Gaining Research Experience

Entering BBSP students conduct research before coming to UNC for anywhere from 4 months up to 6 years (or more!). Our first-year students have a median of 18.5 months of previous, full-time research experience in academic and industry settings, either during their undergraduate studies or afterwards. Having a strong foundation of research skills is essential to success in our program.

During Your Undergraduate Studies

UNC has a number of opportunities for undergraduates interested in summer research opportunities in the sciences.  Participation in one of these programs is an excellent way to get research experience and to learn about all that UNC has to offer.  Below is a list of some of the biosciences summer programs available to undergraduates at UNC Chapel Hill.

• Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) REU program: for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors looking for research experience in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, cellular biophysics, structural biology, computational biology, genetics, genomics and proteomics
• Summer Of Learning And Research (SOLAR): an intensive 10-week experience designed to prepare underrepresented minority students for graduate research and careers in science. Open to rising juniors and seniors from underrepresented populations.
• Carolina Summer Fellowship Program: sponsored by the Department of Pharmacology; open to rising seniors in undergraduate science programs interested in pharmacology research

After Your Undergraduate Studies

The Office of Graduate Education at UNC also sponsors program for students who have received their undergraduate degree and are interested in a career in research, but are not yet ready to apply to graduate school.

• Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP): a one-year intensive program for students who have recently completed an undergraduate degree

If you have questions about one of the programs listed above, please follow the link to the program page and contact the program coordinator.  If you run a UNC-based summer undergraduate program for students interested in the biosciences and would like your program listed here, please contact Dave McDonald at david.mcdonald@unc.edu.