BSCD Research Fellowship - Working with Non-Traditional Model Organisms in the Biological Sciences - 2026
This internship is part of the University’s Jeff Metcalf Internship Program. Click here to learn more about the program, its benefits, and the UChicago community of supporters. By applying to this internship, you agree to follow the Student Recruiting Guidelines.
Please make sure that if selected for an interview, you communicate to your prospective host organization/employer where you will be physically located during the internship, as your location may affect your (or your host organization/employer’s) ability to pursue this opportunity.
If you are an international student, please visit the OIA website as soon as possible to familiarize yourself with your work authorization eligibility and requirements. If you’d like to make an appointment with your international adviser, please visit this page.
This role is not benefits-eligible.
Fellowship Award Amount: $2000 - 5,500
- Please complete the BSCD Fellowship Preference Form, which is required if you're applying for this fellowship:
- Please download the Educational Assignment form from the attachments section. Complete the form to the best of your ability. If applicable, you may also have your faculty mentor complete their designated portion. Finally, upload the completed form along with your other application materials.
*PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING DEADLINES FOR THIS PROGRAM*
If you plan to apply for a lab at the Marine Biological Laboratory, you must submit your application by the early deadline.
Application Deadline:
- MBL Labs - February 15, 2026
- UChicago Labs - March 20, 2026
BSCD Research Fellowship Program “Working with Non-Traditional Model Organisms in the Biological Sciences”
About the Fellowship
Organismal diversity provides a rich and largely untapped resource to study biological mechanisms from gene regulation and development to biophysics and biomechanics to behavior and neural networks. However, most laboratory research remains focused on a small number of conventional experimental systems. By engaging fellows with mentored full-time research with non-traditional model organisms across a range of disciplines, we hope to inspire them to look beyond established experimental systems for new answers and questions in biological research in an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional setting. Summer fellows will execute an independent research project that leverages the use of non-traditional model organisms. Fellows should identify labs of interest at UChicago or MBL in advance of the application deadline and may reach out to the program directors for assistance with identifying labs of interest. Selected fellows will work in labs at UChicago or MBL in any biological discipline and will leverage experimental work with a non-traditional model organism. Our aim is for fellows to cover a range of disciplines and to include labs at UChicago and MBL at roughly equal numbers.
For students working in UChicago Labs, the Fellowship awards a $5296 stipend for the summer research period in UChicago Labs (10 weeks) plus $204 to cover two nights' room and board at MBL to attend the undergraduate research symposium on August 13, 2026 (arrival at MBL on August 12 and departure on August 14).
For students working in MBL Labs, the Fellowship awards a $2000 stipend and room and board at MBL for 9 weeks (62x$102 per student) with arrival on Sunday, June 14, 2026, and departure on Saturday, August 15, 2026.
The Fellowship program will also provide a $ 1,500 stipend to the Hosting Principal Investigator’s (PI) lab to cover supply costs associated with the research project and student activities at MBL.
Duties and Responsibilities for Fellows and Hosting PIs
The program will run from June 15 to August 15, 2026 (9 weeks for students at MBL, dates coinciding with the Metcalf SURF program) or August 21 (10 weeks for students in UChicago labs).
Fellows are expected to engage in full-time research. Additionally, Fellows will be asked to participate in weekly mentorship and training activities and to prepare and present a poster of their project at the MBL undergraduate research symposium on Thursday, August 13, 2026.
Hosting PIs (or their designated student mentors) will be asked to meet with the cohort (hybrid format) to provide background on how and why they chose to use non-traditional model organisms in their research and to offer a lab tour to the local fellows. In a following group meeting, students will present their projects and receive feedback on poster drafts in preparation for an in-person undergraduate symposium at MBL on August 13, 2026, with participants of other undergraduate fellowship programs (e.g., Metcalf SURF program, NSF REU), and including a tour of labs and facilities at that institution.
Non-Exclusive List of Potential Research Mentors (other researchers using non-traditional model organisms in their research at UChicago and the Marine Biological Laboratory can also be considered)
- Albertin, Carrie (MBL): evolution and development, cephalopods
- Arkhipova, Irina (MBL): transposable elements; rotifers
- Heckscher, Elizabeth (MGCB): evolution of motoneuron circuits; non-traditional fly and midge models
- Herbert, Amy (OBA): evolutionary innovations, sea robins
- Malamy, Jocelyn (MGCB): regeneration; cnidarians (Clythia)
- Marlow, Heather (OBA): evolution and development; cnidarians, hemichordates, xenoturbellids.
- Nirody, Jasmine (OBA): biophysics of locomotion; bacteria, tardigrades, jumping spiders, non-traditional fly models
- Patel, Nipam (MBL): evolution of body patterning and segmentation; amphipod crustaceans
- Perozzo, Eduardo (BMB): biophysics; cnidaria
- Ragsdale, Cliff (Neurobiology, OBA): cephalopods, specifically Octopus bimaculoides, octopus arm regeneration, and motor control
- Schmidt-Ott, Urs (OBA): evolution and development, embryo development, gene networks, epigenetics; non-traditional fly and midge models
- Swartz, Zak (MBL): early development and reproduction; sea stars
Class Level Eligibility
Undergraduates who have completed at least one year in The College.
Required Materials
- Resume or CV
-
Statement of Interest / Cover Letter (~1 Page)
- Explain your interest in working with a non-traditional model organism.
- Describe your post-graduate goals related to your reasons for wanting to participate in this program
- Summary of any research experience
- Statement of your expectations for the program – what you anticipate this experience will be like, and what you hope to gain from attending
- Researchers of interest leveraging the use of non-traditional model organisms (describe research interests aligned with each researcher and the projects of interest)
- Unofficial Transcript
- Please complete the BSCD Fellowship Preference Form, which is required if you're applying for this fellowship:
- Please download the Educational Assignment form from the attachments section. Complete the form to the best of your ability. If applicable, you may also have your faculty mentor complete their designated portion. Finally, upload the completed form along with your other application materials.
Application Deadline:
- MBL Labs - February 15, 2026
- UChicago Labs - March 20, 2026
Notification: April 13, 2026