Apply to Stanford University's 2018 SURGE Program
Application goes live on October 23rd, 2017
Are you interested in climate change research? Using the latest technology to monitor crop yields in Tanzania? Creating computer simulations of tsunamis? Are you an Earth sciences major or a physics major starting to explore the Earth sciences? Apply to SURGE. We welcome students from the geosciences and from other STEM majors to apply for this research opportunity.
SURGE provides undergraduates from a U.S. institution the opportunity to gain mentored research experience at Stanford University in the geosciences and engineering during the eight-week period of June 22nd, 2018 to August 18th, 2018. The underlying philosophy of SURGE is to train students by creating a supportive and rigorous work environment. We set high expectations for our scholars: to prepare them for a potential career in the field of geoscience and engineering, and to ensure that they get the most from their stay at Stanford. Each SURGE scholar is matched with a Stanford faculty member and has the opportunity to work in a research group or laboratory. The scholar is assigned an interesting and challenging project from a broad range of science and engineering topics that are accessible within the eight-week summer period. SURGE also includes workshops on preparing for the GRE, applying to graduate school, and understanding geoscience and engineering careers. The program culminates with a research symposium at Stanford, where scholars present results from their summer projects to faculty, mentors, and colleagues. Please check out the SURGE brochure for a snapshot of our program.
Because we all live on this planet.
Check out our Facebook homepage!
"The opportunity to work under a mentor and make meaningful contributions to his research was one of the greatest benefits for me. One of the most important lessons that I learned was to continue on in the face of difficult challenges. More specifically, learning MatLab will be an invaluable asset to me in both my academic and professional career." -SURGE scholar
Logistical
- Receive $3,000 Stipend during the summer.
- Paid round trip travel expenses from home to Stanford.
- Paid Stanford University housing and Stanford meal plan for eight weeks, which includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner (worth $5,200).
- $250 funds to use for national conferences such as GSA, AGU and SACNAS.
- Paid Stanford Cardinal Care Health insurance for students without health insurance (worth $1,170)
- Paid Stanford Summer session enrollment and access to Stanford facilities (worth $322)
- Paid seven-week GRE Preparation course with Clear Focus Test Prep (worth $1,000)
- Three paid SURGE field trips to Bay Area spots (worth $400)
Total SURGE package per scholar is worth about $11,000.
Eligibility
- Be an undergraduate at a U.S. university or college who, by reason of their culture, class, race, ethnicity, background, and life experiences, would add diversity to our Stanford graduate programs in the Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. We especially encourage applications from African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islander Americans, and first-generation college students. NOTE: Students who have recently graduated from college will be considered and should apply.
- SURGE focuses on recruiting prospective graduate students, and therefore targets rising juniors and seniors--and perhaps a few exceptional sophomores--from other universities. While the program is geared for undergradutes, we will also consider exceptional students who have recently graduted from college.
- Applicants must be in good academic standing with a GPA of 3.3 or better in their STEM courses (we also consider students with GPAs that come close to that threshold).
- Have completed at least two years of college and have at least one semester remaining of their undergraduate education by the start of the summer program.
- Attend an accredited public or private college or university in the U.S. or its territories, as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
- Have demonstrated interest and potential to pursue graduate study toward a Master's or PhD degree in the Earth sciences, marine sciences, and energy resource engineering. We also consider students who are majors in chemistry, biology, engineering and computer science but are open to exploring the Earth and environmental sciences;
- Be a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or an international student enrolled in a U.S. undergraduate institution;
Academic and Research
- Gain research experience as part of a Stanford University summer research group. See list of this year's Potential Projects, which will be updated continously until January 24th.
- See projects from 2016 SURGE.
- Guidance/instruction by Stanford Earth faculty, post docs and graduate students.
- Research use of state-of-the-art laboratories across the Stanford campus.
- Take GRE course with ClearFocus Test Prep for free.
- Graduate school application workshop.
- Weekly lunch seminars featuring Stanford faculty presenting their latest research in Earth and environmental science to students.
- Weekly seminars pertaining to scholars' academic and professional growth, including career panel, graduate student panel, and oral communication workshop.
- Preparation of an abstract and power-point presentation for SURGE symposium.
- Create your own poster for SURGE symposium and to present at national conferences.
- Possible opportunity to co-author a scientific paper with the faculty mentor.
Departments and Programs
- Energy Resources Engineering
- Earth System Science
- Geological Sciences
- Geophysics
- Earth Systems Program
- Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment & Resources
Social/Cultural
- Access to Stanford facilities (library, Stanford Earth research lab, gym, and health facilities).
- SURGE field trips: California Academy of Sciences, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Elkorn Slough, Santa Cruz, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Pacheco Pass Wind Farm & San Luis Reservoir, and downtown Palo Alto.
- Lunch with mentors and laboratory research groups.
- Interactive web site for scholars to post their profiles, and to use as a method to keep in contact after the program has ended.
- Membership to Stanford SURGE alumni network.
