CSIRE Welcomes High School Students Into Campus Research

This summer, 51 high school students are getting an early look at academic research through Stony Brook University's Computer Science and Informatics Summer Research Experience, known as CSIRE.

Running from June 29 through August 7, the program pairs students with faculty, PhD students, and postdoctoral mentors for hands-on research in computing, biomedical informatics, artificial intelligence, and related areas. This year's cohort includes both in-person and remote participants, with 25 students on site for the first day and about half of the students participating remotely.

Students are working with 23 faculty mentors from across campus, including from the Departments of Computer Science, Biomedical Informatics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Civil Engineering, as well as the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. They are also being partnered with 35 PhD and postdoctoral mentors.

Unlike many summer programs that focus primarily on classroom instruction, CSIRE is designed to immerse students in research from the beginning.

"I believe CSIRE is an exceptionally valuable and unique program that provides motivated high school students with a rare opportunity to gain authentic academic research experience," said Chao Chen, associate professor of Biomedical Informatics. "CSIRE truly endeavors to immerse students into a research lab from day one."

The program also includes a structured mentorship and presentation model. Each student is paired with a dedicated graduate mentor, gives a midterm progress presentation and concludes the program with a formal final presentation.

This year, under the mentoring of Professor Dongyoon Lee, PhD student mentor Yichen Liu is working with student Nila Manian on a project focused on Regular Expression Denial of Service, a cybersecurity topic connected to Liu's doctoral research.

"For early-career students, this topic is valuable because it is a good example of how computer science theories are applied to practical engineering or security defense," Liu said. "I hope the high school student will have a first taste of basic computer science knowledge and research methods, which may be helpful for her undergraduate study and future research."

Chen credited Professor Fusheng Wang, who established and has continued to lead CSIRE, with building the program into a meaningful research experience for high school students.

"Despite his demanding research and teaching responsibilities, Fusheng has devoted immense effort and dedication to building and continuously refining this program through many challenges over the years," Chen said.

Through CSIRE, students gain early exposure to research while working alongside faculty and graduate mentors in an active university research environment. Many continue their projects during the academic year or maintain collaborations with their mentors after the program ends. Previous participants have also published research papers and earned recognition in prestigious competitions such as the Regeneron Science Talent Search.