Research programs are structured opportunities which do not require students to have a project or research advisor already. Students are matched with or asked to choose a project and research advisor.
As many of these programs are in the summer, they are ideal for students who may not be able to conduct research during the academic year or are interested in a short-term research experience. The majority of these program offer students funding or a stipend.
Applying
Applications for research programs are competitive and generally require a personal statement, essays, recommendation letters and transcripts. The deadline to apply is typically in January or February so planning ahead is crucial.
Ohio State Undergraduate Research Programs
- Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging - Advancing Diversity in Neuroimaging Research (ADNiR)
- Center for Emergent Materials - Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates
- College of Dentistry - Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- College of Pharmacy - Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships
- Department of Animal Science - UG Research
- Department of Astronomy - Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Astrophysics
- Department of Molecular Genetics - Research Experience for Undergraduates
- Department of Physics - Physics Summer Research Program
- Department of Plant Pathology - Summer Internships in Plant Pathology
- The EmPOWERment NSF Research Traineeship Program - Research in Sustainable Energy Program
- The Language Sciences Research Lab - Buckeye Language Network Summer Research Program
- The American Heart Association Undergraduate Summer Training Program (USTP) at The Ohio State University
- Ohio Sea Grant - Research Experience for Undergraduates Scholarship Program
- Undergraduate Pelotonia Fellowship Program
- Undergraduate Research Library Fellowship
- Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)
External Research Program Databases
External Research Programs
- AMGEN Scholars – UC Berkeley
- AMGEN Scholars – Stanford
- AMGEN Scholars – UCLA
- AMGEN – Columbia
- AMGEN – Caltech
- AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship
- Einstein Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)
- Caltech SURF
- Caltech WAVES
- California State University - Monterey Bay Ocean Science REU
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies REU
- Case Western Reserve University – Pharmacology SURP
- Case Western Reserve University – School of Medicine summer research programs
- CDC Biochemical Markers Fellowship
- Cincinnati Children’s Hospital SURF
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History Kirtlandia Research Internship Program
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Undergraduate Research Program
- Collegiate Leaders in Environmental Health (CLEH) Summer Program
- Cornell University Boyce Thompson Institute Undergraduate Research Programs
- Des Moines University's Health Professions Advanced Summer Scholar (Health PASS) program
- Department of Energy Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships
- Department of Energy – STEM Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Drexel University College of Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
- Emory University Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
- FDA Advanced Spectroscopy of Chiral Pharmaceutical Fellowship
- FDA – National Center for Toxicological Research Summer Student Research Program
- FDA – Office of Minority Health Public Health Internship
- Florida Mental Health Institute Summer Research Institute
- Fred Hutch Research Center Summer Undergraduate Research Internships
- Gerstner Sloan Kettering Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- Harvard Forest Summer research program in Ecology
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute Internship Program
- Harvard-MIT Summer Institute for Biomedical Optics
- Higher Education Research Experience at Oak Ridge National Library
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- Indiana University Proactive Health Informatics REU
- Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Program
- Katz and Manne Research Institute Summer Scholars Program
- Kellogg Biological Station REU – Michigan State University
- Marquette University Biological Sciences Undergraduate Summer Research Program
- Mayo Clinic Biomedical Research Training Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
- MD Anderson Cancer Center CPRIT-CURE Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- MIT Summer Research Program – Biology
- Medical College of Wisconsin Summer Program for Undergraduate Research
- Miami University REU in Ecology and Environment
- Mississippi State University Computational Biology REU
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Summer Internship Program
- National Cancer Institute – Introduction to Cancer Research Careers Program
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Scientific Summer Student Program
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Biomedical Engineering Summer Internship Program
- NIH Summer Internship in Biomedical Research
- National Institute of Standards and Technology Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory Summer Student Research Assistantships
- National Ecology Observatory Network Research Internships
- Penn State College of Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program
- Penn State REU in Climate Science
- Puerto Rico Chemical Learning Integrated in Materials and Biomolecular Applications REU
- Robotics Institute Summer Scholars
- Rochester Institute of Technology Summer REU Program – Imaging in the Physical Sciences
- Rockefeller University Chemers Neustein Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
- Rowan University Biomedical Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Research Experiences
- South Dakota School of Mine’s Back to the Future REU – Metallugical Engineering
- South Dakota School of Mine’s National Research Traineeship Program
- Stanford Biosciences – SSRP-AMGEN Scholars Program
- Upstate Medical University Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
- St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital Pediatric Oncology Education Program
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research Summer Scholars Program
- SUPERS@PENN – Summer Undergraduate Program for Education Radiation Scientists
- Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute RUE Program
- University of Alabama at Birmingham Summer in Biomedical Science Undergraduate Research Program
- University at Buffalo Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences (CLIMB) Up for Summer Research Program
- University of California San Diego Medical Scientist Training Program
- University of California San Diego Pharmacology Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
- University of California San Francisco Health Sciences Summer Research Training Program
- University of Central Florida STEM REUs
- University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships
- University of Colorado Cancer Research Experience for Undergraduates
- University of Colorado Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine Summer Internship Program
- University of Colorado Boulder Research experience for Undergraduates Mountain Research Station
- University of Connecticut School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine Summer Research Fellowship Program
- University of Connecticut Health Disparities Clinical Summer Research Fellowship Program
- University of Florida International Chemistry Research Experiences for Undergraduates
- University of Florida International Gravitational Physics REU
- University of Florida Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
- University of Florida Magnetic Field Laboratory REU
- University of Florida Summer Neuroscience Internship Program
- University of Florida Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- University of Florida Pharmacology and Therapeutics Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
- University of Florida Whitney lab REU
- University of Iowa Biomedical Scholars Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- University of Iowa Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates in Microbiology
- University of Massachusetts Medical School Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- University of Maryland Summer Research Initiative in Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
- University of Michigan College of Pharmacy Research Experience for Undergraduates Program
- University of Michigan Physics Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
- University of Michigan Biophysics Research Experience for Undergraduates
- University of Michigan Cancer Biology Research Summer Internship Program
- University of Minnesota Research Experiences for Undergraduates – multiple programs
- University of Missouri Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Summer Research Program
- University of Nevada Las Vegas Research Experience for Undergraduates: Mechanisms of Evolution
- University of North Carolina Pharmacology Carolina Summer Fellowship Program
- University of Pennsylvania Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP) in Biomedical Sciences
- University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Program
- University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Summer Scholars Program
- University of Rochester Department of Pediatrics Summer Training Program
- University of Rochester Chemistry Summer Programs
- University of San Diego Climate Change REU Program
- University of Texas System MedSURP
- University of Texas Southwestern Biomedical Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
- University of Utah Research Experience in Utah for Sustainable Materials Engineering (ReUSE) Program
- University of Utah Research Experience in Alpine Meteorology
- University of Utah Chemistry REU
- University of Utah Physics Astronomy REU
- University of Virginia Blandy Experimental Farm Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program
- University of Virginia Curry School of Education SURP
- University of Washington Supporting Undergraduate Research Experiences in Environmental Health Program
- Vanderbilt University Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering Research Experience for Undergraduates
- Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy Undergraduate Clinical Research Internship Program
- Washington University in St. Louis BioMed Research Apprenticeship Program
- Weill Cornell Medicine Travelers Summer research Fellowship Program
- West Virginia University Summer Research Opportunities
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Summer Student Fellowship
International Research Program
We recommend students begin exploring international research opportunities on the Office of International Affair's Global Education program search portal. Using the Advanced Search function, scroll down to Parameters - Program Features and select Research to filter search results. Below are some additional opportunities; however, all OSU students travelling abroad for research activities should register with OIA.
- DAAD Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) - located in Universities throughout Germany
- EPFL School of Life Sciences Summer Research Program - located in Lausanne, Switzerland
- Pasteur Foundation Summer Internship Program - located in Paris, France
- Students in Life Sciences Abroad - located in Norway and France
- UCLA Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics Research in Industrial Products for Students - located in Hong Kong
- University of Tokyo Research Internship Program - located in Tokyo, Japan