MU Alcohol Research Training Summer School

The Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri (MU) hosts a diverse cadre of psychologists dedicated to research into the etiology and course of alcoholism and related disorders. MU-ARTSS professors represent a wide array of expertise in the science of alcohol and addiction including genetics, personality, psychopathology, social and affective neuroscience, and social network analysis. Students participating in the MU-ARTSS program are part of the larger MU Summer Undergraduate Research Program (MU-SURP) which hosts approximately 100 students from universities and colleges across the nation every year. All students participating in the program develop a research abstract and create a poster to present at the Summer MU Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum. 

MU-ARTSS aims to increase the pipeline of scientists among minority and nonminority undergraduates who are interested in pursuing careers in alcohol research and is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA, R25AA023687), part of the National Institutes of Health. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents.

The MU-ARTSS program is structured into a week-long didactic program (May 30-June 5, 2025) providing an intensive introduction to alcohol research followed by an 8-week research internship (June 6-July 25, 2025) in the lab of a MU-ARTSS professor. The program is set up to provide an independent learning experience and offer the intern an opportunity to get a sense of a ‘grad school’ working environment. The internship is full-time with a stipend of $5,000. In addition, the University of Missouri will be providing room and board at no cost to the intern. However, travel costs are not covered and are the responsibility of the intern. Interns will receive 1 hour of academic credit (course title: Special Problems in Psychology, Psych 2950) from the University of Missouri which is paid for by the program. If you would like to have your credit transferred to your academic institution, some educational institutions require prior approval before the start of an internship if students wish to count the credit hour towards their degree. Applicants should check with their institution regarding any such requirements before accepting an internship position.

The summer program will contain four components:

1. A week-long didactic program held in the Department of Psychological Sciences from May 30–June 5, 2025. Topics to be covered include both psychosocial and biomedical aspects of alcohol use and disorder, its causes, consequences and treatment.
2. At the conclusion of the didactic program, MU-ARTSS students will be placed in internships from June 6-July 25, 2025 in the labs of addiction researchers housed in the Department of Psychological Sciences at MU. Depending upon students' interests, students will be placed in laboratories that focus on one or more of the following areas: (a) human genetics, (b) behavioral pharmacology, (c) psychiatric epidemiology, (d) neuroimaging, and (e) statistical modeling. In these internships, students will work alongside other interns, graduate students, and faculty members to gain experience in contemporary alcohol research that will provide valuable experiences in preparation for graduate study. This experience will culminate in a formal presentation to MU-ARTSS interns, faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and a poster presentation at the Summer Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievements Forum.
3. Weekly meetings with the MU-ARTSS group to update on the status of the project, professional development discussions, informal discussions on research topics led by faculty, postdoctoral and predoctoral fellows, and viewings and subsequent discussions of classic movies that portray the myriad of ways alcohol affects people’s lives.
4.  Structured activities as part of MU-SURP on campus, including seminars, training in the responsible conduct of research, and professional development.