Summer Opportunities
This page constitutes an overview of different opportunities for physics undergraduates.
Jobs
Many students do not want to, or can't afford the luxury of doing research over the summer. It is important to remember that unspecialized job experience can still be valuable and absolutely does not preclude the possibility of Graduate School. Furthermore you will be guaranteed steady income. There are many campus resources if you seek this kind of work. Some of the most common websites include HandshakeGlassdoor, LinkedIn, etc.
General Research
Email a professor at any professor (politely) asking to work for them! They may even pay you! Generally its wise to send along your resume/CV and if you would be willing to work full time etc. This technique doesn't lend itself to being part of a program so there aren't very many more restrictions or constraints beyond this. Most students get summer research this way.
REU
Similar to general research but formalized into a program. There are many kinds of REU's and their descriptions can be found on their website. See link for list of available physics REU's.
SURF
Link to Surf website: Surf
The SURF Program is made up of five different fellowships:
- SURF L&S
- SURF Rose Hills Experience
- SURF Rose Hills Independent
- SURF Math Team Fellowship
- SURF-SMART
Each fellowship has particular eligibility requirements, and each fellowship has certain obligations that fellows agree to if they receive the award.
The SURF L&S fellowship allows UC Berkeley undergraduates in the College of Letters and Science to spend the summer doing concentrated research in preparation for a senior thesis. Fellows receive $5000. These fellowships are generously supported by a number of private donors.
The SURF Rose Hills Experience fellowship allows UC Berkeley sophomores and juniors from Southern California in certain math, science, and engineering majors (L&S, CNR, COE, C. Chem) to immerse themselves in full-time summer research supporting a research project that is designed and directed by a faculty member. Fellows receive $5000. This program is generously supported by the Rose Hills Foundation.
The SURF Rose Hills Independent fellowship is for UC Berkeley juniors in the summer before their senior year who are intending to do research projects of their own design as part of a senior thesis for a major. Students must have permanent residence in Southern California and be part of certain STEM majors. Graduating seniors are also eligible. Fellows receive $5000. This program is generously supported by the Rose Hills Foundation.
The SURF Math Team Fellowship is for a team of four UC Berkeley math majors of any year to propose a summer research project under the mentorship of a UC Berkeley math professor. Each team member will receive a $5000 fellowship, and the faculty mentor will receive $2500 in research funds.
The SURF-SMART (Student Mentoring and Research Teams) is a program that enables doctoral students to create mentored research opportunities for undergraduate students at UC Berkeley. The program provides summer funding for both graduate and undergraduate participants and opportunities to share research results on campus and at national conferences. Each SURF-SMART undergraduate fellow will receive a $5000 fellowship, and the graduate student Mentors receive a stipend from the Graduate Division.
Benefits of these fellowships:
In addition to receiving funding, summer fellows from all five programs will be assigned to a research cluster, which will meet regularly throughout the summer. In the cluster you will find a community of undergraduate researchers with similar interests and problems. Each cluster is led by a SURF Graduate Student Advisor - an experienced researcher to help guide your efforts. Primary guidance in research will come from individual faculty/graduate student mentors, but most students have found it very valuabe to meet with other students who are grappling with related research issues. SURF fellows also have the opportunity to present their research or present a poster at the SURF Conference in August 2020. Conference attendance is required for all fellows.
SULI
Space Sciences Lab
URAP
McNair Scholars Program
UC LEADS
UC LEADS stands for Leadership UC Excellence Through Advanced DegreeS. Link to their website [1].
This program is part of the UC Office of the President's efforts to increase the number of diversity students pursuing graduate degrees in STEM. UC LEADS provides two summers of sponsored research opportunities to the cohort of each year.
Requirements
Applicants must be UC citizens, permanent residents, or DREAMERs. Also, this program is only eligible for current UC Berkeley students with an accumulative GPA higher than 3.0 by the time of the application. It is strongly desired that the applicant can commit full time for the research during the summer. Finally, it is preferred that the applicant is a sophomore or junior interested in going to grad school.
Fellowship Setup
Applicants should plan to have two summers to join this program. During the first summer, students will do research with a current UC Berkely faculty, with a 4000-dollar stipend. In the second summer, students will do research in other UCs and receive a 4500-dollar stipend.
During the semester, there are also many grad school prep workshops such as GRE prep and interview prep. They also invite people over for lunches every week and present possible opportunities.
After the second summer, students will be invited to the annual poster session and present their research.
Application
The online application asks about various questions such as major, grade, and needed career-related services (such as resume building). Then they will arrange phone interviews with applicants and ask eligibility questions and applicants' plans during the summer.