Each summer, Maryland Sea Grant’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports fifteen students to conduct marine research on the Chesapeake Bay. It’s a special opportunity to develop your research skills and interests by working with top scientists to study one of America’s most significant coastal resources.

The REU program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is designed for students majoring in marine science, ecology, environmental science, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, and mathematics.

During the 12-week program, each student works with a mentor on an individual research project at one of the two marine labs at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences located on the Chesapeake Bay:

• Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland
• Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, Maryland

Research areas include:

Program Description: Summer programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide an opportunity to spend a summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research. The NIH consists of the 240-bed Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center and more than 1200 laboratories/research projects located on the main campus in Bethesda, MD and the surrounding area as well as in Baltimore and Frederick, MD; Research Triangle Park, NC; Hamilton, MT; Framingham, MA; and Detroit, MI.  NOTE: the number of positions in Hamilton, Framingham, and Detroit is limited.

Internships cover a minimum of eight weeks, with students generally arriving at the NIH in May or June. The NIH Institutes and the Office of Intramural Training & Education sponsor a wide range of summer activities including lectures featuring distinguished NIH investigators, career/professional development workshops, and Summer Poster Day.

To increase your chances of being offered a position, please do four things: (1) Watch the new Applying Successfully Video.  (2) Read the SIP FAQs carefully. (3) Read our suggestions for creating a successful application.  (4) After submitting your application, contact NIH investigators with whom you would like to work and explain why you would be a good addition to their groups.  You can identify NIH investigators with projects that interest you by searching the NIH Intramural Annual Reports. Use the text search feature to find project descriptions that contain the key words you enter.  You can then find contact information for the investigators in the NIH Enterprise Directory.

2014 Community College Summer Enrichment Program (CCSEP): In summer 2014, the NIH will again offer a special SIP program designed to recruit community college students to the NIH.  Students in CCSEP can take advantage of all the opportunities available to other SIP interns. In addition, they will make a commitment to completing an enrichment curriculum.  If you are a community college student and interested, please read about CCSEP.

Eligibility: The Summer Internship Program is for students who are at least sixteen years of age or older at the time they begin the program. To be eligible, candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. U.S. citizens are eligible to apply if they are enrolled at least half-time in high school or an accredited college or university as undergraduate, graduate, or professional students. Students who have been accepted into an accredited college or university program may also apply. Permanent residents must be enrolled in or have been accepted into an accredited institution in the U.S. to be eligible.

Stipend Information: The stipends for trainees are adjusted yearly; the level depends on education completed prior to starting at the NIH. For details, see the Trainee Stipends page.

Application Procedure: Prospective candidates must apply online. The application is available from mid-November to March 1. It requires submission of

• a curriculum vitae or resume,
• a list of coursework and grades (please note: no transcripts need to be sent at this time),
• a cover letter describing the applicant's research interests and career goals, and
• the names and contact information for two references.

Candidates may also specify the scientific methodologies or disease/organ systems that interest them.

Selection: The NIH Summer Internship Program is highly competitive.  In 2013, more than 6300 completed applications were submitted, and about 1000 interns were selected. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis from November through April by scientists in the Institutes and Centers of the NIH.  Individual scientists select their own summer interns and provide their funding; there is no centralized selection process.  For suggestions on how to increase your chances of being offered a position, please read the SIP Frequently Asked Questions.

Candidates will be informed of their selection by the hiring Institute, generally by May 1. Successful candidates will be required to submit the following documentation to their Institute or Center prior to beginning their training:

• Official high school, college, or graduate school transcripts
• Proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status. U.S. citizens may submit a copy of their birth certificate or passport. Permanent residents will need to provide a copy of their alien registration card.

Visit https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/sip for more details.

Name:  Wei Gao

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: University of Maryland, Baltimore - School of Medicine

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Biological Sciences

Expected Graduation Year: 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

Currently, my project seeks to determine the effect of Msi-1 on hPC1 expression in HEK cells. PC1 is an enzyme that has been shown to have proinsulin and proglucagon cleavage activity. Therefore, Msi-1 may play a key role in future research on regulating glucose levels for diabetic patients.

My work involves transfecting HEK cells with Msi-1 and comparing the levels of secreted protein and retained mRNA levels using enzymatic assays and western blots.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I love working and interacting with people who are so passionate not only about conducting their own research, but about helping me learn more about research as well. Everyone is always so eager and willing to give up their time to explain a foreign molecular concept to me or to help guide me through a new experimental protocol. Their extensive knowledge and unwavering patience day in and day out has helped me become a better biologist and a better scientist.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Do it! Contact the principal investigators directly and show them that you’re interested in their research by reading a few of their papers. During the interview, bring up any questions that you have about the methods they used or the results they found.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Being relatively new to the research field, I find that every day in the lab is filled with learning experiences. Without a doubt, this experience has been meaningful to me because I have learned so much about science and scientific methods. However, more than that, I hope this research experience can be meaningful to others as well. Perhaps my results will one day be useful for designing a better treatment for diabetes.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

I love the idea that I am exploring uncharted territory with my work. Since Msi-1 has not been very well-researched, often times there are questions no one (not even Google!) knows the answer to. My job is to ask those questions and find those answers.

The following full-time positions have been posted within the past week to UMBCworks. Login to your account (via the link in the Jobs & Internships topic in myUMBC) and find details and application instructions as well as hundreds of other job postings! 

9262240 - Insormation Assurance Engineer I (Spring 2014 Graduates) - AAI Corporation
9262238 - Fitness Center Instructor - YMCA of Central MD
9262231 - White House Fellow - US Department of Labor
9262196 - Accounts Receivable Analyst

The following part-time positions have been posted within the past week to UMBCworks. Login to your account (via the link in the Jobs & Internships topic in myUMBC) and find details and application instructions as well as hundreds of other job postings!

9260419 - Substitute Site Coordinator - Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland
9262230 - Recruiter - Observation Baltimore
9262208 - In-Home Piano Instructor - Playtime Piano Instruction (Baltimore and Howard Counties)
9261540 - IT Support Specialist - BYK Gardner - USA

9262132 - PaRaBal, a mobile software analysis and designer is seeking Technical and Liberal Arts majors for this part-time position
MUST be a UMBC Residential Student
International and U.S. Citizens are welcome to apply!!

University of Maryland - Baltimore County has received an exclusive invitation for its students to participate in a study about the career goals, expectations and ideal employers of top college students. Your response, while anonymous, will assist over 1,200 employers who are actively recruiting or who are interested in recruiting students for internships and full time employment on our campus.

Participation in the study is by invitation only and fewer than 10% of universities nationwide are asked to participate in the study.

Top companies, including many that recruit University of Maryland - Baltimore County students, base their recruiting strategies on Universum’s research so it will truly benefit you and your peers on campus to share your opinions on recruiting and employers. Companies will only see the collective results, and your participation/identity will be kept confidential. 

In appreciation for your time you will receive two free WetFeet Insider Guides of your choice (over 50 titles to choose from) and a profile that compares your answers to other students nationwide.

Participate now at: 
https://start.wetfeet.com/survey/usss/umbc?reid=312