Research and Internships
“This internship has given me not only real-world work experience but a sense of confidence in myself that cannot be taught in any classroom. The time spent working in an environment of independent research and learning is proving to be one of the most valuable experiences of my undergraduate career.” —Sara Getz ’08, Anthropology, on her summer 2007 internship in the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Research and internship opportunities give Schreyer Scholars ways to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to projects and programs that matter. Placement in research laboratories and centers can be as close as across the University Park campus, in any of the dozens of sites at Penn State, across the country or even around the world.
The same is true with internships. Scholars during the summer of 2007 conducted internships in destinations as diverse as Houston, Texas, Washington, D.C., Krakow, Poland; and Esteli, Nicaragua, and with organizations ranging from the Center for the Study of the Presidency and the U.S. Department of State to the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and midwife clinic in South America.
Each spring, Schreyer Scholars are encouraged to apply for grants to support their upcoming summer research positions and internships. For summer 2007, the Schreyer Honors College awarded more than $64,000 in grants to support nearly 60 Scholars’ endeavors.
In addition, Penn State’s academic colleges also identify research and internship offerings of interest to specific disciplines.
For more information about the support that the University offers to students interested in research, visit www.undergradresearch.psu.edu
Among the companies Schreyer Scholars received internship grants to work for during summer 2007 were:
- Scholastic Publishing in New York, New York
- Kensey Nash Corporation in Exton
- University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Clinic in Houston, Texas
- University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, NJ
- Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
- Krakow University of Technology in Krakow, Poland
- U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.
- Southern Pines Equine Association in Southern Pines, N.C.
- Engalitcheff Institute: Brazil Information Center in Washington, D.C.
- Mama Licha Clinic in Esteli, Nicaragua
- Center for the Study of the Presidency in Washington, D.C.
- FOX Publicity in New York, New York
- University of Erlangen in Erlangen, Germany
- Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Va.
Among the research projects Schreyer Scholars were awarded scholarships for summer 2007 were:
- Estimation of Freshwater Runoff into Glacier Bay National Park
- Construction and Characterization of a Mutant Viral Cancer Protein
- Neurobiology of Learning, Memory, and Drug Addition
- Global Patterns in Influenza A/H3, A/H1, and B Subtype Seasonal Dynamics
- GABA Receptor Clustering in the Fear and Anxiety Centers of the Brain
- Strain Across the Veidivötn Fissure Swarm, Southern Iceland
- Structural Biology of Gene Regulation
- Optical Diagnostics, Image Processing Techniques and Data Analysis of High Pressure LOX/CH4 Rocket E
- Access to Health Insurance for Small Scale Gold Miners in Ghana
- Use of Laser-Sustained Plasma for Improvement of Surface Properties
