Summer Research Assistantships (SRAs) are made available to students in Brown University’s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) annually on a competitive basis. PLME students who are awarded an assistantship will receive a $3,750 stipend to carry out a research project on campus or at a Brown-affiliated hospital under the supervision and mentorship of a Brown faculty member. 

The student must dedicate 40 hours per week for 10 weeks between June to August. Other employment is not usually authorized during the defined work-week tenure of the assistantship. If the student plans to take a course over the summer or has other commitments that will run concurrently with the SRA, the mentor must be aware of this situation and give their consent. 

Though academic credit cannot be obtained for research done during an assistantship, it is permissible to use the research as an element of a thesis to be presented toward a degree, and to obtain academic credit if the student decides to develop and continue the project as independent research during the academic year.

Please note:

• The faculty mentor must be a faculty member in the Division of Biology and Medicine, School of Public Health, or on clinical faculty to mentor a student for the PLME SRA.
• A faculty mentor may sponsor only one SRA application per year (i.e., may submit a letter of support on behalf of one student only).
• Each lab will be limited to ONE student application. 
• A student may only submit one SRA proposal per year. Students may not apply for both the SRA and the PLME Summer Research Assistantship – Emergency Medicine (SRA-EM) in the same year.

To Apply:

First, please review the 2025 SRA Program Overview and Application Instructions. Then you can secure a research opportunity in the following ways:

• Identifying an area of research that is of interest to you, and finding a Brown faculty member conducting research in that field who would be willing to serve as your faculty mentor
• Identifying a Brown faculty member who would be willing to sponsor your own research project
• Reviewing the 2025 list of research opportunities to see if any projects are of interest to you. All the faculty mentors in the packet have indicated that they would be interested in mentoring a PLME student for a SRA from June to August 2024.

Finally, complete the 2025 SRA Application Form in UFunds, and have your faculty mentor write a letter of support and complete the Mentor Certification Form.

The application deadline is February 3, 2025 by 11:59 pm EST. Incomplete applications will not be considered after this date and time.

For questions, contact:

David Barnes
PLME Coordinator
david_barnes@brown.edu
401-863-9790

Paul Christopher, MD
Program Director, PLME Summer Research Assistantships
Assistant Dean of Medicine - PLME Advising
paul_christopher@brown.edu