Summer Undergraduate Research (SUR) Programme in Biology and Medicine

Due to the covid-19 outbreak, all programmes for 2020 have been cancelled. The program will be rescheduled in 2021.

During eight weeks in July and August, the SUR (Summer Undergraduate Research Programme) hosts about 15 Bachelor students with both biological and medical studies background from around the world, including one or two from Lausanne. Each participant will perform an individual research project in a different laboratory of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine. This programme aims to attract outstanding motivated students from near and far for a research experience that will remain with them for their lifetimes.

Course leader

Many laboratories are involved within the SUR Programme

Target group

The programme is geared towards undergraduate students at the end of the second or third year of their degree. Applicants who have completed only one year of an undergraduate degree, or who will have graduated by the time of the programme are not eligible.

We welcome students studying any field in the life sciences, as well as those pursuing medical studies. UNIL is unique in having a combined Faculty of Biology and Medicine, and we are keen to offer to medical students the possibility to perform research.

Students of any nationality, studying in any country, are welcome to apply, but should have very good English language skills. While most students come from abroad, applications from local students from the UNIL or the EPFL (or elsewhere in Switzerland) are also welcome.

Course aim

Few entering university students have had significant experience with research into the unknown. Initial university courses provide descriptions of fundamental processes that are well established, indeed “in the textbooks”. The first opportunity to do research at the edge of the unknown can be a life changing experience that is remembered for the rest of one’s life. The School of Biology of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) proposes the Summer Undergraduate Research (SUR) Programme for the uninitiated to obtain that first experience.

During 8 weeks in July and August, the SUR Programme hosts about 15 Bachelor (first university degree) students with both biological and medical studies background from around the world (including 1-2 from Lausanne). Each participant will perform an individual research project in a different laboratory of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine. This programme aims to attract outstanding motivated students from near and far for a research experience that will remain with them for their lifetimes.

While most of the time is spent in the host lab, each week the students come together for shared academic activities, often with participants of the sister programme at the EPFL. These activities include introductory student research presentations, lectures from faculty members on research topics and their career paths, and career guidance workshops in academia and beyond.

At the end of the summer, students present the results of their research on a poster during a joint UNIL/EPFL Symposium and write a final report.

Credits info

This is a non-credited course.

Fee info

EUR 0: Free of charge for selected students
EUR 0: Free of charge for selected students

Scholarships

The program coordinator will arrange and pay for the housing. Students will be housed in a furnished apartment of one of the UNIL associations, in a single room with a shared kitchen and bathroom. The program coordinator will inform you when your housing