alternatively you may add funds to Middletown Cash through your WesPortal. 

    Please visit Summer Dining for full information on the summer meal plan and cafeteria hours.

  • Transportation

    Wesleyan's  Transportation Department offers a grocery shuttle to two Middletown grocery stores, Aldi and Price Chopper. During the summer program this free service operates every Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. The van leaves from the Usdan University Center to Aldi and Price Chopper and returns.

  • Construction
    The departments of Biology, Chemistry, and MB&B are moving into New Science starting after commencement in May and continuing through the end of the summer research program. All faculty labs housed in Shanklin and Hall-Atwater are expected to be offline for an estimated three weeks. Students and faculty mentors should have a plan for the move and how their research schedule will be affected. If you wish to discuss options, please reach out to scienceresearch@wesleyan.edu.
  • Work

    The CIS RIS program is intended to be an immersive research experience and fellows should not accept a paid or volunteer postion during the program without prior authorization from the Director. These requests should be made in consultation with your faculty mentor.

  • Credit

    Wesleyan has established a credit/uncredit course, CIS 493Z, for students to receive .25 credit upon successful completion of a summer research experience. Students must satisfy the requirements of the fellowship and complete the course assignments in order to receive credit. All Research in Science fellows funded through the CIS will be enrolled in this summer research tutorial.

    This summer companion course if offered at no cost to students.

  • Fellowship Payment

    Research fellows funded through a CIS fellowship will receive two lump-sum payments of $2500, one in June and one in July.

    Payments made through AP to students are paid, by default, through a digital payment called Concourse (similar to Venmo). Concourse is a Digital Payment Solution through JP Morgan Chase. Concourse is a secure and easy way to pay our students through supplier invoices where we don't need to collect or store banking information. Students receive an email with instructions on how to easily connect their bank account to the Concourse platform, and funds will be deposited within one business day.

  • Hourly Payroll

    Research students who are funded through federal grants will be paid hourly at a rate of $17.50/hour for an expected 37.5 hours per week. A student who works all of these hours would receive approximately $5000 (gross).

  • Tax
    Wesleyan University does not make any determination on the taxability of these awards. As these funds could be 1099 reportable, we recommend that students consult with a tax advisor on how to treat and report this grant for tax purposes. Non-US Citizens: If selected for funding, the award amount for non-US residents working in the United States will automatically be taxed at 14%.

    More information on the taxation of fellowships is available here.

    All students paid through payroll will be taxed and receive a W2 to submit to the IRS when filing. 

  • Named Fellows

    Below are the named fellowships available to summer research students. Please read the guidelines carefully; not all students are eligible for each award. There is no additional application process; CIS assigns these fellowships based on the student's research proposal and faculty reference. Students who are awarded a named fellowship are expected to write a brief report of their summer research experience to be shared with the donor families and the Office of Advancement.

    The Hume Fellowship will provide summer research support for two undergraduates each year. The fellowships will be awarded to students in Biology Department laboratories that also have a second student supported by the Research in Science Summer Program of the College of Integrative Sciences.

    The Siegel Fellowship specifically supports summer research in neuroscience and behavior. 

    The Sonnenblick Fellowship supports first through third-year students conducting a summer research project in the scientific fields of astronomy, biology, chemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry, molecular biophysics, neuroscience, and physics.

    Rockefeller Fellowships are provided to participate in the RockEDU Science Outreach Program.

    Lulu Wang Scholars will work with Rockefeller scientists to develop, refine, and package a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), building off an existing curriculum to expand the content and develop new training protocols. This undergraduate research course will provide deep learning around essential laboratory techniques, approaches, and applications for early undergraduate STEM students with limited research experience. In particular, Lulu Wang Scholars will be focusing on developing bioinformatics and computational techniques supplemented with relevant wet lab work. Scholars will receive authorship credit for course co-creation, representing a valuable, marketable item to include as part of a professional portfolio.

    Although the ultimate goal is the creation of course content, Lulu Wang Scholars will have a holistic, supported research experience. They will collaborate with their scientist mentors to frame research questions, generate, collect, and analyze experimental data, and refine experimental models and approaches. Scholars will also have access to core RockEDU programming which includes scientific courses, workshops, guest lectures and other enrichment activities as well as social events. The goal of this internship is to provide Scholars with the opportunity to both build upon their previous research training and to create research tools that will support other undergraduate students’ scientific training.

  • CIS Majors

    All CIS majors are required to spend at least one summer performing research. CIS majors are guaranteed to recieve a fellowship for their first summer research experience and do not need to apply separately.

    CIS majors receive the same payment and credit for their summer research and must fulfill all the same requirements.

  • Am I in the CIS summer program?
    CIS coordinates the umbrella summer research program on campus for all groups including the COE, QAC, GISOS, McNair, GCC, RockEDU, RISE, SARO, and students funded through department or faculty funds, or through external grants. All of the activities coordinated by the CIS are open to everyone conducting research on campus during the summer.