Research Opportunities & Internships

Students are encouraged to become involved in undergraduate research during the academic year or during the summer with URI faculty or with scientists at other nearby research laboratories (e.g., NOAA, NMFS, RI-DEM, etc.).

On-Campus Research Opportunities:

Students should discuss their interests with their advisor, read about faculty research interests, and then contact individual faculty members with whom they might be interested in working to find out about the availability of suitable positions. Undergraduate research positions may be paid (via research grants, Federal Work-Study program or URI student employment funds), students may work on a voluntary basis, or students may earn academic credit (e.g., BIO 491, 492; OCG 493, 494, etc.).

In addition, the following three programs provide URI undergraduates with paid research opportunities during the summer:

URI Coastal and Environmental Fellows Program (summer, paid, and 1-credit seminar in the following fall) – the CELS undergraduate research program, which involves >40 students who work in research labs on the Kingston and Bay Campuses each summer. Apply early in the Spring semester.

Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR Summer Fellowships (summer, paid). For qualified students enrolled in Rhode Island colleges or universities who are interested in participating in a 10-week research project in the life sciences. Applications due in April.

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in Oceanography
(SURFO; summer). This program is the National Science Foundation-funded REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program hosted by the Graduate School of Oceanography. Apply early in the Spring semester.

Off-Campus Research Opportunities:

• Internship Opportunities in Ecology, Animal & Plant Biology & Marine Science - a HUGE resource including links to HUNDREDS of internships around the country (updated each year)
• NSF REU Fellowships - listing for all REU programs across the US
  • Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences REU Program
  • MBL – Biological Discovery in Woods Hole REU Program
  • Blinks – NSF REU – BEACON Internship Program at Friday Harbor Labs, University of Washington
• Woods Hole Partnership Education Program - in Woods Hole, MA – summer research internships (for students from underrepresented groups)
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Summer Fellowships
• Gulf of Maine Research Institute - (Portland, ME)
• Bradford E. Brown Student Internship Program - at labs of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NOAA Fisheries)
• NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
  • http://www.volunteer.noaa.gov/index.html
  • http://www.careers.noaa.gov/special_programs.html
• School for Field Studies - field internships in several countries

Other Off-Campus Internships (may not necessarily be research, per se):

• New England Aquarium
• Mystic Marinelife Aquarium
• Roger Williams Park Zoo
• Save the Bay

Other Resources for Finding Internships:

• URI Office of Internships and Experiential Education