The Ohio State University Department of Physics is pleased to announce the 2025 Undergraduate Summer Research Program. Research can be done remotely or in-person, depending on the nature of the work and the preference of the supporting faculty member.
The program features the following scholarships:
- Robert P. Caren Family Endowment Fund
- The Captain Forrest R. Biard Undergraduate Research Scholarship Fund in Physics
- Grilly Scholarship Fund in Physics
- The Bunny C. Clark Student Support Fund
- Dr. David C. DeMartini Undergraduate Research Endowed Fund in Physics
These scholarships will support undergraduate students pursuing research projects with an approved physics faculty sponsor during the summer of 2025. Each scholarship will provide up to $5,000 in compensation for research work performed under the supervision of a supporting OSU Physics faculty member.
Students who are selected to participate in this research program will conduct summer undergraduate research under the supervision of a physics faculty member pursuing a research project of mutual interest to the faculty and student.
Award Details and Requirements
Recipients of the scholarship:
- Will receive a summer scholarship of $5,000. All funds will be posted through financial aid for summer term 2025 - see below for more information.
- Will conduct research under the supervision of a Physics faculty member pursuing a research project of mutual interest to the faculty and student. The proposals must describe what and how work would be done remotely.
- Will devote approximately 30 hours per week - dates May 12 - July 18. Vacation time is NOT included or expected during this time frame. If you think you will be taking a vacation, plan for either before the start or after the end of the scholarship dates. If you already have a vacation scheduled, please mention on the application.
- Students are discouraged from taking summer classes while enrolled in the program because the goal is to spend 10 weeks over the summer focused on research.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this scholarship program, applicants must...
- Be a current OSU Columbus campus student enrolled in and making progress toward a degree in the Physics major or the Engineering Physics major.
- Be in good academic standing at the university (overall GPA at least a 2.0).
- Have found a physics professor to work with during the summer of 2025 at the time of submitting an application for this scholarship.
- Be able to work in a research group at least 30 hours per week during the program dates May 12 through July 18.
- Attend the program events in-person, including lunches, poster session, and professional development activities offered throughout the summer as part of this program.
How the Scholarship Works
- Students who are accepted to this scholarship program will receive their funding in May 2025 as part of their summer term 2025 financial aid (2025-2026 academic year).
- The scholarship will be posted to the Office of Financial Aid who will disperse the full scholarship to the student if all other university fees have been paid. The student will receive the funding via direct deposit or via a check mailed to their permanent residence if they do not have direct deposit set up.
- If the student has any tuition or fee balance, the scholarship will cover that balance and any remaining amount will be give to the student via direct deposit or a check mailed to their permanent residence.
- There is federal limit on how much financial aid a student can receive. If a student is already maxed out on financial aid, they will not be able to receive this scholarship. If you receive financial aid to cover your entire Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA), you may be ineligible for this scholarship. Check with Financial Aid if you have questions about your ability to receive more aid. The scholarship will be posted to summer term 2025 which is part of the 2025-2026 academic year.
Overlap with STEP
If you are in the Second-year Transformational Experience Program (STEP) and have received funding to do research, you can only combine your funding from STEP with this program if:
- You work additional hours and have STEP funds cover the additional hours. For example, 300 hours over summer 2025 would be covered by the Physics summer research program and X additional hours will be covered by STEP funds.
- Or, you use your STEP funds to cover your wage to do research during a different term (i.e. not summer 2025).
- And/or you could use STEP funds for non-wage research expenses such as purchasing research equipment or computing needs, or traveling to a conference. In this case, the the physics summer research program would cover your wage while STEP funds would cover additional research expenses.
It is not possible to use both STEP funds and funds from this scholarship program at the same time to cover your wage if you are not working additional hours because it would result in a higher hourly wage compared to the other students in the program which is seen as unethical.
Application Information
A complete application packet will include (all must be included):
- A completed application packet which includes:
- a student applicant form (page 3)
- a student agreement and acknowledgement checklist (page 4)
- A complete faculty endorsement form from the Physics faculty research sponsor (page 5)
- A letter of support from the Physics faculty research sponsor
The 2025 application deadline is 11:59pm on Sunday March 16 - the last day of Spring Break.
Questions can be directed to Lindsey Thaler (thaler.21@osu.edu)