Hello Hallm_7, I participated in two of the summer research programs you are asking about. Summer after sophomore year I did the summer research program at the
Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY.
RPCI Summer Program There were about 25 students from all over the country. Since I am from Buffalo and had already been working there, I just continued my project and had a very productive, but laid-back summer. The work I did that summer got published (wound healing in the trachea). In addition to the stipend, the students from out of town had their dorm and travel expenses taken care of, and they had a number of scheduled outings and activities for everyone in the program.
Summer after junior year I was determined to get out of Buffalo by getting into a research program somewhere else. I aggressively hunted for these programs through the internet. I ended up applying to about thirty of them (that's how badly I wanted to get out of Buffalo). I got into approx half. The programs usually have some kind of name like "Summer Research Experience" or "Summer Undergraduate Research Program" or "Summer Research Fellowship" - you get the idea. I had come across a list of these programs at a Molc. & Cell Biology meeting I attended, but I soon found that you can find them by doing some internet searches.
I ended up doing the
Howard Hughes Med Institute Summer Research Experience at Harvard in the Dept of Molc and Cell Bio
MCB Summer Internship There were five of us in this program. Compared with the program I was in the first summer, they made us work hard core at this program. I worked from 9 till 6 or 7 every day and worked some weekends. Some of the other students went even longer b/c they chose to, I kinda wanted a life outside of lab. Although I didn't enjoy the research project as much compared to the one I did the previous summer (yeast meiosis = not exciting), I don't have any complaints. The program paid for my flight there, a huge dorm room single on the Cambridge campus, access to all of the Harvard facilities, gave a very generous stipend, paid for a bunch of lunches and local outings, and I got to spend a summer in Boston (which was a thrill for me since I have never really left Buffalo). The other program people really enjoyed their experiences as well, some of them actually liked their research.
The suggestions jot gives are true, but I have always found that if you show interest in working for someone, they will gladly take you if you work for free and will hesitate if you ask them for money. I have never even thought to ask the PI to look for funding for me, I always thought that was my job and they have more important things to do than worry about some undergrad student. That's why I didn't go that route. I applied without any "connections" and got into the summer research programs at
Mayo, UCSF, UConn, Emory, Baylor, and a bunch of others I can't remember. Some of them even sent "wait list" notices -
Cold Spring Harbor and Pepperdine come to mind. Other places I recall applying include
NIH, South Carolina, Penn, Rockefeller, Wellseley. Spiderman is right - there are tons of these, I kept encountering more but ran out of time to apply -
NYU, Mt. Sinai, Colorado .
All the programs I applied to were bio/biochem research. Some of them favor women and minorities, but that didn't stop me from applying. The deadlines are usually Feb 1, Feb 15, and March 1. Many of them want students who are looking to do a PhD, MD, MD/PhD which is probably what you want anyways. I am actually a dental student and clearly wrote about my interest in a DDS on all my applications (it wasn't even a choice on a lot of them); I don't think it hurt me at all b/c my apps showed I was serious about research (and I still am) which I think was the most important factor. In the end I made my decision to do the HHMI at Harvard based on the location (Boston!) and the perks. I would highly recommend these programs - they take care of you while you are there (stipend, dorm, etc), you get to experience research in a new location, adn you meet new people. For me, doing research in Boston was a real eye opener b/c they are way more hard-core about research and productivity there than in ANY of the labs I have encountered in Buffalo.
E-mail me if you have any other questions and if you want names of more of these programs.
