Summer Research Institute

About the Summer Research Institute

Carla Hachicho, SRI 2018

The Summer Research Institute reflects Barnard's commitment to advancing excellence in STEM fields, while fostering close collaborations between faculty and student researchers. Since its inaugural summer, more than 1,400 students have received funding to conduct faculty-mentored research in laboratories at Barnard College, at Columbia University, at labs around New York City. They also had access to subsidized on-campus housing.

In addition to funding and mentorship, SRI provides access to trainings, faculty lectures, and workshops. SRI culminates with the program-wide Lida Orzeck '68 Poster Session, at which students share the findings of their research with mentors, peers, and other guests of the College. The result is an intensive interdisciplinary community of individuals with a shared commitment to excellence in the sciences, and a summer of pathbreaking research conducted at the highest level.

Please find details and a calendar for the 2025 Summer Research Institute here.

Questions about SRI can be sent to sri@cp55586.com. 

Barnard SRI Departments & Faculty Representatives

  • Biology  (Faculty Representative: Professor Jon Snow)
  • Chemistry (Faculty Representative: Professor Christian Rojas)
  • Cognitive Science (Faculty Representative: Professor John Morrison)
  • Computer Science (Faculty Representative: Professor Smaranda Mursesan)
  • Environmental Science (Faculty Representative: Professor Elizabeth Cook)
  • Mathematics & Statistics (Faculty Representative: Professor Daniela De Silva)
  • Neuroscience & Behavior (Faculty Representative: Professor John Glendinning)
  • Physics and Astronomy (Faculty Representative: Professor Reshmi Mukherjee)
  • Psychology (Faculty Representative: Professor Kate Thorson)

About one-third of SRI students in a given summer work with mentors whose academic home is at Barnard College. All other students work with mentors at Columbia (including the Medical School, Mailman School of Public Health, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Zuckerman Institute, and others), NYU, the Icahn School, The Rockefeller University, and many others across New York City. Below, find a list of Barnard mentors participating in SRI this year:

Biology

Chemistry

  • Austin, Rachel, raustin@cp55586.com, Environmental Bioinorganic Chemistry C-H and C-O bond activation Inorganic neurochemistry
  • Buzzeo, Marisa, mbuzzeo@cp55586.com, Biological Physical Chemistry (The Buzzeo group uses electrochemical techniques to study fundamental properties and develop sensing applications of redox-active biological molecules.)
  • Campbell, Michael, mcampbell@cp55586.com, Inorganic Chemistry (The Campbell group studies structure/function relationships in transition metal complexes and materials, for applications including catalysis and chemical sensing.)
  • Crowther, Andrew, acrowthe@cp55586.com, Vibrational Properties of Nanomaterials, Chemistry of Graphene, Raman Spectroscopy, Reaction Dynamics
  • Rojas, Christian, crojas@cp55586.com, Organic Synthesis (Rojas and his students develop and apply new reactions for organic chemical synthesis, especially in the area of amino sugar synthesis. Another current interest is working with Prof. Christina Vizcarra's group on the synthesis of small-molecule inhibitors of actin assembly)
  • Vizcarra, Christina, cvizcarra@cp55586.com, Biochemistry (The Vizcarra lab studies the biochemical mechanisms of proteins that regulate the cytoskeleton, with wide-ranging applications in metalloneurochemistry, the auditory system, and drug discovery.)

Cognitive Science

  • Morrison, John, jmorrison@cp55586.com (identifying general principles for attributing representations and inferences to the brain, especially when those representations and inferences involve probabilities)
  • Senghas, Ann, asenghas@cp55586.com (researching the ways in which language learners and language users create ordered systems from disordered input and how this ability develops over the lifespan

Computer Science

Environmental Science

Math & Statistics

  • Knizel, Alisa, aknizel@cp55586.com (Probability/Statistics)
  • Students should be in touch with Barnard Faculty Department Rep Daniela De Silva (ddesilva@cp55586.com) to discuss possibilities of working with Columbia University mentors.

Neuroscience & Behavior

Physics & Astronomy

Psychology

  • Greene, Michelle, mgreene@cp55586.com, (cognitive psychology; visual perception)

  • Koleen McCrink, kmccrink@cp55586.com (cognitive development; mathematical and spatial cognition)

  • Thorson, Katherine, kthorson@cp55586.com (psychological and psychophysiological reactions during interpersonal interactions)