Paid Opportunities for Collegiate Students to Engage in Scientific Research
The academic year is drawing to a close, and it's time for undergraduate students to start thinking about summer research opportunities. Here's a roundup of some exciting programs available at UC San Diego and beyond, focusing on oceanography, marine biology, earth sciences, geophysics, and atmospheric sciences for the years 2024 and 2025.
At UC San Diego, the Environmental Systems Senior Internship Project (ESYS) offers students enrolled in the Environmental Systems undergraduate major the chance to participate in an interdisciplinary environmental problem or research topic focused project. A crucial component of the ESYS Senior Project is an off-campus or laboratory internship.
For students seeking research opportunities at UC San Diego, the Undergraduate Research Hub equips students with research skills and offers scholarships for summer research. The Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) Program at UCSD recruits 4-6 students each year for a 6-week paid research experience. The Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) summer internship is a 10-week research program in marine science and technology.
The Jane Teranes - Scripps Undergraduate Research Fellowship (JT-SURF) is a 10-week, NSF-funded summer research program that offers research opportunities in a variety of fields. Research opportunities in JT-SURF include both in-person, on-campus projects and a small number of remote projects. On-campus housing is provided for onsite participants in JT-SURF.
The California Current Ecosystem Long Term Ecological Research (CCE LTER) site offers research opportunities for students in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program. The UC Natural Reserve System offers the Field Science Fellowship for two-person teams of University of California faculty and undergraduate students.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps offers volunteer positions for a range of ocean lovers, with a minimum age of 16. Potential research projects cover fields such as oceanography, marine biology, earth sciences, geophysics, and atmospheric sciences.
For students seeking opportunities outside of UC San Diego, there are several programs to consider. The National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP) 2025, focusing on microbial sciences, has an application deadline of April 1, 2025, and runs from June 9 to August 1, 2025. The US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense Summer 2025 Internship, while not specifically marine or earth sciences, offers biomedical research opportunities with an application deadline of June 30, 2025.
The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Summer Training & Research (STR) Program offers undergraduate research opportunities across various fields. The application deadline for the 2025-26 cohort is September 19, 2025, with registration opening on October 6, 2025, and closing on November 3, 2025.
For students interested in earth and space sciences, NASA ROSES-2025 (Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences) and NSF Earth Sciences programs accept proposals anytime, with no specific deadlines for 2024-25 undergraduate research proposals.
It's essential to note that many programs follow annual cycles with deadlines typically in early spring or late winter for summer sessions. It is advisable to check individual program websites for the most current 2024 deadlines or to plan ahead for 2025 programs.
For students seeking targeted programs solely in oceanography, marine biology, geophysics, or atmospheric sciences, it may be beneficial to consult specialty societies or federal research agencies such as NOAA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, or the American Geophysical Union, as these were not explicitly covered in the provided sources.
[1] NSURP 2025 [2] NASA ROSES-2025 [3] CUR STR Program
In the academic year's close, students can engage in summer research programs, such as the NSURP 2025, focusing on microbial sciences with an application deadline of April 1, 2025.
For earth and space sciences, the CUR STR Program offers undergraduate research opportunities across various fields, with the application deadline for the 2025-26 cohort on September 19, 2025.
