Undergraduate Summer Research Internship Program

Do you think you might like a career in research or go to graduate school? The best way to find out is to do a summer research internship. Every summer, we invite undergraduates to join a lab in our department and find out what it is like to do research at a major research university.

We have a variety of projects that range from basic research in biochemistry, cell biology and molecular biology to applied programs such as horticultural market research and field trials in horticultural crops. Students become a real member of the lab they work in and are guided by a faculty mentor assisted by postdoctoral researchers or senior graduate students. We make a particular effort to provide students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with cutting edge technologies such as spectral scanning confocal microscopy, mass spectroscopy, high throughput DNA sequencing, gene chip transcriptomic profiling, and proteomics. The Purdue Horticulture Department is also the home of one of the most advanced ionomics facilities in the world. Summer researchers will learn how to plan and perform experiments, record their experimental results, and prepare data for publication. At the end of the program, students will also present their work in a short talk – just like the short talks grad students and post-docs present at national and international scientific meetings.

The summer internship program is tailored to each person’s research interests and can last for 4 to 8 weeks. Participants receive a stipend based on the amount of time spent with the program. Travel costs are also covered for student participants from institutions other than Purdue. Purdue students can choose to receive course credit; students from other institutions need to arrange course credit with their counselors at their home institution.

If you are interested, please contact: