In addition to hands-on research work, the Duke University Summer Research Opportunity Program also features weekly meetings, social gatherings, and special events designed to assist students in their pursuit of a biomedical science career. Here is a look at some of these events.

Weekly Meetings

SROP students gather twice a week for meetings and discussions in which they are encouraged to ask our guest speakers plenty of questions. Past sessions have included:

  • Faculty discussing their ongoing research
  • Current graduate students giving tips for effective poster presentations
  • Practices and critiques of short oral presentations
  • Q&A with directors of graduate studies and current graduate students in the various multidisciplinary, M.D./Ph.D., and departmental graduate programs at Duke
  • Maintaining standards in the ethical conduct of research
  • Networking in science

Social Events

The Duke SROP program arranges a variety of social events throughout the summer, such as movie night, a visit to the Duke Lemur Center, a North Carolina-style barbecue, games nights, and an evening at a Durham Bulls minor-league baseball game.

Special Events

Some examples of the special programming for SROP students include:

Orientation

SROP students get acquainted with Duke, discuss policies and procedures, and meet their faculty and laboratory research mentors at a welcome luncheon.

All-Day Workshop on Graduate School and Beyond

Faculty and current students answer questions from SROP participants about the who, what, when, where, how, and why of applying and succeeding in graduate school.

Mock Interviews

SROP students practice interview strategies with three or four faculty interviewers as though they are applying to graduate school and then receive advice on how to improve their chances for admission.

Closing Oral Presentations and Poster Symposium

At the end of the 10 weeks, all the SROP students present their summer research, both in a formal oral format and a poster. The sessions are attended by Duke faculty and graduate students and are held in conjunction with the Duke BioCORE/IMSD Conference.