Fellowships and Educational Support

The University of Kentucky has a fantastic range of summer fellowship opportunities for students. There are 4 opportunities with a neuroscience focus detailed below, but please check out the Office of Undergraduate Research for a full list of opportunities, including the Beckman Scholars Program.

The NRPA Enrichment for Underrepresented Opportunity (NEURO) Research Fellows Program is a fellowship program to support exceptional students with an interest in neuroscience and who are from underrepresented populations including, as defined by the NIH, individuals from racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds (https://diversity.nih.gov/about-us/population-underrepresented). The NRPA’s mission is to promote and support innovative neuroscience research at the University of Kentucky, and succeeding in that goal necessitates ensuring the diversity of neuroscientists is as broad and exceptional as the field itself.

The NEURO Research Fellows Program aims to better the field of neuroscience by increasing access and, as such, a strong candidate is not necessarily one with previous neuroscience experience, but instead someone who demonstrates the curiosity, commitment, and creativity that drives science and discovery.

Undergraduate/Master Students: Investigators in neuroscience research are invited to identify potential student candidates. Please forward the application to students and ask them to apply. Alternatively, investigators will be paired with undergraduate students interested in this experience. Undergraduate student researchers will be provided a $5000 stipend to enable this activity in your lab over the summer, and it will run for 10 weeks.

Medical Students: The Office of Medical Education has indicated student interest and is identifying potential candidates. Investigators will be paired with medical students interested in this experience. Alternatively, if you have identified potential medical students, please forward the application to students and ask them to apply. Medical student researchers will be provided a $4000 stipend to enable this activity in your lab over the summer, and it will run for 8 weeks.

Faculty Researchers: If you are interested in mentoring a student for this program, please complete this Mentor Survey.

Applications for 2024 will be due March 15, 2024

Application Form

For any other information or questions, please contact Laura Muzinic.

The Commonwealth Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) Fellowship, sponsored by the University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) and Research Priority Areas (RPA) supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research, seeks to ensure the inclusion of a diverse population of undergraduate students pursuing mentored research in areas defined to be of critical importance to Kentuckians and the Commonwealth.

By providing opportunities to discover, invent, create, and develop new knowledge and skills, the CURE Fellowship will empower undergraduates to become informed citizens and leaders for their respective communities. Multiple CURE Fellowships will be awarded for each RPA.

CURE Fellows will receive a $5,000 stipend for the Summer 2024 period.

For more details about eligibility and to access the application please visit: https://our.uky.edu/CURE-Fellowship

The Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center at the University of Kentucky is accepting applications for the SCoBIRC African American Research Training Scholars Program (AARTS) from qualified African-American undergraduate students for up to 12 months of funded research training in neurotrauma. The award of $6,000 will cover a summer stipend ($4,000) and travel expenses ($2,000) to present at a national meeting.

https://medicine.uky.edu/centers/scobirc/african-american-research-training-scholars-program

The  Neuroscience B.S. Program offers a Summer Research Program. The Summer Research Program provides students a stipend to continue their research in a neuroscience laboratory over an 8-week period in the summer. In addition to being a Neuroscience major, applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 and previous research experience. Applications are reviewed reviewed by faculty affiliated with the Neuroscience B.S. Program. 

Applications for the program are submitted during the Spring. Previous program details and a former application can be found following the links below.  

   Summer Research Program   Application Form  Neuroscience B.S.