Education and Training

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

The program is 10 weeks long. Students work 40 hours per week in person and are paid a salary of $13 per hour. Students start in late May (2027 dates TBD), depending on their availability and the approval of their mentor. In addition to hands-on laboratory experience, students participate in various academic and social activities with students from other summer programs at the University of Cincinnati. The SURF Program includes a mentoring workshop, two scientific writing classes, an ethics in research seminar, an introduction to surgery, an introduction to pathology and a career day. At the end of the summer, students have an opportunity to present their research in a poster session, and a lecture is presented by a distinguished keynote speaker.

Program Director

Patrick Ryan, PhD, MS

Research Mentors

More than 700 faculty members conduct research in the Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s. Learn more about research conducted at Cincinnati Children's.

*Please note, there is an important update to the SURF application process that will take effect for the summer 2027 program. To create a fair and equitable process for all applicants, students will be instructed not to contact faculty before or during the application and initial selection process. Students will continue to be encouraged to review faculty research interests online and identify up to three faculty they would like to work with on the SURF application. All students must submit an online application by 5:00 pm on February 1.

Following the application deadline, the SURF team will review all applications and identify candidates to move forward. These candidates will then be matched with potential mentors who share similar interests for their review. After that point, mentors are welcome to contact students directly for discussions and interviews before final decisions are made.

Once a mentor notifies us of their student selection, we will send an offer letter and initiate the hiring process. Official position offers will come only from the SURF team.

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How to Apply

The online application is planned to open in early November and close February 1. Learn more about our application process. Please note, students are instructed not to contact faculty before or during the application and initial selection process. Please read note above with more details.