Summer Materials Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SMURF) Program
Tent. June 2 - August 8, 2025
The MRSEC SMURF program is for Brandeis students doing undergraduate research, sponsored by the Brandeis Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.
This is a highly competitive internal fellowship that includes a $6,000 stipend.. By the summer, applicants must be rising Brandeis sophomores, juniors, or seniors. No prior lab experience is required, but a commitment from a Brandeis MRSEC faculty member to serve as a mentor in the summer is required.
Recipients are expected to be available to do full time laboratory research during that period, and must commit to presenting a poster at the final poster session. Recipients also commit to participating in weekly activities (~1-2 hours/week) organized by the MRSEC Director of Education.
The 2025 SMURF application has closed. Please check back in Winter 2025 for 2026 application information
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- You must be a rising Brandeis sophomore, junior, or senior in Summer 2025 who is in a MRSEC-affiliated lab. US Citizenship is NOT required unless otherwise specified for a specific award.
- You must be available to work full-time at Brandeis from June 2nd - August 8th, 2025
- You must present a poster at the final poster session (aka SciFest) on August 7th.
- You may not take summer courses or participate in extensive volunteer/shadowing experiences in which you commit to being out of the lab for a significant amount of time.
- You may not be paid for doing lab research during this period from other funding sources.
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You should use Chrome, Safari, or Edge to connect (Firefox is not supported). If you are off campus, you will need to first connect to the VPN (https://www.brandeis.edu/its/services/network-connectivity/vpn.html) before connecting to the application found at:https://cups.brandeis.edu/fmi/webd/SciUGResearchPrograms .
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If you cannot log in, even after connecting to the VPN, please email SummerResearch@brandeis.edu.
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You should speak with your mentor prior to requesting the letter so that they know an email will be coming. It will come from SummerResearch@brandeis.edu and contain instructions for your mentor. As a reminder please complete the Mentor Information section early.
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Note: If your mentor is outside of the Division of Science (either in another Division at Brandeis or at an external institution), you will need a second mentor from within the Division of Science to write a letter and agree to check in with your outside mentor about your project.
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Answering the short essay questions in this application may take some preparation. You will be able to save your progress and come back to update and edit before submitting this application.
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If you have any problems with the application, click the "Request Assistance" button in the application.
General questions about the application process or programs should be emailed to SummerResearch@brandeis.edu.
