Our SURF program is a ten-week full-time immersive research program held at UF Scripps Biomedical Research in Jupiter, Florida. This program is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) award. The title of our REU site is Surfing the Interface Between Chemistry & Biology, and the PI of the grant is Dr. Katrin Karbstein.
The program has a research focus that integrates cutting-edge bioscience research with the development of chemical tools. Students are placed in laboratories in our five departments: Chemistry; Immunology and Microbiology; Integrative Structural and Computational Biology; Molecular Medicine; and Neuroscience.
The next program dates are June 5, 2023, to August 11, 2023. Participants are highly encouraged to start and end on the specified dates, however, start and end dates are flexible and can be slightly adjusted based on a participant’s schedule. All participants must complete ten weeks and present at the final poster session.
All participants receive a stipend, and housing is provided at a nearby hotel. Partial relocation (travel to and from Jupiter, Florida) is also included. The stipend for the summer of 2023 is $6,000.00.
Participants are placed in laboratories that work in their area of interest and are matched with a faculty mentor accordingly. Interns work on a project provided by the faculty mentor under the supervision of a graduate student, postdoc, or another lab member for a few weeks until the student is comfortable with the project. Then the student will be expected to work independently.
Students are expected to work full-time in the laboratory and participate in weekly research seminars and professional development meetings, which provide mentorship on writing graduate school applications and honing scientific presentation skills. The program culminates with a campus-wide poster session, where participants give a present their research at the Summer Student Symposium. This provides another excellent opportunity for SURF program participants to practice their public speaking and networking skills.