Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, SCReM-SURF

The Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, with support from several donors, will support Notre Dame undergraduate students to engage in summer research in 2024.

Program Activities: Full-time research will be conducted for 10 weeks on research mentored by faculty associated with the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, or pursuing a project related to stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, or cell/tissue regeneration. Participants must provide a thank you letter to donors and a summary of their research experience before the end of their summer research experience, and present their research at a scientific conference or symposium within one academic year after completing the fellowship.

Support: The Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Summer

Undergraduate Research Fellowship award includes a $6,000 stipend and $500 for supplies. Participants are expected to conduct a minimum of 40hr/wk of research and should not take on any other on-campus/off-campus job. If the student applies for and receives support from other university sources, the total stipend from the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine and the other university sources cannot exceed $6,000. For international COS-SURF students, the award for stipend, accommodation, and travel support will be $7,000 in total. Successful applicants with demonstrated financial hardship will be given additional support.

Guidelines: If accepted, you will not receive payment in full at the beginning of your summer research. It will be disbursed biweekly by direct deposit. Please plan accordingly. Your payment will be taxed. This position is not hourly. It is considered to be a stipend. You will receive $6,000 divided up over the 10 weeks. It does not matter if you start before June 1 or end after August 15th. Student Employment deems summer positions to start on June 1 and end on August 15th. Your first check will be in the middle of June. Please plan accordingly.

Eligibility: Current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors should have worked with their faculty mentors for at least one semester before the summer of research. Successful applicants are expected to continue working with their Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine faculty mentor beyond the summer of funding.

Application: Please submit your application through email to Dr. David Hyde and ensure that the subject line states SCReM-SURF Application; no budget justification is needed. To be considered, the following information needs to be submitted:

A. Proposal Narrative: A proposal of no more than five (5) pages should be uploaded as a PDF document and formatted exactly as follows:

1. Cover Page: Name, gender, ethnicity, email, college, major(s), overall GPA, science GPA, career intent (e.g., M.D., Ph.D.), expected graduation year, and research mentors, and 3-5 keywords describing the proposed Research.

2. Research Experiences: Description of all previous research undertaken.

3. Research Proposal: The proposal will include the project background, a description of the proposed summer research, and its significance.

4. Career Plans: Explanation of how a summer research experience fits into the applicant’s career plans, both immediate and long-term

B. Official Transcript: Submit an original PDF document provided by the University of Notre Dame and the application to Dr. David Hyde.

C. Letter of Support: The research mentor must submit their recommendation letter via email to Dr. David Hyde and ensure that the subject line states SCReM-SURF Application. The mentor will NOT receive an email upon submission of the application. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the recommendation letter is submitted. Only the mentor for the proposed research should provide such a letter, including: 1) an assessment of the applicant’s potential, 2) the worthiness or potential of the proposed research, and 3) a statement of the likelihood of continuing research beyond the summer in the mentor’s laboratory.

If you already submitted a COS-SURF application for the summer of 2024, you may submit the identical materials for the SCReM-SURF EXACTLY as described above.

Deadline: Application materials are due by Friday, March 15, 2024 at 5 PM.

Applications will not be considered if they are incomplete; include a proposal narrative longer than five pages; are not formatted correctly; and/or submitted after the deadline. Complete applications will be acknowledged by an email when submitted.

Selection: Final selections will be based on the qualifications of the candidates, the quality of the proposed research, whether proposals are well-written, concise, and compelling, and the support of the research mentor. All efforts will be made to notify successful applicants by March 29, 2024.

For more information, please contact Dr. David Hyde, Director of the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, at (574) 631-8054 or dhyde@nd.edu.