#  Program Overview 

 



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Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) is a is a 10-week summer research program for college students interested in pursuing a graduate degree in biological and/or biomedical sciences. SHURP presently has over 600 alumni from colleges across the country, and over 90% are continuing or planning to continue training and careers in the sciences. SHURP is one of the summer research programs participating in the [Summer Research Early Identification Program](https://theleadershipalliance.org/summer-research-early-identification-program) (SR-EIP) of the [Leadership Alliance](https://www.theleadershipalliance.org/), a consortium of over 30 colleges and universities dedicated to improving the participation of historically underrepresented students in graduate programs.

To be eligible for SHURP, applicants must:

- Be currently enrolled full-time in an accredited public or private college or university in the United States or its territories, as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
- Will not have completed their BA/BS degree by June 2026.
- Be in good academic standing with a GPA of 3.0 or better.
- Are strongly considering careers in biological or biomedical research sciences.
- Have already had at least one summer (or equivalent term-time) of experience in a research laboratory.
- Have taken at least one intro-level or upper-level biology course that covers fundamental concepts in molecular biology.
- Are U.S. citizens or permanent residents (due to requirements of our federal funding).

\*SHURP 2026 will be 10 weeks from Sunday, May 31 to Saturday, August 8.

\*Due to the academic schedule of those students on the quarter system, dates may be modified for those students.

**Students who are interested in pursuing an MD-PhD are invited to apply to the MD-PhD track within the SHURP program: Harvard/MIT Early Access to Research Training MD-PhD Summer Program (HEART). For more information about how to apply to HEART, please visit this website:** [Harvard/MIT MDPhD Program](https://www.hms.harvard.edu/md_phd/heart/index.html)