South Texas Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (STUROP)

UT Health San Antonio (UTHSA) is a leading academic health center in the United States with a mission to make lives better through excellence in academics, biomedical research, and clinical care. Ideal candidates for this program are anticipated to be current first-year college undergraduates seeking research experience and mentorship, and who exhibit a wide variety of attributes including, but not limited to, a natural curiosity of health and disease, strong communication skills, hard-work ethics, and a sincere dedication to achieving goals.

Unique aspects of this program include its longitudinal nature, requiring students participate for three, consecutive years. This enables a comprehensive research training experience and development of an extensive and meaningful network of peers and mentors. The first phase of the STUROP program involves a week-long orientation, followed by an intensive, summer research immersion at UTHSA. Each STUROP scholar will have an assigned mentor-pair, one from UTHSA and one from their home institution to support immediate research goals and longer-term career development. Mentors include a faculty member with an active research lab including a designated postdoctoral fellow or advanced graduate student to assist with hands-on training. In the second phase of the program, scholars will participate in year-round activities designed to develop their scientific interests, orient them to expectations in research settings, introduce the principles of responsible research, and socialize them to the research enterprise, to prepare them for successful entry to graduate or professional school.

The summer research immersion typically runs from June to mid-August annually and is held at the UTHSA Long School of Medicine campus in San Antonio. This year, the summer immersion will start on June 3rd and ends August 2nd, 2024. Each scholar will receive a stipend contingent upon fulfillment of program completion as follows: Summer 2024 – $4,000; Summer 2025 – $4,500 & Summer 2026 – $5,000. Lodging is available each summer at no direct cost to the student. Additional part-time compensation may be provided during the academic year at the discretion of each mentee’s home institution mentor and department.

Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents and enrolled as a full-time student who has completed one year of college; preference will be given to students finishing freshman or entering sophomore years at a South Texas undergraduate institution. Prior research experience is desirable but not required. Individuals who participate must commit to attending the full program (vacations and summer classes should not interfere with weekday lab hours, 8am to 5pm).

Application deadline:  February 9, 2024

Selected participants will be notified by email no later than the week of March 18, 2024..

For additional information, please contact the Program Director, Dr. Irene Chapa, at 210-567-2941 or via email chapai@uthscsa.edu