While many University students are still waiting for their summer plans to solidify, most rising seniors in the Department of Molecular Biology already know exactly where they will be for June, July and August: on campus.

Each summer, the molecular biology department offers a nine-week program for students with a lab-based thesis, giving them a chance to conduct a good portion of their research before the start of senior year.

The program is not mandatory but is open to all rising seniors who are completing a lab-based thesis. However, the participation rate is very high because the majority of students in the department do lab-based theses, which require a lot of time in the lab.

Elena Chiarchiaro, manager of student services for the molecular biology department, said that it is very rare for students who have a lab-based thesis to choose not to participate. They feel that its almost necessary, Chiarchiaro said.

Experimental research develops a certain momentum, Mark Rose, the director of undergraduate studies and a representative for the department, said. Once you set up, you can collect data routinely over time and that takes less effort, but sometimes it takes a lot of time to get started. So the opportunity to be here over the summer can help develop the momentum that sustains students over the fall semester.

Even though the molecular biology department and the Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology organize the summer research program, it is open to a number of other students as well. Students majoring in departments such as chemistry, physics, and psychology who are conducting thesis research in biology labs can participate, as can freshmen and sophomores considering majoring in molecular biology and students from outside the University.

However, non-University students and potential majors must apply for spots. Students from other schools are housed in the dormitories and are reimbursed for travel expenses, but University students must provide their own housing and transportation. All participants receive a $4,000 stipend.

The program is supported by grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and several other organizations, such as the Genentech Foundation and the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research.

We have the funds to pay our students a large enough stipend to get by. Its like they have a job, Chiarchiaro said.

By encouraging students from other schools to apply, Rose said, the department hopes to bring in underrepresented minorities as well as students from small colleges who might not otherwise have access to research facilities like those of the University.

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Molecular biology program grants stipends for summer research