The Summer Science Program (SSP): Research in Genomics Recently Updated

The Summer Science Program (SSP) is a nationally regarded, non-profit educational program which focuses on bringing together talented, motivated juniors (rising seniors by the summer of participation) from around the globe for real-world STEM research experiences. We provide financial aid and meet 100% of participant need, including travel costs, room and board, and stipends to cover program basics for high-need students.

Participants will stimulate the evolution of antibiotic resistance in a safe, controlled culture, then sequence its genome and analyze the acquired mutations. They will gain hands-on experience with the molecular biology, genomics, and bioinformatics needed to address complex, real-world life science problems.

Each living and learning cohort community of 36 students works in team-based research on college campuses throughout the country. Each team of three participants use a custom chemostat to maintain constant growth of a non-disease-causing ocean microbe called Vibrio natriegens under moderate antibiotic selection pressure. Teams will then map the genetic mutations that arise as a result of incomplete growth suppression.

Outside of research hours, participants attend guest lectures from world-renowned scientists and professionals, attend nightly dinners with their 2-3 PhD-level faculty, engage in exciting activities with their cohort, and go off-site for intellectual and recreational field trips. 

After the last day, the community does not end, it disperses and broadens. Participants become part of a lifelong alumni community of over 3,500 alumni in wide variety of career pathways and research areas in and out of science.