The RISE Difference

We offer more than just an exciting research experience and a great summer. Here's what distinguishes RISE:

•  We invite your input into matching you with a faculty mentor, and we take your requests seriously. You have a myriad of choices. In the biomedical sciences alone, there are over 200 faculty members.

•  You participate in highly successful academic/professional enrichment seminars , where you hone oral and written presentation skills, prepare for the GREs, and learn to navigate the graduate school admissions process (for example, you write and get extensive feedback on a personal statement).

•  The majority of RISE scholars present their work at national conferences or professional society meetings. And each year our students have won awards for poster and oral presentations.

•  You have the opportunity to network with scientists from New Jersey's pharmaceutical and technology industries.

•  You have a choice of an 8- or 10-week program

Rutgers and UMDNJ are members of the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, a ten-university consortium supported by the National Science Foundation. If you so designate, we will share your application with our Alliance affiliates.

Important Dates

• 8 week program: June 2 to July 25, 2008
• 10 week program: June 2 to August 8, 2008 (optional 2 week extension from the 8 week program)

Financial Incentives

• Stipend: $3,200 for 8 weeks or $4,000 for 10 weeks
• Free on-campus housing
• Travel reimbursement for up to $500

Eligibility

• U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
• We particularly encourage:
• groups underrepresented in the sciences, math, or engineering
• students from economically/educationally disadvantaged backgrounds
• first generation to attend college
• undergraduates attending schools that do not offer opportunities for independent research or mentoring by research-active faculty.
• Non-traditional students
• Priority given to applicants who will have completed at least the sophomore year by June 2008. Under unusual circumstances, we consider current first-years with outstanding credentials.
• Minimum GPA of B (3.0/4.0), although exceptions may be granted. Admission is highly selective and successful applicants have strong credentials.

The RISE Research Experience

Working with Mentors

You will spend most of your time working on your research project under the guidance of both your faculty mentor and a near-peer mentor. You will help design and implement your project. You will probably find your feeling of involvement and excitement mounting during the last few weeks as you prepare for the culmination of the summer - a symposium at which you will present your work.

Meet our past mentors by clicking here.

Scope of Summer Research Projects

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, is ranked among the leading research universities in North America. UMDNJ is the largest public health sciences university in the country. These two institutions, which conveniently share a flagship campus in central New Jersey, offer many joint programs of study. Our campus is also home to the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School that offers an MD/PhD option.We boast a world-class faculty whose research spans diverse areas of intellectual inquiry in the sciences and engineering, including cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields such as bioinformatics, proteomics, neuroscience, and nanotechnology. As a RISE Scholar you could, for example:

• study molecular mechanisms governing central nervous system cell survival
• clone a gene and study expression in cancer
• develop stem cell-based therapeutics
• develop mathematical models to assess exposure to environmental pollutants
• design and synthesize biodegradable polymers for delivery of drugs and amtimicrobial agents
• develop economical materials for fuel cells
• design a vaccine for treatment of AIDS
• study nutrient dynamics in marine ecosystems
• explore human perception using experimental, analytical, and computational techniques
• investigate fundamental principles involved in manufacturing pharmaceutical composites

For titles and abstracts of over 100 past RISE projects, click here. To explore additional research opportunities on our campus, please visit our programs of study webpage. If your interests are in the biological sciences, you may wish to view our affiliated Molecular Biosciences umbrella program.

Academic and Professional Enrichment

One of the great strengths of RISE is the academic and professional enrichment that complements the lab experience.  We meet in a weekly seminar for activities such as:

• Writing/oral presentation skills workshops
• GRE preparation
• Counseling on the graduate school application process, including writing a Personal Statement
• Career planning
• Guest lectures by University and industrial scientists
• Networking with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows

Share Your Application with Other Universities

Rutgers and UMDNJ are members of the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, a ten-university consortium supported by the National Science Foundation. If you so designate, we will share your application with our Alliance affiliates.

Publish your work or present at a National Research Conference

RISE students have presented their summer research at such conferences as: the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS, www.abrcms.org) and at annual meetings of the American Chemical Society (ACS, www.chemistry.org), the National Society of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE, www.nobcche.org), the American Society of Cell Biology (www.ascb.org), the National Society of Black Physicists & Hispanic Physicists (NSBP, www.nsbp.org), and at annual meetings of the American Society for Cell Biology in Washington, DC (www.ascb.org). We have had numerous winners of best poster or best oral presentation awards at these meetings. Some students author papers in peer-reviewed journals based on their summer research.

Students who live within commuting distance of central New Jersey may have the opportunity to continue their summer work during the academic year.

Life Outside the Lab

Housing

All RISE Scholars receive free housing on campus in air-conditioned apartments. Graduate student RAs provide guidance and arrange social activities.

Extracurricular Activities

Scholars from a variety of science, engineering, and pre-medical programs, live together. We are also home to an extensive for-credit summer school and are a lively community during thesummer months. Our universities offer a broad range of resources, from a library system of 3 million volumes, to state-of-the-art computing facilities, to athletic and recreational centers. You will find the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center, with a state-of-the-art fitness center and Olympic pool, only a short walk from your apartment.

 

 

Location

Located in the adjacent towns of New Brunswick and Piscataway in Central New Jersey, we are a vibrant community offering many cultural and recreational attractions. New Jersey's beautiful Atlantic beachfront and mountains are just an hour away, and the excitement and resources of New York City are only 50 minutes away. We are located along the Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington corridor, with frequent train and bus service via Amtrak and New Jersey Transit. Conveniently, we are less than 30 minutes away from Newark Liberty International Airport. Situated in the "cure corridor," home to the nation's foremost health care facilities and pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, our location offers many professional advantages to students.

 

Share Your Application with Other Universities

Rutgers and UMDNJ are members of the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, a ten-university consortium supported by the National Science Foundation. If you so designate, we will share your application with our Alliance affiliates (Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University of Connecticut, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of New Hampshire, University of Rhode Island, and University of Vermont).