Trinity University Celebrates Student Discoveries at Annual Summer Research Symposium

The Trinity University Summer Undergraduate Research and Internships Symposium starts today and runs through tomorrow on campus. Now in its 42nd year of showcasing chemistry research and its 21st year of featuring research across all disciplines, the symposium is the culmination of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, or SURF, when students present their work from internships and research, their discoveries, and their lessons learned over the past 10 weeks. They've asked questions, conducted experiments and fieldwork, and worked on projects directly related to their faculty mentors' research. There were 256 SURF students this year; 217 conducted research, 39 worked in Trinity-related internships. Those numbers keep rising each year. Each participant received a $5,000 stipend, free summer housing, funding for travel and supplies, and one course credit.

"Whether you stretched outside your comfort zones or you felt right at home, I hope you discovered something about yourself: that you can do difficult, meaningful work, and that your work makes a difference," said President Vanessa B. Beasley at the President's Reception for SURF participants. "You can do this. Just look at the evidence. You have done this."

Creating opportunities for undergraduate students to work in internships and to conduct research with close faculty mentorship, across all disciplines, is a priority for Trinity. SURF and the Symposium are annual, but there are opportunities for Trinity students to conduct research throughout the academic year. Trinity students often publish their work in academic journals, present at national conferences, and establish network connections in their fields.

Follow along with symposium coverage on Instagram here and on the News Center. You can view the full symposium schedule here.

SURF by the Numbers