Centers & Research

Ideas and innovation that make a difference.

Through research and outreach, Simpson College makes a positive impact in our local community, in Iowa, and beyond.

In labs, offices, and studios across campus, our faculty members are conducting original research, creating artistic works, and contributing to important advocacy and outreach efforts. Many of them also mentor and collaborate with students as they embark on their own research projects.

Simpson is also home to several unique centers, institutes, and outreach programs, each of which offer a range of programming and opportunities for the campus and local community.

Research at Simpson: Creating & Sharing Knowledge

At Simpson College, research, scholarship and creative work provides an opportunity for individual students or small groups of students to explore an issue of interest to them in a manner consistent with the discipline and to communicate their results to others. Projects may involve inquiry, design, creation, investigation, research, analysis, discovery, application, writing and/or performance.

Experiments done in a scientific laboratory, archival research, interviews that explore a social or political concern, data collection and analysis, and creation of an artistic work are all examples of research that can involve undergraduate students.

Most Simpson College students have an opportunity to participate in undergraduate research as part of their course work or by working on research projects outside of the classroom. Travel stipends allow students to travel to regional or national conferences to present their work. In addition, over twenty students each year get paid to participate in undergraduate research during the summer.

Every spring the Undergraduate Research Symposium hosted by Simpson College showcases the outstanding research conducted by our students.

For questions regarding abstract submissions for the symposium, please contact: aswati.subramanian@simpson.edu.

100+

Present at our annual Research & Creativity Symposium each year

Research and Creativity Symposium

We offer grants and travel stipends for students to perform and present research.

Grant Application

Summer Research

Participating in a summer undergraduate research program is an opportunity for students and faculty to spend 8-10 weeks focused on research projects. Students get to explore research in their major and they generally receive a stipend and housing allowance.

Simpson College hosts several different summer undergraduate research programs on its campus each year including the Bryan Summer Research Program in Mathematics and the Simpson College Ecological Research Program. More information on the current projects from each program can be found on this site.

Each fall, Simpson College showcases the summer research conducted by its students during the Summer Research Symposium.

Summer Research Opportunities

Summer research programs are held for 8 to 10 weeks at colleges, universities, laboratories, hospitals, and institutes across the country and abroad. They are usually intended for students after their sophomore or junior years of college, but there are an increasing number of programs that seek students after their first year. A student’s time at a summer research program is generally devoted to working in small groups with other undergraduate students on original research projects under the direction of a professional researcher.

Summer research programs usually pay each student a stipend of several thousand dollars to participate. In addition, they often cover travel and living expenses for the duration of the program and fund travel to present research at conferences.

Tips on applying to summer research programs

Customize your application for each program. Indicate why you are specifically interested in that program.
Many programs have special niches. For instance, they want to promote graduate school or they want to introduce laboratory skills to students who do not have much laboratory experience. Make sure your personal statement clearly highlights how you fit in this niche.
Each program has different requirements for its participants, so pay close attention to them. For example, some programs expect their participants to have completed certain classes and the majority require U.S. citizenship.
Emphasize your potential by mentioning any undergraduate research you have completed and any outstanding projects or term papers you have completed for your classes.
Indicate any interest in graduate school that you may have. Note that programs in biological or medical fields generally prefer students who have an interest in graduate school rather than students who are strictly interested in medical school.
Ask a professor in your major to read over your application materials.
Every application will require recommendation letters. Do not wait until the last minute to request them from your professors!

Links to summer research opportunities on and off campus.

On Campus
Off Campus
- Education and Social Sciences
- Political Science
  - Research Experience for Undergraduates in Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science
- Science, Technology, Mathematics, Neuroscience
  - Biomedical Research Apprenticeship Program (BioMedRAP) at Washington University in St. Louis (International students currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in the United States are encouraged to apply)
  - National Science Foundation list – (if you are in a science, technology, mathematics, or neuroscience field, you should start your search for a summer program by searching the NSF list)
  - American Mathematical Society list (AMS)
  - American Physiological Society list (APS)
  - American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology list (ASBMB)
  - Center for Disease Control list (CDC)
  - Department of Homeland Security list (DHS)
  - NASA list
  - Oak Ridge National Laboratory list (ORNL)
  - The Ohio State University SUCCESS (Summer Undergraduate Course Creating Excellence in Scientific Study) Program
  - University of Alabama at Birmingham Summer in Biomedical Sciences (SIBS) Undergraduate Research Program
  - University of Alabama at Birmingham Preparation for Graduate and Medical Education (PARAdiGM)
  - University of Iowa – biological and medical sciences list (UI-B&M)
  - University of Nebraska – Lincoln summer research programs
    - Applied Plant Systems
    - Bioenergy Systems
    - Biomedical Engineering
    - Chemistry
    - Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)
    - Minority Health Disparities
    - Redox Biology
    - Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures in Rural Environments
    - Systems Biology of Plant and Microbiome
    - Virology
  - Virginia Bioinformatics Institute list (VBI)
  - EDGE for Women at Purdue University
  - APS/IBM Research Internship for Undergraduate Women
  - Carleton College Summer Mathematics Program for Women
  - Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates
  - Gulf Cost Research Laboratory Summer Field Program
  - Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program
  - Statewide Land stewardship Internships
  - Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute Summer Program
  - Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship
  - MSCS Research Experiences for Undergraduates
  - National Center for Toxicological Research – U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  - National Undergraduate Fellowship Program in Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences
  - Real-World Research Experiences for Undergraduates (National Weather Center)
  - Rice University Summer Institute of Statistics
  - Roswell Park Cancer Institute
  - Sanford Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR)
  - Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program (Department of Energy)
  - Stowers Summer Scholars Program
  - Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in the Biomedical Sciences
  - Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (Mayo Clinic)
  - Tackling the Environmental Grand Challenges of Engineering

Fall Research Symposium

Click here for the Fall 2017 program.

Click here for the Fall 2016 program.

Click here for the Fall 2015 program.

Click here for the Fall 2014 program.

Symposium Abstract Submission

Submission Form

Our Centers, Institutes & Outreach Programs

The Culver Center for Public Policy

Civic engagement and activism is alive at Simpson. The renowned nonpartisan John C. Culver Center for Public Policy encourages active participation in democracy and presents students with research, internship, and service opportunities.

Visit the Culver Center

The Iowa History Center

This center preserves and promotes Iowa’s story. Its speaker series brings scholars, authors, and public figures to campus, and an internship program places students at local museums and historic sites. It also makes Iowa history accessible to K-12 students through field trip grants.

Explore the History Center

Storm Initative

This interdisciplinary program taps into the entrepreneurial spirit at Simpson. Offerings include specialized electives, an innovation hub, and the cocurricular Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) where students earn credit for working on real-world projects.

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