The Louis Stokes North Star STEM Alliance and MnDRIVE Initiative have partnered to offer LS-NSSA Undergraduate Scholars from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM, the opportunity to conduct research via the 2023 Summer Research Internship program.  Support and funding from this partnership will provide qualified interns the chance to engage experts from your research teams and conduct research related to the following MnDRIVE Initiative areas of scholarship: Brain Conditions, Environment, Global Food Ventures, or Robotics.

Summer Research Internship Description

MnDRIVE and the Louis Stokes North Star STEM Alliance match undergraduate research interns with UMN faculty mentors and their lab teams for a summer of research engagement. Each qualified scholar intern will have the freedom to choose their summer research focus from the list of approved projects that you, participating faculty, submit for consideration. Scholars that are matched with a faculty mentor will immerse themselves in the 8-week long research internship. Their experience and learnings are captured in formal project presentations during the final week of the internship program. All undergraduate scholars will be expected to present their summer research and faculty mentors are also expected to attend.

This opportunity to mentor a LS-NSSA scholar is open to any University of Minnesota Faculty from the Twin Cities, Duluth, Rochester, and Morris campuses who are working in one of the MnDRIVE Initiative areas of research (Brain Conditions, Environment, Global Food Ventures, or Robotics). Faculty affiliation with any of these MnDRIVE areas can be existing or newly formed for this opportunity. 

If you are an interested faculty member, please click on the APPLY button below to submit your expression of interest, which includes your research project outline, by December 12, 2022.

The Faculty Interest and Project Proposal Form will ask you for the following. 

• Your information (first and last name, campus, department, email)
• Short description (3-5 sentences) of the research an undergraduate summer intern can expect to engage with in your laboratory (in general, or a specific summer project in mind)
• Brief description (2-5 sentences) of the research knowledge and skills a summer intern should expect to acquire
• Your MnDRIVE area affiliation (Brain Conditions, Environment, Global Food Ventures, or Robotics), and a brief statement (2-4 sentences) of how the research relates the MnDRIVE area

We will share approved research internship projects with student applicants as part of the application process. 

Important Program Dates 

December 12, 2022:  Submission Deadline for faculty expression of interest forms and research project ideas
January 10, 2023: Faculty projects approved and participation confirmation obtained
February 1, 2023: Application portal opens for LS-NSSA scholars
March 11, 2023: Application portal closes for scholars/interns
March 31, 2023:  Match process begins – faculty and scholars communicate to find an appropriate match
April 14, 2023:  Match process closes and intern – mentor matches finalized  
June 2, 2023: Internship kick-off/luncheon
June 5-August 1, 2023:  Internship period
August 1, 2023: Research Symposium jointly hosted by LS-NSSA and MnDRIVE

Please direct questions to Jeff Standish from MnDRIVE or Marcus Flowers from LS-NSSA.