Summer Research Initiative
About the BSOS Summer Research Initiative
The Summer Research Initiative is open to all undergraduates who are currently enrolled in colleges and universities in the U.S. and U.S. territories, and therefore all students are encouraged to apply. In addition, the program is also interested in encouraging and enhancing the diversity of scholars in the social and behavioral sciences.
The Summer Research Initiative (SRI) was created in 1999 by the Office of the Dean in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS). The program is designed to encourage and enhance the diversity of scholars working in social and behavioral science, practice, teaching, and policy fields. We are most interested in students who plan to pursue doctoral degrees in the behavioral and social sciences. A diverse science workforce enables us to improve the science, broaden its application, and facilitate novel and creative innovations and solutions by including scholars with unique backgrounds, life experiences, language skills, understandings of and access to underserved communities, diverse perspectives, etc. Supporting diverse cohorts of students also enriches learning environments and is consistent with our university’s overall mission.
The program provides rising juniors and seniors with an 8-week intensive experience to develop research skills, learn about doctoral training, and increase graduate training readiness. Departments involved in the SRI include African American and Africana Studies, Anthropology, Criminology & Criminal Justice, Economics, Geographical Sciences, Government & Politics, Hearing & Speech Sciences, Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, Psychology, and Sociology.
The general goals of the SRI are to:
- Increase the general knowledge of, and interest in, doctoral-level training in the social and behavioral sciences among our participants and to;
- Provide rising juniors and seniors an opportunity to learn about graduate studies and the range of research and scholarship in the social and behavioral sciences specifically here at the University of Maryland.
We achieve these goals by:
- Providing laboratory or research experiences that enhance the basic research knowledge and skills of the participants;
- Providing lectures, workshops, didactic exchanges, and other programming to enhance students' knowledge of the graduate application process, negotiating the academic rigors and professional and personal challenges encountered in graduate school, and developing career paths in social and behavioral; and,
- Providing mentoring and professional networking opportunities for students to advance their training in the social and behavioral sciences.
Please direct any questions or concerns to the SRI Coordinator, Brittney Robinson at (brobins7@umd.edu)
The 2025 program dates are Monday, June 2, 2025 - Friday, July 25, 2025. However, all participants are required to arrive to our College Park campus on Saturday, May 31st for the required 2-day, pre-program orientation.
- Be citizens or permanent residents of the United States;
- Be enrolled full-time at an accredited four-year higher education institution, with preference given to those will have obtained junior or senior status by the fall 2025;
- Demonstrate an interest in pursuing graduate study in one of the behavioral or social sciences, with preference given to those interested in doctoral training;
- Express an interest in, or demonstrate a commitment to our program’s aim to improve the research, practice, teaching, and policy work in the social and behavioral sciences by diversifying and broadening the participation of those involved social and behavioral science research;
- Will have taken a basic statistics or research methodology course; and
- Possess an excellent academic record, including a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA.
The Summer Research Initiative is a full-time, 40-hour-per-week commitment. Participants are required to reside in the university housing provided by the program and to participate in all SRI activities throughout the summer. Participation includes all SRI program and research activities and assignments and meetings with research and program mentors. Therefore, students should not register for summer classes, hold employment that interferes with their participation, or make other summer plans that would interrupt their full and consistent immersion in the program during the 8-consecutive-week program period.
Students will be provided a $3,000 stipend (before taxes), a $780 breakfast/lunch stipend, and group dinners Monday-Friday provided on-site in the SRI lodging. Travel to College Park for the summer and return travel home, room, board, and program activities expenses are also covered by the BSOS SRI. Participants are placed in on-campus group housing.
Submit all application materials, including letters of recommendation, transcripts, and résumé or curriculum vita (CV), through the appropriate application portal in advance of the deadline.
- The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) Application and Transcript due: February 10, 2025
- The UMD BSOS SRI Supplemental Application due: February 10, 2025
- The BTAA SROP letters of recommendation due: March 1, 2025
NOTE - For best consideration and to reduce the chance of missing or late letters, we strongly recommend having your letters of recommendation submitted to us by or on the application deadline of February 10th. However, the BTAA provides a grace period that allows letters of recommendation to be submitted as late as March 1st.
2025 BSOS Summer Research Initiative Application Steps
Applications are closed for the 2025 SRI. Please check back in the fall for information on the 2026 program.
BSOS Departmental Placements for SRI
The department placement and faculty member preferences are part of the BSOS SRI supplemental application. Please visit the BSOS department websites below to identify up to three department placement preferences that would best meet your graduate training aspirations and select up to three faculty member placement preferences whose work is of interest to you and also align with your graduate training aspirations.
When searching for potential summer faculty mentors, please focus your attention on individuals who have ‘professor’ in their title. Faculty members who are lecturers, postdoctoral associates, research associates, etc. are less likely to assume the responsibility of mentoring students through research projects during the summer. While we do our best to match students with their preferences, we do not guarantee your first faculty or department placement choice. However, providing us with faculty and department preferences gives us an indication of the types of summer research topics that might be of interest or helpful to you.
Past Participants & Research Projects
Students who have participated in the Summer Research Initiative have consistently said that they found the experience to be very rewarding. The program deepened their interest in research and allowed them to develop professional relationships with faculty in their field. Get to know our previous SRI participants. Research topics to be developed for the summer of 2025 will be based on availability of faculty members and specific match between students and faculty research. Examples of past student research projects developed include, but are not limited to those below.
2024 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2023 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2022 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2019 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2018 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2017 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2016 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2015 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
2014 SRI Cohort and Research Poster Titles
The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the BSOS Summer Research Initiative (SRI) in July of 2023. The SRI is a proud symbol of how we live up to our credo to Be the Solution to the world's great challenges.