The Summer Student Program (SSP) is run by The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) at its campuses in Bar Harbor, Maine and Farmington, Connecticut, and focuses on genetics and genomics. Participants join ongoing research in a JAX lab under a mentor for ten weeks at 40 hours a week, take part in science communication and professional development sessions, and present their work to JAX researchers and families at the end.
Participants receive a $7,500 stipend, including room and board, plus round-trip travel; Bar Harbor is residential and Farmington is not. The website describes admission as competitive but does not publish applicant numbers or an acceptance rate. Students from any state may apply, and international college students need funding from their state’s INBRE program.
The program used to accept high school seniors. Its admissions page now says it no longer does, and the FAQ requires at least one year of college and age 18 by the start of the program, so high school students cannot apply. High schoolers interested in biomedical research can look at programs in this library that still accept them, such as UC Irvine’s Cancer Research Institute YSFP.
