Whitehead Summer Research Fellowship
Research Disciplines: Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biology
Summer 2026
Through the generous support of Dr. Jim Whitehead, the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Francisco takes great pleasure in announcing the Whitehead Summer Research Fellowship in support of undergraduate research and inquiry in the disciplines of biochemistry, chemistry and biology. The goals of the Whitehead Summer Research Fellowship are to strengthen undergraduate research opportunities for students – specifically within the areas of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biology, to enlarge the scope of undergraduate research conducted on campus during the summer, and to provide support to enable undergraduates to extend the period over which they engage in research.
Application Materials Include: Proposal of no more than 3 pages, academic transcript, and letter of support from research advisor. The student applicant will submit the proposal and academic transcript using the form below, and the research advisor will submit the letter of support using the same form.
Expectations: During the summer, research fellows will regularly gather to discuss their projects and progress. Research fellow PI’s are welcome (and encouraged) to attend these gatherings. All fellows are required to prepare a poster summarizing their research project and their results by the end of the summer. Additionally, fellows will prepare a research summary report describing the outcome of their research projects and the impact their participation in and support of their summer research project has made on their future career goals. Fellows will then present their research at the end of the summer (or early fall) as part of a research “mini-symposium”. Members of the USF community will be invited as well as the Whitehead family.
Eligibility: Applicants must be enrolled as either a Biology or Chemistry major in the Spring 2026 term and Fall 2026 term. MS in Chemistry and MS in Biology students are also eligible to apply. Applicants must be in good academic standing with a Major GPA of 3.0 or higher. Eligible students must have worked with their Research Advisors for at least one semester prior to the summer of research and their Research Advisor must recommend them. Successful applicants are expected to continue working with their faculty mentor beyond the summer of funding. Priority will be given to those applicants that describe research projects where biochemical techniques and methods are utilized.
Deadline: Application materials are due by April 20, 2026 (5 p.m.). Applications will not be considered if they are incomplete; are not formatted correctly; and/or submitted after the deadline. Complete applications will be acknowledged by an email when submitted.
Selection: Final selections will be made based upon reviews of applications by a selection committee who will consider the qualifications of the candidates, quality of proposed research, and whether proposals are well written, concise, and compelling. All efforts will be made to notify successful applicants by May 15, 2026.
The student (with guidance and approval from the Research Advisor) will complete the proposal and application form. The research advisor letter of support must be submitted by the Research Advisor in order for the application to be processed. The student's academic transcript and a proposal of no more than three pages should be submitted as a PDF document and formatted exactly as follows:
- Proposal Title: Provide an informative title
- Introduction and Background: Describe what has been done in the field to date and what questions remain unresolved. This section should be a succinct, but thorough, description of proposed summer research that provides sufficient detail to demonstrate the viability of the research while enabling reviewers unfamiliar with the area of research to provide an assessment. This section should clearly state your hypotheses (bolded). To write this section you MUST use primary literature in the field and include the references in the Literature Cited.
- Specific Aims: Clearly state each of the specific goals or objectives of this research project. The specific aims are the objectives of your research project and what you want to accomplish. They are categories of experiments directed towards testing your
hypothesis. - Methods: Describe the methods that will be used to address the central question(s) of your research. If your research will utilize a number of techniques, briefly describe each one and its role in testing your hypotheses. Explain why this particular research strategy is the most appropriate way to answer the proposed research question. Describe how your results will be analyzed and interpreted. Be sure to include a timeline that indicates anticipated length of each method utilized.
- Expected Results and Significance: Briefly outline the expected results for your research. Outline how your results will further research in your field of interest and the relevance of the research to greater community in general.
- Literature Cited: Provide an alphabetical list of the research articles, books, and other relevant materials cited in the text. The specific formatting of the Literature Cited should follow the conventions of a major journal in your field and include the authors, title, year of publication, and the journal name and issue or book publisher.
- Academic Transcript
The total amount of the Whitehead Research Fellowship award is $10,000.
- The student will receive $7,000 for the summer (a total of 12 weeks) to be paid hourly.
- In addition, the recipient will also receive $2,000 (to be deposited into the PI’s FOAP) for consumables and reagents related to the student’s research project.
- Finally, award recipients will receive $1,000 to support travel either related to their research and/or to attend a conference within the next academic year.
Christina Tzagarakis-Foster at ctzagarakis@usfca.edu