IDBI Summer Program in Undergraduate Research (IDBI-SPUR)

Saint Louis University's IDBI Summer Program in Undergraduate Research (IDBI-SPUR) provides paid summer research opportunities and structured training activities for SLU undergraduate students working in IDBI-member laboratories.

IDBI-SPUR is accepting applications for Summer 2026 until March 1, 2026.

Application and Eligibility Information

IDBI-SPUR aims to increase the number of undergraduates who can participate in research by providing stipends for summer research. To enhance the research and educational experience, IDBI-SPUR includes structured cohort activities (e.g. research training activities, midsummer gatherings) and requires participation in the fall IDBI Research Symposium. Additionally, students are encouraged to present their research at research symposia locally, such as the spring SLU Sigma Xi Research Symposium, regionally, and nationally.

All undergraduates working in IDBI member labs are invited to participate in IDBI-SPUR cohort activities and the IDBI Research Symposium.

For 2026, IDBI will offer two funding opportunities for undergraduate students engaged in University research: part-time and full time. In addition, IDBI will support students engaged in additional categories as well, for-credit research, volunteer research, and remote research opportunities. See the IDBI-SURGE website (linked above) for more information.

No prior experience is required to apply.

Faculty interested in volunteering to mentor an IDBI-SPUR student should contact IDBI Co-Director Blythe Janowiak at blythe.janowiakmulligan@slu.edu.

Program History

In the summer of 2022, SLU-IDBI formalized our summer research program by working with the University to incorporate the inaugural Scholarly Undergraduate Research Grants and Experiences (SURGE) program. SURGE funding provides part-time paid internships for eight weeks for SLU students to work in SLU-IDBI labs. In addition to the three SURGE-IDBI interns, six more students entered member labs directly through the University SURGE program. The culmination of the summer research program was celebrated by inviting all IDBI trainees to present research posters at the inaugural IDBI Research Symposium in the fall of 2022. At the symposium, eight IDBI undergraduate summer researchers presented their work, and two shared the honor of best poster. 

In the spring of 2023, IDBI received a DeNardo Education and Research Foundation grant to expand undergraduate research opportunities within IDBI member labs. With this funding, IDBI offered the DeNardo IDBI-SPUR program to support four undergraduate students for full-time summer research. The extended time frame allowed the student researchers to fully immerse themselves into the lab community and in a hypothesis-driven research project from beginning to end. Student participants are invited and encouraged to continue their research into the academic year, earning academic credit. The DeNardo Education and Research Foundation continued to provide funding 2024.

In 2025, IDBI received a grant from the Glenn W. Bailey STEM Scholars Program, enabling the expansion of IDBI-SPUR to serve more students via both full- and part-time research. IDBI received 68 applications for full- or part-time positions, placed 39 IDBI-SPUR Fellows into faculty labs, and provided funding for two full-time and eight part-time summer research positions.