About Summer Undergraduate Research Projects (SURPs)
The Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) enables students to conduct extended, focused research in close cooperation with a Pomona faculty member. Research projects, which receive funding from Pomona and from public and private foundations, take place both on campus and in the field. Although the natural sciences account for the largest number of projects, the humanities, social sciences and interdisciplinary disciplines are also well represented.
The strength of our program lies in its rigor, accessibility, and strong and active participation of our students and faculty on faculty-driven projects (faculty research) and student-driven projects (independent projects). Although the latter are usually carried out beyond Claremont's borders, these participants are actively mentored by Pomona College faculty. The summer is an excellent time for students to focus on experiential learning in the laboratories and in the field for a sustained period of time. The lack of interruption from our usual college activities gives students and faculty the luxury of time and the opportunity to ponder great thoughts, plan intricate studies and disentangle the many variables that affect our scholarship/research.
An average of 120 projects are funded each summer. In 2010, a banner year, more than 168 programs were funded. A large number of students carried out research in the laboratories of their faculty mentors and a significant number of students also participated in projects away from Claremont in various locales such as Oregon, Maine, Colorado, Illinois and international sites such as Botswana, Ghana, Russia, Tanzania, Egypt, Pakistan, France and the Cook Islands.
As a culmination of of their efforts, students make a presentation of their work to the College community at the Pomona Summer Poster Conference each September and may apply for College support to present their project at a national conference. While projects are rarely completed in the summer, they have laid the critical groundwork for continuing study. For many of our seniors, these projects often “morph” into senior theses. Research work may also to co-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals.
All this wonderful work would not be possible without the generous support of our longtime benefactors such as the Beckman, Brian Stonehill Memorial Fund, Elgin Fund, Evelyn B. Craddock-McVicar Memorial Fund, the Faucett Family Foundation, Fletcher Jones Foundation, Freeman Foundation, Hart Institute for American History, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NAS, NIH, NSF, the Norris Foundation, Rose Hills Foundation, Paul K. Richter and Evalyn E. Cook Richter Memorial Fund, Dale N. Roberston Fund, Aubrey H. and Eileen J. Seed Student Research Fund, and the Schulz Fund for Environmental Studies.
This site includes all SURPs going back to 2007. Please use the navigation to the left to view projects by year and discipline. Some 2010 projects also include videos of informal student presentations of their research.
If you are curious where SURP research leads our students, visit our "Where Are They Now?" section. To contribute your own SURP success story, visit our Facebook page or email Laura Tiffany.
For information on how students can participate in a summer research project, please visit the Academic Dean's website.