Army Education Outreach Program Supports Research Projects for High School and Undergraduate Students at Rutgers University–Camden

CAMDEN — A South Jersey high school student and a Rutgers University–Camden undergraduate student will have the opportunity to participate in significant STEM research projects beginning this summer through the highly selective Army Educational Research Program.  

The Army Research Office has chosen Rutgers–Camden as a host institution for its High School Apprenticeship Program (HSAP) and its Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP). Both programs are designed to help students develop critical skills in science and engineering research within a university lab setting in order to prepare them for the next steps of their educational and professional career.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for two students to gain interdisciplinary research experience and lay the foundation to develop their interests and skills for future participation in scientific research,” says Jinglin Fu, an assistant professor of chemistry at Rutgers University–Camden who will oversee both projects.

“The aim is to prepare a high school student for collegiate education in the STEM fields and a Rutgers–Camden undergraduate student for graduate study,” he says.

One rising high school junior or senior will be selected from a pool of applicants for the HSAP research. That student will work with a graduate student in Rutgers University–Camden’s Center for Computational and Integrative Biology on a project focused on the design and characterization of aptamer switches in biosensing.

For the URAP research, one Rutgers–Camden junior will be selected and work independently under Fu’s guidance on a bioelectricity conversion project. Both students will receive an hourly stipend for up to 300 total research hours spent on their yearlong projects, and both may have an opportunity to publish results of their studies.

The Army Education Outreach Program is committed to the advancement of education and literacy in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and math. It provides students with collaborative opportunities that engage them in real-world STEM experiences.

Rutgers University–Camden is one of 31 universities in the United States and Puerto Rico selected as a HSAP site and one of 40 universities chosen as a URAP location. It is the only New Jersey institution chosen for either program.

Students interested in applying for the HSAP and URAP research projects at Rutgers–Camden must apply by March 1 at usaeop.com. Students with questions about the program can contact Fu at jinglin.fu@rutgers.edu.