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Immerse yourself in a fascinating, challenging research project in Genomics, learn how to stimulate antibiotic resistance and directed evolution, accelerate your academic and personal development to succeed in college and beyond.
Non-credit
Residential
Accepts International Students
Financial Aid
Final project
Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a serious public health problem. At the Summer Science Program in Genomics, teams will stimulate the evolution of antibiotic resistance in a safe, controlled culture, then sequence its genome and analyze the acquired mutations. They will gain hands-on experience with the molecular biology, genomics, and bioinformatics needed to address this and other complex, real-world life science problems.
Each team of three participants use a custom chemostat to maintain constant growth of a non-disease-causing ocean microbe called Vibrio natriegens under moderate antibiotic selection pressure. The chemostat includes components for mixing and aeration of the growth media, optical monitoring of growth rate, and feedback control of antibiotic delivery to the culture. Teams will then map the genetic mutations that arise as a result of incomplete growth suppression.
Following the SSP philosophy of “no black boxes,” faculty will teach the underlying science and engineering that teams will use in their research:
Genetics: genetic evolution, DNA manipulation, PCR and sequence analysis
Microbiology: bacterial life cycle and growth dynamics
Mathematics: rate equations, linear and non-linear curve fitting, biostatistics
Instrumentation: optical measurement, integral feedback control
Bioinformatics: read trimming, genome assembly (de novo and from reference genomes), Gene annotation, SNP calling
On-campus, residential
Is SSP for You?
Imagine yourself …
• living and working in a close-knit community drawn from around the world, everyone just as interesting and motivated as you are, united by curiosity and exploration …
• immersing yourself in a fascinating, challenging research project …
• helping your teammates and being helped in turn, collaborating rather than competing …
• learning more and learning it faster than you ever thought possible, feeling intellectually challenged as you never have before…
The “SSP experience” accelerates your academic and personal development as you approach important life decisions. Afterwards you will really know whether a STEM major and career is your best path – or not. And you will gain practical skills, such as time management, that will help you succeed in college and beyond.
It is free to apply. There is a program fee, but generous need-based financial aid funded by our generous donors allows students from lower-income families to attend at a fee they can afford.
SSP is intense and challenging – material is presented at a pace faster than college courses, and the schedule is jam-packed – but every participant receives a high level of personal attention from the seven faculty, so no one is left behind. The spirit of cooperation is reinforced by the absence of grades or tests.
Applications are open each winter to current high school juniors and exceptional sophomores who have completed the pre-requisites, and will be at least 15 years old, but not yet 19, during program operation. Current freshmen and seniors are not eligible.
To meet the prerequisite, a course must be taken for credit and a grade, and completed by June. Self-study does not qualify. If you have not taken the required classes, you are not eligible to apply.
Coursework Prerequisites (completed or in progress):
• junior or sophomore - biology AND Algebra II
Official Transcript
Written Answers
Online Application From
Standardized Test Scores *
Up to 3 Reccomendations *
English Test *
• Main Application Form: your basic information (contact, school, family).
• Short Answers: Where we get to know YOU.
• Academic Records:
1. Transcript: official transcripts from your school (for 9th, 10th, and 11th grades, if applicable)
2. Standardized Test Scores: scores for any standardized tests you have taken (optional)
• Teacher Evaluations: 2 or 3 teacher evaluations. We must receive 2 evaluations, the third is optional.
International applicants:
• The application process for international applicants is the same as for U.S. citizens, but with an earlier deadline. An “international applicant” is one who:
1. is not a US citizen nor US green card holder (regardless of school location)
2. is a U.S. citizen attending school outside the U.S.
• If your transcript does not include your current coursework in progress, you must send that, including any grades received this school year. You may send that report directly to us by any method; it need not come from the school.
• If your transcript is in a language other than English, Spanish, or French, please have it translated by a school official or translation service.
• Test Scores
1. Your application can be complete without test scores; we do not require any standardized test such as the SAT or ACT. However, without them it will be harder for us to have high confidence in your preparation relative to other applicants.
2. SAT, ACT, and TOEFL scores are particularly helpful.
3. The form asks for “other” test scores. Only report science or math scores.
4. Include results from national or international competitions related to science or math, but not competitions local to your school or region.
• Visas
Most non-U.S. citizens will need a visa to enter the U.S. for SSP. In legal terms SSP is “pleasure” or “tourism,” not “studying” nor “business”. SSP is a non-credit enrichment program, like a summer camp. Therefore, we do not issue the I-20 form required to obtain an F-1 Student Visa. Whatever document(s) you would need to enter the US as a tourist (typically a B-2 Visitor’s Visa) will be sufficient. A foreign national already in the U.S. needs no additional paperwork to attend SSP.
Deadline
February 3, 2023 - Deadline for international applicants – all non-U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens attending school outside the U.S.
March 3, 2023 - Deadline for U.S. citizens and green card holders attending school in the U.S.
Jun 11 - Jul 19
5 weeks
Residential
There is no fee to apply to SSP.
The program fee is scaled to what each family can afford. No one pays more than the program fee of $8,400 (2023), our cost per participant to operate the program.
Whatever fee is paid, it is all-inclusive, covering room & board, tuition, supplies, and local transportation.
Financial Aid
The Summer Science Program is an independent nonprofit, uniquely governed by its own alumni and faculty. They donate to keep this life-changing experience financially accessible.
Thanks to them, we can guarantee need-blind admissions and an aid grant sufficient to meet 100% of demonstrated need, including U.S. round-trip airfare or $500 toward international airfare. When evaluating financial need, we take into account all relevant circumstances, including number of dependents and unusual costs.
An applicant with family income:
under about $70,000 will likely qualify for fully discounted fee (SSP is free) and travel expenses
under about $130,000 will likely qualify for a partially discounted fee
over $130,000 may qualify for a partially discounted fee, depending on individual circumstances.
Official Transcript
Written Answers
Online Application From
Standardized Test Scores *
Up to 3 Reccomendations *
English Test *
Application is closed
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