In our last post, Jasper Du talked about conducting summer research for Ira Tabas. This week, Gregory Zhang discusses designing his own research through the Summer Scholars Program. If you’re interested in Summer Scholars, the application is currently open and due March 4.
After I had worked abroad as a research intern in Nepal after freshman year, and served as a research assistant in a Boston area hospital the summer after sophomore year, I wanted to push one step further for my final summer at Tufts and actually conduct my own independent research.
I had been working as a research assistant for a professor on campus during that year, and I had talked to her about how I at some point wanted to do my own independent research project. When the Summer Scholars Program application came out, my professor reached out to me and asked if I would like to design and create a project under her supervision for the program. We worked on the application jointly, and I had a chance to really think and dig deep into the literature about what I wanted to study, working all the while with an advisor who was not only passionate about her subject area, but also passionate about pushing me to be my best as I pursued my own subject area.
My application was accepted and I was officially a Summer Scholar, meaning that not only could I do my own research on campus that summer; I also had a $3500 living stipend and a $1000 research budget. The research budget in particular was tremendously helpful in giving me the tools and resources necessary to complete my research, and I am still using it to help complete my senior thesis research.
The program gave me an incredible range of opportunities both in terms of conducting my own research and in terms of sharing and learning what others were doing on campus. The Summer Scholars program was an incredible opportunity that helped me to push my limits and dig deep into an area I was interested in, all while providing me the institutional and financial support to do so. I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in pursuing research to look into the Summer Scholars Program.
Editor’s Note: February 22, 2016
This post originally misstated the application deadline for the Summer Scholars program as March 1. The deadline has been corrected to March 4.
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