Community

High School Student Research Education Program

Program Description

The Scripps Research Institute's High School Student Research Education Program exposes students to contemporary issues in biomedical research and provides hands-on laboratory experience and mentorship.  It is committed to increasing the number of talented students who choose a career in the biological and chemical sciences, particularly first-generation college-bound students and students from groups that are underrepresented in science.

The Scripps Research Institute is located in La Jolla, California and is one of the nation's largest private, not-for-profit biomedical research institutions, with an international reputation in the areas of immunology, molecular biology, chemistry, cell biology, autoimmune disease, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and the neurosciences. In addition to its longstanding commitment to the training of postdoctoral fellows, the Institute has a graduate program leading to the conferral of doctoral degrees in the chemical and biological sciences.

Funding for this program has been provided by grants from the Hearst Foundation; The Valenzuela Charitable Trust; and other private endowments. Past supporters include the Amgen Foundation, the Samuel H. and Katherine Weaver French Fund and the Maurice J. Masserini Charitable Trust, both administered by Wells Fargo Bank; the Joseph Drown Foundation; the Carl E. Wynn Foundation; the Bank of America Foundation; and other private donors to Scripps Research.

Program Parameters

Students selected will participate in this comprehensive program that consists of four primary components:

• Spring Enrichment Tutorials: From early May through mid June students will meet on five consecutive Wednesday afternoons from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the Scripps Research campus for a course on aspects of modern molecular biology and chemistry, taught by doctoral students at the Institute.
  
  
  

• Biotechnology Boot Camp:  Students who have attended all spring tutorial sessions and are placed in a lab for the summer will attend a one week non-paid pre-internship training course.  The ‘boot camp’ will be held at the Southern California Biotech Center at Miramar College.  Dates will vary according to school district.  College credit for the training course may be available for qualified applicants. 
  
  
• Summer Research Internship Program: Students who have attended all spring tutorial sessions will be assigned (through an interview process with principal investigators) to work in a research laboratory, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., from early July until mid August.
  
  
• Mentorship Program: Over the course of the summer, each high school student will be paired with a graduate student mentor who will meet with them regularly to help guide the student through their experience in the lab, the college application/selection process, the application essay, etc.
  
  
  

Please note: Students must be available and willing to participate in all aspects of the program. Foreseeable time conflicts and other prospective jobs/internships applied for should be listed on the application .

Eligibility / Compensation

Research Internships are awarded on a competitive basis to United States citizens or permanent residents who are enrolled in their junior or senior years in a high school in San Diego County, with a minimum grade point average of 3.0. Students must be 16 years of age or older. Students must have taken one year of biology and one year of chemistry prior to the start of the program.  Students under 18 must submit a work permit application (available from the high school career center). A special emphasis is placed on identifying and recruiting students who are historically underrepresented in the sciences (i.e., African-American, Hispanic, Native Pacific Islander, or Native American students).

Students are awarded a gross compensation of $8.00 per hour for the summer internship program. 

2008 Calendar

Application Procedures

Applicants must download an application packet and full application instructions at http://www.scripps.edu/community/hsstudent.html. All items listed in the application packet must be submitted at one time to the San Diego Workforce Partnership.  Incomplete applications will not be considered. 

For more information please contact:  

Marisela Chevez
Office of Communications
Phone: (858) 784-2171
Fax: (858) 784-8136
E-mail: mchevez@scripps.edu 

Click here to download the application form.