Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)
PROGRAM DATES: JUNE 13- AUGUST 4, 2022 (8 weeks)
APPLICATION DUE DATE: Saturday, February 26, 2022 (11:59pm Pacific Standard Time)
PART A: GENERAL PROGRAM INFORMATION
1) PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
SIMR is an 8-week summer research internship program open to current high school juniors and
seniors at the time of application. The program consists of hands-on research under the direct
guidance of a one-on-one mentor at a research laboratory within the Stanford Institutes of Medicine.
The SIMR program involves 8 areas of research including all 5 Institutes at the Stanford School of
Medicine: Immunology (ITI- Immunity, Transplantation and Infection), Cancer Biology, Stem Cell,
Neuroscience, Cardiovascular Institute and 3 other areas/disciplines of research: Genetics,
Bioinformatics, and Bioengineering. There is also a program within SIMR called the SIMR
Bioengineering Internship where students will work in teams to design and build biomedical
prototypes. The same application can be used for both programs.
PLEASE NOTE FOR SUMMER 2022: The current plans are to have an in-person program for the
summer of 2022. According to the Stanford policy in place during the spring/summer of 2022, there
may be vaccine requirements, masking and testing requirements during the program. More concrete
information will be provided on April 8
th
when the accepted students are announced. Please DO NOT
upload vaccination records onto the Slideroom application site when you are applying. There is a
chance the program could be held virtually if the University does not allow in-person programs
depending on the conditions at the time in the spring/summer of 2022.
During the majority of the summer, students will participate in lab work in their assigned lab. In addition, all
students will participate in the following:
Safety training sessions
Institute specific lectures and special joint core SIMR lectures with all students
Seminars on careers in science and medicine; graduate/medical school life
Oral presentations by Institute
Poster session at the end of the program where students will present their research poster to their
families and the Stanford community (Thursday, August 4th, 2022)
2) PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY:
Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents with a green card living in the U.S.
Applicants must currently be juniors or seniors in high school at the time of application (class of 2022
or 2023 only) AND must be a minimum of 16 years old at the start of the program on June 13, 2022.
Please note that students must meet BOTH class and age requirements. There can be no exceptions
to this requirement.
SIMR welcomes applications from all students, as we aim to form a diverse class of talented students.
Please be sure to read the program’s mission statement—the link can be found on the left hand
panel of the SIMR website (https://simr.stanford.edu). There is a strong preference for students living
in the Bay Area (within a 1 hr. driving distance) in the selection process.
3) PROGRAM DATES/ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
The program dates are June 13 -August 4, 2022 (approx. 8 weeks). There will be a mandatory orientation and
safety session on the first day (Monday, June 13, 2022) that all students must attend in order to participate in
the program. Students will also be expected to attend all 8 weeks of the program. Admitted students whose
schools end later than the start date must make arrangements with their schools ahead of time to take their
finals before the program begins in order to participate. If finals cannot be rearranged, students must still
attend the first morning of the first day (June 13
th
) but may take a couple days off (up to 2 days max.) during
the first week only to take finals.
4) PROGRAM INFORMATION:
HOUSING: Unfortunately, the SIMR Program does not offer on campus housing for the students
due to limited staffing and funding. All housing and transportation
arrangements must be made by the student’s family. This is especially important to
keep in mind for those students who are considering applying from out of state or out of
the Bay Area. Unfortunately, the program also legally cannot assist with finding housing placements
for students. Please note that while we will accept applications from out-of-
state students, students from outside of the local area who will not be living at home must specifically
state on the online application what housing arrangements they will make if
accepted (including the name, address, email address, and phone # of the person they
are staying with). We may contact this person during or after the application decision
process to verify that the student has housing accommodations. We encourage students
only to stay with close relatives in the Bay Area as finding a sublet or making other housing
arrangements will be extremely difficult, especially if you are under the age of 18.
Students must stay with a responsible adult who will be in charge of your
housing/transportation/evening supervision and care during the program. If at any time
during or before the program the staff discovers that this is not the case, the student will
not be permitted to continue in the program. Please note: there will be a preference for
Bay Area students in the selection process.
PARKING/TRANSPORTATION: The program provides parking permits on campus for students
who live in the area and choose to drive. Students can purchase a parking permit for the summer if
they choose to drive for approx. $60 for the 2 months. Information will be sent to accepted students
about a month before the program about how to purchase a parking permit. The medical center
provides security to walk students to and from their cars after hours. The program cannot take
responsibility for students who do not use this service or who walk or travel by bicycle to local
housing.
STIPENDS: There is no cost for selected students to participate in the program. All students in
the program will receive a minimum $500 stipend to help cover the permit cost, transportation, meals,
and other expenses for the summer. However, student stipends will vary due to special grants we
have received. There will be much larger needs based stipends (starting at $2500) from special
program grants provided for those whose families make under $80,000 (yearly adjusted gross
income) or for other circumstances. Students funded by particular grants will have differing amounts
for the final stipend amount.
MEALS: Meals are only provided for certain special events such as the first day welcome, after
joint lectures, socials and on the last day. There are various dining areas around the medical school
campus area where students may purchase lunch on most days.
MEDICAL INSURANCE: Students are required to be covered by their parent’s medical insurance,
which will be used if medical care is required. A copy of the student’s current medical plan
information must be on file for accepted students prior to the start of the summer program. Parents will
be contacted if medical attention is required. This information will be requested only of students who
are accepted into the program so please DO NOT send or upload medical insurance information in
with the initial application.
5) PROGRAM EVENTS/ SCHEDULE:
ORIENTATION DAY: There will be an orientation session on the first day of the program—
Monday, June 13
th
, 2022. During the first part of the orientation, all students will meet together
and will have the opportunity to meet the program staff as well as listen to an overview of the
program. Students will also be provided with a schedule of lectures for the summer as well as
contact information and a basic syllabus. Afterwards, there will be a luncheon where students
will meet their lab mentors. Students will start working at their labs after the luncheon. The last
day of the program is Thursday, August 4, 2022. The poster session will be held on the last day
(Thursday evening) from 6-8pm.
SAFETY LECTURES: ALL participants must attend all safety and orientation lectures during the first
week of the program. Because of University rules, every safety course must be attended, and proper
paperwork must be submitted. In addition, all accepted students will be required to complete several
online safety sessions before the start of the program.
LECTURE SCHEDULE: During the first two weeks of the program, there will be morning lectures a
couple times a week. The next couple of weeks of the program there will be a joint lecture once a
week. Students will also be expected to attend weekly lab meetings at their assigned lab.
WORK HOURS: It is expected that you will work a typical work week of about 40 hours (Monday
through Friday) during the 8 weeks of the program which includes the weekly lectures. Please keep
in mind that we cannot provide access keys to buildings so students are expected to generally work
in the daytime. Students should not be here in the evenings and should not work on the
weekends. Stanford University ID cards also cannot be issued to student interns from our
programs due to University policy.
POSTER SESSION: The poster session will take place on Thursday evening (6-8pm) on August
4, 2022 at Stanford University. This will also be the last event/last day of the program.
Students will present their research posters to their families and the Stanford community in an
informal setting. During the summer, students will attend a lecture on how to make these research
posters and will receive guidance from their lab mentors and teaching assistants.
6) APPLICATION PROCESS:
ONLINE APPLICATION: Applicants must apply online through the Slideroom application portal that
can be found on our website (simr.stanford.edu). The online application will be available on December
15th. Please click the “Application” link on the left side of the home page. Detailed instructions are
included in the next section (B) of this document about exact steps to follow to create an account.
APPLICATION FEE: There is a $40 application fee for all students. Students with a total family
income under $80,000 may choose to waive the fee by filling out the google form on the application
under the fee waiver section. Also, students may select to waive this fee for special circumstances.
Detailed instructions are included in part B below of this document including methods of payment as
well as information about how to request a fee waiver.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACCEPTED STUDENTS: We will email all students during the first week of
April regarding the status of their application. As a courtesy, please DO NOT call or email us
regarding the status of your application prior to that date and please do not ask for an earlier review.
If you do not receive an email by the end of the first week of April, please email us:
simr-program@stanford.edu.
7) INSTITUTE PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS:
For a list of the 8 areas of research, please see our website: http://simr.stanford.edu/program-information.html
PART B: SIMR Application Instructions
(Due date for application- Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022; 11:59pm PST)
1) ONLINE APPLICATION: Student applications should be submitted completely online.
Everything will need to be uploaded including copies of transcripts (official OR unofficial) and
copies of standardized test scores (SAT, ACT, SAT II, etc.). If these documents are not in
electronic form already, they will need to be converted and uploaded as pdf, jpg, or tiff files.
Scanned copies or screenshots of test scores are also acceptable.
Please take the following steps to start your application:
Step 1: CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT: On the SIMR application page (https://simr.stanford.edu),
on the left hand column, click “Application”. Once you are on the application page, click “Create a
new account.” The platform we are using for our application system is called SLIDEROOM. You will
need to create a new account by inputting your email address and creating a password.
Please create a username and password that will be EASY for you to remember. You will also need to
fill out a General Slideroom Profile account page that includes filling out your address and phone
number.
Step 2: LOOK OVER THE APPLICATION: Once you create your user account, afterwards you will
be directed to the main application page. On the top you will see various section tabs: Forms,
References, and Submit.
Step 3: FILL OUT THE “FORMS” SECTION--- this will be the tab that you will use to provide most
of your application information including all uploads. You do not need to fill out your information all at
once as you may go back to it and edit as often as needed before the deadline. You will be
prompted to fill in any mandatory fields before you can submit.
Step 4: FILL OUT THE “REFERENCES” SECTION—this is the tab where you can input your
teacher’s school email address (it must be a school email address). We require that the person who
writes your recommendation letter be a high school teacher that you currently have or that you
had before. A letter from a science or math teacher is encouraged but the letter can be from any high
school teacher that you’ve had. Please only input one teacher’s email address. It would be a good
idea to first double check with the teacher that you would like to ask if he/she is willing to write the
recommendation letter BEFORE inputting the teacher’s email address on your application. Once
you input the email address, an email will automatically be sent to your teacher with
instructions on how to submit the letter through a link that will be provided. The application
system will let you know once the letter has been submitted if you check this page. Please note that
your teacher must submit the letter of recommendation by the same application deadline (Feb. 26
th
,
2022) so please give them plenty of notice. Only one letter of recommendation will be accepted
and it must be from a high school teacher that you currently have or had in a previous year.
Step 5: PAY THE APPLICATION FEE ONLINE (found on the SUBMIT TAB):
There is a $40 application fee to help with costs of the online application implementation. Students
can pay through the following ways:
-PAYING BY CREDIT CARD ONLINE: The payment link is found on the submit page. You can pay
online using the following credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. This is the
preferred method of payment.
-ASKING FOR A FEE WAIVER
• If your total family income is under $80,000 (adjusted gross income), please just fill out the
online google fee waiver form (The link to this form can be found on the application on the
“SIMR INFORMATION” tab- Question #6). You just need to fill out this google form and
your fee will be waived (no other documentation is needed at this time). Once we receive
this request, your application will be updated on the “SUBMIT” page so that it should say
that the “FEE IS WAIVED”. If you are selected for the program, you will be required to
submit last year’s tax returns for verification purposes. The tax returns are NOT required
when submitting your online application SO PLEASE DO NOT UPLOAD THIS.
• As we must manually input this into your application, the deadline for the fee waiver
request is Friday, February 25th, 2022. If you know you’ll need a waiver, please fill out
the link now or as soon as possible as you will not be able to submit your application until
the “fee waiver” notification shows up on your application on the submit page.
• You may also ask for a fee waiver due to any special circumstances (does not have to
fall under the family income rule above). In this case, you must upload a letter in the
fee waiver section that must be signed by a school official (teacher, instructor,
principal, counselor) explaining the circumstances. This can be uploaded on the
application (under the SIMR INFORMATION tab--Question #7).
--PAYING BY CHECK: If you absolutely cannot pay by credit card and must pay by CHECK,
please fill out the FEE WAIVER link on the main SIMR application page. On the form, please
write that you will be sending in a check. Please make the check out to “Stanford University”
and put the student name and Application ID# in the bottom left corner in the memo section.
Please email the program (simr-program@stanford.edu) for the address where the check
should be mailed to.
--PLEASE NOTE: Please do not pay the application fee until you are completely finished with
your application and only if you are absolutely sure that you will be submitting the application as
we cannot issue any refunds once the application fee is paid.
Step 6: SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION—Once you are completely finished with your
application, please click on the submit button. Please note that you will not be able to make any
edits once you submit your application so please review your application before submitting.
You will not be able to add new information once you have submitted your application.
There is no advantage to submitting early.
2) RANKING OF INSTITUTES/AREAS OF RESEARCH: In the application, students will be asked to
rank the top 5 preferences on the following institutes: Immunology, Cancer, Cardiovascular, Stem Cell/
Regenerative Medicine, Neuroscience, Genetics, Bioinformatics and Bioengineering. If accepted into
the program, you will then be given a list of Faculty/their research areas and you will rank again which
Faculty you would like to work with. Lab assignments will be made to try to best accommodate
everyone’s choices but there are no guarantees that students will get their top choices.
3) 2022 ESSAYS: You will be required to write 2 essays for the application (3500 CHARACTER
count limit (not word count) for each essay including spaces). This is equivalent to about 1 page
(1 side) double-spaced. Please check the online application on Slideroom for the exact topics.
Application Q & A
1) Do I need to have SAT or ACT scores in order to apply?
No, standardized test scores are not required to apply to the program. If you have taken
standardized tests such as the SAT I or II, PSAT, or ACT, you are encouraged to report
all scores received. AP test scores should also be reported if taken. These test scores
can be scanned and uploaded to the section at the end of the application. Unofficial
copies or screenshots of SAT and other standardized test scores may be uploaded to
your application.
2) Is there a minimum GPA to apply?
No.
3) Do I need to report both weighted and unweighted GPAs? If your school calculates
both, please submit both GPAs. If you don’t know what your GPA is, please ask your
guidance counselor at school. The GPA should be the cumulative GPA from the
beginning of 9
th
grade to the most recent semester finished. Your GPA is also usually
written on your transcript. If your school uses a different numeric system to quantify
academic achievement, please convert it to a 4.0 scale.
4) What if I’m not sure about my mode of transportation (driving or using public
transportation)?
If you are selected to participate, you may change your response at that time if needed.
5) Can I submit additional documents or standardized test scores after the Feb. 26th,
2022 submission date? Can I email the program about any updates after this date?
No, we cannot accept any additional information or documents once the online
application portal closes. Please do not email the program after this deadline to submit
any additional information or documents that you would like added to your application
(such as new SAT scores, etc.). Please also do not email the program regarding any
updates or new awards. We will only be able to consider the information that is on the
submitted application.
6) What if I have finals during the first week of the program?
You must still attend the orientation session on Monday, June 13
th
. Please arrange with
your school to be excused for that first day (at least until 12:00pm). If you cannot
rearrange your finals or take it earlier than June 13
th
, you may be excused from the
program for the next 2 days (Tuesday-Wednesday). If your school has finals past the
first week, it would be best to apply for other programs.
7) Can I upload an unofficial or official copy of my high school transcript?
You can upload an official or unofficial copy of your high school transcript. Please make
sure your name, school name and your courses/grades from the start of 9
th
grade are on
there.
8) Do I need to email or upload any vaccination records such as for Covid?
No, please do not upload any vaccine records or health information onto your Slideroom
application.
