About Us
The College of Sciences at UTRGV has established an exciting new program to engage high school students from the Rio Grande Valley in research projects being conducted by the university faculty at UTRGV’s Brownsville and Edinburg campuses. The goal of this 9-week summer research program is to promote student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in “real time” laboratory or field research projects. Students will spend 25 hours per week, with a flexible schedule agreeable to the student and their mentor(s), in state-of the-art laboratory and field research facilities at UTRGV. Each student will conduct original scientific research under the guidance of a faculty mentor and possibly also a post-doctoral researcher or a graduate student acting as co-mentor.
The program will begin with an orientation in which students admitted to the program will meet their mentor(s) and complete the required paperwork. All students must complete the UTRGV lab safety training prior to initiating their research projects. Under their faculty mentor’s guidance, each student will develop an independent research project, submit a 2-page written proposal within the first week, and start working on the research project.
All students will come together for a weekly Lunch and Learn Session (free lunch with a planned seminar, group discussion, or social event) designed to enhance student knowledge of philosophy of science, ethics, scientific method, critical thinking, technical writing, scientific presentation, experimental design, data analysis and other professional development skills including leadership and teamwork. The program will culminate in a symposium in which students will present posters describing their research findings. Before the symposium, students will be required to submit a 2-3 page paper with a summary of their research methods, results obtained, a brief discussion, and a page describing their experiences in the program. Students who successfully complete the program requirements will receive a certificate of completion, and one or more student-mentor teams will receive top team research award(s).