Life at RSI

Students begin their summer with one week of seminars highlighting current research topics in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics.  They gain access the extensive computing resources of MIT, learning the tools they'll need to find current publications, model complex systems, prepare a scientific paper, and make a conference-style presentation.  An evening lecture series begins the first week and continues throughout the summer, bringing students face-to-face with science and technology leaders such as Nobel laureates and technology entrepreneurs of national stature.

Students receive their first assignments from their research mentors at the end of the first week, and many begin reading advanced texts and recent journal articles over the first weekend.  Students join their laboratories at the beginning of the second week, spending "business hours plus" engaged in guided research from the second through the fifth week.  All participants report the results of their work back to the Institute, preparing papers and oral presentations at a level appropriate for an academic conference. An outside panel of Boston-area scientists selects five papers and five presentations for special commendation during the last week of the program.