Students and Postdocs

I started the graduate program in neuroscience at Hopkins in 2019 and spent my first year at Hopkins in Baltimore before joining the Karpova lab at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus in the summer of 2020.

I’ve been interested in brain-machine interfaces since I was in high school, when I saw a TED talk where a machine interface was used to demonstrate how to “hack” someone else’s nervous system.

Junior Scientist Workshops at Janelia are designed specifically for graduate students, postdocs, and those in similar positions. These intense, interactive meetings allow attendees to present their work, receive and provide critical feedback, engage in lively discussions and network with peers without the pressure of having more senior scientists in attendance.

We talked to organizers of the 2023 Junior Scientist Workshop on Theoretical Neuroscience to get an insider perspective on what makes these workshops special.

Our summer students participate in a variety of scientific activities outside the lab, including journal clubs and seminars by Janelia researchers and visiting scientists. We also provide numerous professional development opportunities, including workshops on preparing competitive applications for graduate school/graduate fellowships, and presenting effective talks/posters. Students also have opportunities to present their research at lab meetings and at a closing symposium open to the Janelia community.

Janelia is a highly collaborative setting where biologists routinely work alongside computer scientists, engineers, physicists, and chemists. This enables undergraduate students to benefit from an unparalleled interdisciplinary experience.
 

2025 Program

The 2025 program will run from approximately late-May to early-August. Students will spend a full 10 weeks at Janelia, but we are flexible on the specific start and end dates to accommodate differing academic calendars at universities. 

Applications for the 2025 Janelia Summer Undergraduate Research Program are closed.

Application Materials

All applicants need to submit the following materials:

• Scientific Professional Development Essay: In no more than 2 pages, please tell us your science career goals and then list up to 5 topics or aspects that you would like to learn at Janelia Research Campus this summer and why. Examples are provided in the online application. 

The Janelia Summer Undergraduate Research Program (J-SURP) is a 10-week paid summer program for science-loving Scholars who want to participate in cutting-edge research.

Janelia undergraduate students are dedicated future scientists, engineers, computational scientists, physician scientists, and mathematicians who are interested in exploring: