Summer Science Research Program

The University offers opportunities for selected research-oriented high school students to work with our faculty in an on-campus summer research program – the Hofstra University Summer Science Research Program (HUSSRP). HUSSRP is competitive and students must submit a completed application and letter of recommendation from a teacher by the deadline. Applications must be completed online. Students will be selected for this program based on their performance in their relevant high school classes, a personal interview, the high school teacher's recommendation, and the availability of a faculty mentor. Students who are selected must pay a tuition fee of $2,000 to participate in the program.

Selected students will be matched with a participating faculty member based on the student’s research preference and faculty availability. Before being accepted into the program, all students for whom there is a faculty match will be invited to campus or be arranged via Zoom for a personal interview to discuss the student’s specific research project. At the start of the program, all accepted students must attend a one-hour orientation and laboratory safety training session. The summer 2025 program will run from July 7 to July 31, 2025 with the schedule to be worked out between student and mentor. Students are expected to attend a weekly seminar/lunch on Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. In early Fall (date to be determined), students, along with their high school teachers and parents, are invited to return to campus for a late afternoon poster session to present the results of their research.

Currently, there is no residential option for the Summer Research Program. Hofstra University reserves the right to alter the policy and schedule of charges without prior notice. These rates are subject to change.

• Students must be enrolled in 10th or 11th grade at the time the application is submitted;
• Have had at least one year of a high school laboratory-based science or research course;
• Have demonstrated an interest in their requested subject topic;
• Be willing and able to commit four weeks to full-time scientific research; and
• Have demonstrated the ability to work independently.

Applications for summer 2024 are currently closed. 
Applications will open in mid-December 2024 for summer 2025.

Application Considerations
Reviews of applications will begin in March. All parts of the application should be submitted online. The deadline for receipt of completed applications is March 7, 2025. The following information must be included in the application form:

• A statement from the student explaining why they want to engage in a research project;
• A letter of recommendation and commitment from a teacher;
• Students will be asked to select, in order of preference, three research areas in which they would like to participate.
• A non-refundable $60 application fee

Applications available here December 2024

Review of applications will be performed by a committee consisting of each of the faculty members participating in the program. Selected students may be asked to meet with their prospective research mentor in May.

Admission decisions are made without regard to race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or disability. Because we receive many more applications than we have available spots in the program, we cannot guarantee acceptance, even for highly qualified candidates.

If accepted into the program, there is a $2,000 tuition fee:
Tuition Deposit (non-refundable) of $500 due by May 16.
Tuition Balance (non-refundable) of $1,500 due by June 6.

HUSSRP Science Talent Search Competitors

2023 Regeneron Semifinalists
Christina Pan, a student at Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, was named a semifinalist in the 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition. Christina participated in the 2023 Hofstra Summer Science Research Program and worked with Dr. Yalan Xing in the Chemistry Department. Her paper was titled "A Novel Application of the Fenton Reaction in the Chemical Upcycling of Polystyrene."

Ankur Raghavan, a student at Bethpage High School, was named a semifinalist in the 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition. Ankur participated in the 2023 Hofstra Summer Science Research Program and worked with Dr. Sleiman Ghorayeb in the Engineering Department. His paper was titled "The Reduction of Agricultural Water Consumption Through the Utilization of Wireless Sensor Arrays."

2022 Regeneron Semifinalists
Karly Chan, a student at Great Neck South High School, was named a semifinalist in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition. Karly participated in the 2021 Hofstra Summer Science Research Program and worked with Dr. Oskar Pineno in the Psychology Department. Her paper was entitled "A User Friendly and non-Invasive Voice Progress Tracker".
Varsha Saravanan, a student at Hauppauge High School, was named a semifinalist in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition. Varsha participated in the 2021 Hofstra Summer Science Research Program and worked with Dr. Sandy Garren in the Department of Geology, Environment and Sustainability. Her paper was entitled "Baseline framework for assessing community resilience using a balanced index approach and spatial autocorrelation in the Mill River Watershed located in Nassau County".

2021 LISEF
Ashley Roth, a student at Lynbrook High School, won first place in the 2021 LISEF competition. Ashley participated in the 2021 Hofstra Summer Science Research Program and worked with Dr. Steve Raciti in the Biology Department. The title of her project was "The Effect of Aquatic Nitrate Concentrations on Anuran Species Abundance on Long Island."

2020 Regeneron Finalist
Andrew Brinton, under the mentorship of Dr. Christa Farmer, was a Regeneron finalist. In his work, Brinton sought “an environmentally friendly way of fighting climate change.” Much of the research for his project, titled “Marsh Restoration: Ribbed Mussels (Geukensia demissa) as a Revival Mechanism to Rebuild the Coastal Salt Marshes of Long Island, New York,” was conducted while he was boots-deep in Freeport’s wetlands — accompanied, for safety’s sake, by his father, Herald Community Newspapers Executive Editor Scott Brinton — examining the “symbiotic relationship” between ribbed mussels and the marshes, which depend on the mussels’ feces to grow.
Dara Gleeson, a student at John F. Kennedy High School, won first place at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair in 2016. Dara participated in the 2015 Hofstra Summer Science Program under then mentorship of Dr. Javier Izquierdo in the Department of Biology. Dara's project was titled "Isolation and Screening of Beneficial Microbes Associated with the Grapevine, Vitis vinifera. Dara also received honorable mention at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

2015 Intel Semifinalist
Monika Dharia, a student at Mineola High School, was named a semifinalist in the 2015 Intel Science Talent Search Competition. Monika participated in the 2014 Hofstra Summer Science Research Program and worked with Dr. Kevin Bisceglia in the Chemistry Department. Her paper was titled "Evaluating the estrogenicity, androgenicity and toxicity of urban-use pesticides using saccharomyces cerevisiae bioluminescent reporter system."

2010 Intel Semifinalist
Sajni Sandip Parikh, a senior at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, NY, was named a 2010 Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalist. Sajni participated in Hofstra’s Summer Science Research Program and worked with Professor Robert Seagull (Biology) on cotton fiber development. Her paper was entitled is “The effects of brassinolide and indole-3-acetic acid on Gossypium hirsutum, variety MAXXA GTO.”

2009 Intel Semifinalist
Daniel Kim, a senior at Syosset High School who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Science Research Program in 2008, has been selected as a 2009 Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalist. Daniel performed his research under the guidance of Professor Sabrina Sobel in the Chemistry Department. His paper was entitled "Increasing the Bioavailability of Copper(II) in Copper(II) Citrate by Addition of Amino Acids".

2008 HUSSRP Intel Semifinalists
Three Long Island high school students who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Science Research Program in 2007 have been selected as 2008 Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalists:

Melissa Garuthra, a senior at Syosset High School, did her research on activation dynamics in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction under the guidance of Professors Harold Hastings (Physics) and Sabrina Sobel (Chemistry). Her paper was entitled “Substituting an Immobilized Ferromanganese Catalyst into the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Chemical Reaction”.

Alexandra Hilgeman, a senior at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, NY, worked with Professor Rodney Finzel (Chemistry) on thermal depolymerization of organic waste material. Her paper was entitled “Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Aspartic Acid Deamination”.

Matthew Klebanoff, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, NY, worked with Professor Robert Seagull (Biology) on cotton fiber development. His paper was entitled "Possible role of the cytoskeleton in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum, cultivar MAXXA GTO) fiber development".

2007 HUSSRP Intel Semifinalists
Two Long Island high school students who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Science Research Program in 2006 have been selected as 2007 Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalists:

Kara Finzel, a senior at Kings Park High School, did her research on "Effect of Organic Substitute on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction" under the guidance of Professors Harold Hastings (Physics) and Sabrina Sobel (Chemistry).
Daryl Koopersmith, a senior at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, worked with Professor Gerda Kamberova (Computer Science) on "A Structural Model for the Intelligent Development of a Tracking System Utilizing Array-based Multi-sensor Data Fusion."

2006 HUSSRP Intel Semifinalists
Two students who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Science Research Program in 2005 were selected as semifinalists in Intel's 65th Annual Science Talent Search:

David Golub, a student at Paul D. Schreiber High School, worked with Professor Gerda Kamberova in the Department of Computer Science on computer vision and his project is entitled "Finding and Orienting the Normals to a Cloud of Points."

Daniel Nikbakht, a senior at Half Hollow Hills High School West, worked under the direction of Professors Sobel (Chemistry) and Hastings (Physics) on "Target Clustering in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction."

2005 HUSSRP Intel Semifinalists
Three Long Island high school students who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Science Research Program in 2004 have been selected as 2005 Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalists:

David Randell, a senior at Southside High School worked with Professor Peter Daniel in the Biology Department.
Jason Shaev, a senior at Calhoun High School, did her research under the guidance of Professor Rodney Finzel in the Chemistry Department.
Fiona Yuen, a senior at Syosset High School, did her research under the guidance of Professors Harold Hastings in Physics and Sabrina Sobel in the Chemistry Department.

2004 HUSSRP Intel Semifinalists
Three Long Island high school students who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Science Research Program in 2003 have been selected as 2004 Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalists:
Brandon Finzel and Craig Langan, seniors at Kings Park High School, did research under the guidance of Professor William Nirode in the Chemistry Department.
Helaina Skop, worked with Professor Laura Valier in the Biology Department.

2003 HUSSRP Intel Semifinalists
A Long Island high school students who participated in Hofstra University's Summer Science Research Program in 2002 has been selected as 2003 Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalists:
Huawei (Katie) Dong, a senior at Harborfields High School worked with Professor Robert Seagull in the Biology Department.