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The Program - Experience at a Top Research Institution
The Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) provides sophomores and juniors majoring in most disciplines an opportunity for direct involvement in research. Throughout its 24-year history, the mission of the SROP has been to increase diversity among students pursuing graduate education and to provide a valuable academic research experience for many students who might not otherwise have access to such opportunities. The program is eight weeks in length, from June 21 through August 13, 2010, and includes faculty-supervised research, enrichment activities that prepare undergraduates for graduate school (i.e. graduate school application workshop, writing workshops, etc.), and a research conference.
Each student selected to participate in the program will work with a faculty member in the student's area of interest. The faculty member will: 1) help design and monitor an appropriate full-time research project for the student or incorporate the student into on-going research; 2) work with the student on an outline, rough draft, and final paper which summarize the research; and 3) supervise the student's presentation of the research at the research forum that takes place at the end of the program.
A conference for SROP participants and supervising faculty members from all the CIC institutions (the "Big Ten" universities plus The University of Chicago) will be held in July on the campus of one of the Big Ten schools. This conference, provided at no cost to SROP participants, offers an opportunity for students and faculty from Northwestern to learn from and network with students and faculty from other universities.
It is expected that SROP participants be prepared to make a full-time commitment to their research, work energetically on their projects, and develop a professional attitude toward their research, their faculty supervisors, the SROP administrators and their fellow researchers. During the eight-week period of the SROP, each participant is expected to work at least 30-40 hours per week on their project.
 
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Benefits and Conditions
Each student chosen to participate in the SROP will receive:
- a $4000 stipend
- access to $500 for research supplies
- round-trip air travel to Chicago
- University housing (single rooms)
- a campus meal subsidy of $450 (not intended to cover all meals)
SROP participants who choose to live off campus will be responsible for their housing expenses during the summer.
Early Admission Decision Program
Rising seniors who demonstrate that they are prepared for graduate study at Northwestern University, based on the work completed during the first 4 weeks of the program, will be invited to participate in our Early Admission Decision Program (EADP). This program provides an accelerated and early admission process that enables qualified rising seniors to apply for admission to a Northwestern PhD program before returning to their home institution and without submitting GRE scores. Those who participate in the EADP will be given an admission decision by the department/program of interest in early fall of 2010 (with the exception of a few programs).
Rising juniors who successfully complete their 2010 SROP research projects may be invited back for the 2011 SROP. If they choose to accept the invitation and the first 4 weeks of their second summer experience go well, they will may be invited to participate in the EADP.
Course Credit
Course credit is available for the Northwestern SROP; however, you will need to communicate with the registrar's office at your home institution to determine if they will accept the credit.
Restrictions
Students may not register for any summer school or other classes (i.e. MCAT prep, GRE prep, etc), accept a job for additional pay, or conduct research off-campus without prior written approval from the SROP Coordinator, Mario Craigen.
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Who May Apply
To be considered for acceptance into SROP, you must:
- be a sophomore or junior at the time you submit your application
- have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale
- be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
Those belonging to groups who have been traditionally underrepresented in graduate schools (e.g., certain racial and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, etc.) are encouraged to apply.
Current juniors who applied to the SROP in 2009 are eligible to apply for the 2010 program.
Please note: applicants interested in pursuing MBA, JD, or MD degrees are not eligible for this program. Also, Northwestern University students are not eligible to apply for this program and should contact Mario Craigen (m-craigen@northwestern.edu) for information about programs to which they may apply.
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Application
The deadline for application submission is February 10, 2010. We will begin notifying applicants of acceptance into the program via e-mail no later than March 1, 2010, and offers will continue to be made until all available spots are filled. Please note that you will not be able to save your work on the application, and it would be best to take the following steps:
1) review the application to determine what is required, and
2) prepare the required statements and gather all of the necessary information before clicking the submit button on the application Web page.
Also, please note that the application calls for two letters of recommendation from faculty at your home instituation and a transcript. Applications will be considered incomplete until all of the information required on the application is submitted and the letters of recommedation and transcript(s) have been received.
Please click on the following link to access the application: http://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/srop/
Further Information
For further information on the Summer Research Opportunity Program, please contact Mario Craigen at m-craigen@northwestern.edu.
Support for the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP)
at Northwestern University has been provided by:
The Graduate School
Abbott Laboratories
Ariel Capital Management
CNA
Ford Motor Company
MARC/Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Microsoft Corporation
Nycomed Amersham Imaging Inc.
The Omron Foundation
The National Institutes of Health
The National Science Foundation
The Vice President for Student Affairs
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Last updated: Nov 12 2009 10:16AM
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