You could spend six to 10 weeks during your summer doing research with world-class faculty at leading institutions, while earning between $2,000 and $5,000 or more.
Many colleges and universities, medical schools, federal agencies, and corporations offer hundreds of paid summer research opportunities for students in all fields of study.
Besides learning new skills you will have an opportunity to apply previous skills from your classes and labs to a real research project. You get great exposure to the current technology, trends, and literature in the scientific community, not to mention meeting researchers and learning the issues in your field of study. You will also create a network of professionals, graduate students, post-docs, and fellow undergraduate students who can become part of a network of peers who can give you support after you graduate.
Many of these programs are in the sciences, but opportunities exist in the humanities, business, and social sciences. Many are designed to attract students from groups considered under-represented in their relevant disciplines and to help the institutions increase diversity in their programs.
Most research projects require an application with a statement of purpose (a description of your development as a scholar in your field thus far and why summer research would help your professional development), a résumé, and letters of recommendation. Deadlines vary but they generally start in January and continue through the spring. The most competitive programs tend to be earlier.
Brooklyn College has its own search engine for summer opportunities and can be an excellent source of information. The database has information about summer programs that can be searched by various criteria. It is better to start with a broad search and narrow from there. Information has been updated for programs for which new information is available, but some of these programs may have ended, have new deadlines, etc., so students should check on the program websites or contact the program to confirm details.
SUIP & PREP Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP) and Penn Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) each of which are paid research opportunities for underrepresented students who are interested in pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Graduate Studies. SUIP is a ten-week summer experience for undergraduate students, whereas PREP is a 1-to-2 year long program for recently-graduated students who would like to build their research experience before applying to graduate school.
You can find more information about SUIP and PREP using the links.