Medical Student Research Program

Summer Research Fellowships

Summer Research Fellowships are available to currently enrolled medical students (M-1) and to students accepted for admission for Fall 2010 (pre-M-1). The purpose of the Student Research Fellowship program is to interest medical students in research and to acquaint them with career possibilities in academic medicine. These fellowships are between 10 and 12 weeks long and offer students the opportunity to participate directly in the investigation of a scientific question under the supervision of a faculty mentor and to become familiar with the processes involved in defining a problem, formulating a hypothesis, evaluating its significance, designing experiments for its solution, and in interpreting the data generated. Student summer research is preformed under the direction of a faculty mentor at the University of Iowa.

Information about the summer fellowship program is announced early in the winter of the preceding year. Interested students can search for possible research opportunities and identify potential faculty mentors who are interested in sponsoring a student using the search engine associated with the faculty mentor database. To participate, students must be in good academic standing and not currently held back to repeat a class. The stipend for the fellowship is $5,244 for a twelve-week period.

Once the student has identified a mentor and possible research project, the student working with the mentor, must write a brief research proposal which is submitted online. The application is due February 5 for M-1 students and mid-April for pre-M1 students. Research proposals are reviewed and successful students are usually notified within 3 to 4 weeks of the application submission deadline.

Other Available Fellowships