2024 Bio-X USRP participants.
About the Stanford Sapp Family CS Bio-X Undergraduate Summer Research Program (USRP):
Introducing undergraduates to the excitement of interdisciplinary research at the frontiers of knowledge is essential for training a new generation to participate in discovery. The Stanford Sapp Family CS Bio-X Undergraduate Summer Research Program (Bio-X USRP) began in 2006 and has provided 1,002 undergraduate students with the opportunity to conduct hands-on and virtual research, build awareness of interdisciplinary areas, and network with Bio-X faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and each other. This formative experience influences their subsequent work at Stanford and beyond.
Donor Pitch Johnson with one of the Undergraduate Summer Research Program participants he sponsored.
In previous years, Bio-X has provided workshops to train students in a variety of research-related skills needed to work in a laboratory. These include reading and analyzing manuscripts, gaining the ability to formulate scientific questions, learning to design and set up experiments, preparing and presenting posters, and more. The students have also taken Health & Safety courses and learned about proper Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). During the summer quarter, not only do they receive a stipend that gives them the invaluable opportunity to do full-time research for ten weeks, but they also learn from Stanford faculty members during the weekly Undergraduate Research Talks.
In 2020 and 2021, Bio-X pivoted to support students both in-person and virtually, engaging them in highly educational virtual programming such as journal clubs, peer share sessions, and wet lab technique training. Under the guidance of their mentors, Bio-X USRP students have conducted hands-on laboratory research as well as virtual research, thereby continuing to develop a multitude of skills, learning how to carry out experiments and overcoming challenges that cannot be anticipated in a classroom environment.
A unique component of the program, the Undergraduate Research Talks, which are given by the faculty mentors of our student awardees, expose students to a variety of scientific fields and enrich their summer research experience. This is a unique opportunity for students to hear more about the broad range of research within Stanford, to meet faculty in a variety of scientific fields, and to network with each other as potential future collaborators and colleagues.
At the conclusion of the program, students present the results of the research they had conducted during the program. In addition to the opportunity to network with colleagues, faculty members, and even professionals in other fields during the event, previous Bio-X USRP students have also mentioned that the preparation process was an extremely useful experience.
In Summer 2024, the Stanford Sapp Family CS Bio-X Undergraduate Summer Research Program enthusiastically welcomed our full cohort of 76 exceptional Stanford students to research in laboratories across the campus. With the goal of creating a vigorous, valuable, and fulfilling in-person research experience to fast-track the sharpening of students’ skills and techniques, 49 Faculty, Bio-X postdocs, graduate students, researchers, Bio-X USRP alums, and senior-level undergraduates from 29 departments and the Stanford Bio-X Institute contributed their time and effort to the talks, workshops, journal clubs, and other events that enriched the 20th year of the Stanford Sapp Family CS Bio-X Undergraduate Summer Research Program.
Apply
Applications for the 2025 summer cycle of the Bio-X USRP has closed. Applications for the 2026 cycle will go live in Fall 2025.
MEET OUR USRP PARTICIPANTS View the 2024 Stanford Bio-X USRP brochure
Bio-X USRP Brochures: