Spend your summer conducting research that makes an impact on our local community through the Community-Academic Scholars Program! This 10-week summer research experience empowers students in all majors to address critical issues related to health, poverty, and/or social inequity in Champaign-Urbana. Undergraduate scholars from disciplines across campus work with an Illinois faculty researcher and a local community organization on a research project designed to directly benefit the community members served by the partner organization.

To augment the summer experience, program leaders host weekly professional development sessions for the scholars and invite researchers and campus experts to provide practical guidance on topics such as careers in research, conducting research in community settings, centering anti-racism in research, and communicating research to different audiences. At the end of the 10-week program, students then showcase their work during a poster session preceding the final awards ceremony. Scholars also receive a $4500 stipend to offset the cost of housing and/or living expenses during the program.

No prior research experience is necessary. All Illinois undergraduates interested in community-engaged research are invited to join the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute for the 2025 Community-Academic Scholars information session at theĀ Beckman Institute in Room 2269 on Nov. 18 at 5 p.m.

During this 45-minute information session, we will:

  • Discuss the program and the application process
  • Share a couple of past projects
  • Talk about how scholars will be matched with research projects
  • Hear directly from 2024-2025 scholars Jose Patino and Kathure Kiunga about their experience in the program
  • Answer any questions you may have about the program

Sign up for the information session even if you cannot make it to receive a link to the information session recording.

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