Undergraduate Research Program

Undergraduate students must agree to participate in all program elements, as listed in the table below:

Students must be current undergraduates in good standing at Stanford:

• Students may not be on a Leave of Absence (LOA) while using grant funding. LOA Students may apply for funding only if they will return from leave and meet all other eligibility requirements by the beginning of the funded project.
• Students will be eligible for full time project support only in the summer quarter. “Full-time” means that the student’s only major commitment is the project; students are expected to spend 40 hours per week over the entire 10-week period on the project, and are expected to be in-person in their lab.

It is important to find and build a good relationship with your faculty mentor, as this will be the foundation for your research project and could be a lasting connection throughout your career.

CHECK out directory of faculty mentors

• Find a mentor whose research interests align with yours. We have created a directory of faculty who have volunteered to be mentors or who are Faculty Affiliates of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance. You may apply for the program with a mentor not on this list. See “Instructions for Faculty Mentors” on how to do this.
• Reach out to potential mentors via their listed contact. Keep the correspondence brief:  introduce yourself, and explain how your interests align with theirs. Ask if they are interested in hosting an undergraduate student in their lab for the summer.
• Set up a meeting with interested mentors. Prepare for the meeting by reading recent publications, news, or listening to their talks. It’s helpful to have a list of questions prepared. This shows you are interested in their work. This is a great opportunity to ask your faculty mentor about potential research projects. There are additional resources available from Stanford Undergraduate Research on developing mentor relationships.

Applicant and their mentor develop a description of a research project that will advance human performance. The mentor also completes a Training and Mentorship Plan for the applicant. The applicant must upload this completed plan as part of their application in SlideRoom.

Submit the following materials through the application portal on SlideRoom.

• Resume (max 1 page)
• Academic Transcript (unofficial is fine)
• Training and Mentorship Plan completed by the faculty mentor. It is the student’s responsibility to provide mentors early notice of this plan.
  • See Step 1 above for more on finding a mentor.
• Short answer questions (maximum of 1500 characters or approximately 250 words for each response)

1. New Participant
   1. Please provide a brief description of the proposed research project and how it relates to human performance. We recommend working on this with your faculty mentor. This does not have to be a completely independent research project; it can be a current project of interest in your faculty mentor’s lab. We will help you to craft a research proposal in the Spring course.
   2. Why are you interested in participating in this program? Include reason(s) you selected your faculty mentor, and if applicable, relevant past experiences and future goals.
   3. We wish to welcome a cohort of students who have a diversity of experiences and skills. Share something about yourself or your experiences that you feel allows you to bring a unique perspective to the program.

1. Program Alumnus
   1. If working on the same project: Share your project progress since being a Wu Tsai Performance Scholar. How long have you been working on this project? What are the new developments since presenting your work at the Summer Research Symposium? Describe your research plan for next summer.
      If working on a new project: Describe the project and why you chose to switch. Include reason(s) you selected your faculty mentor, research project, and if applicable, relevant past experiences and future goals.
   2. Why are you interested in participating in this program again and what do you hope to get out of the program this second time?
   3. We are always trying to improve our program, and you are an expert and alumnus of the program. Share some of your ideas that could help elevate the program, class, experience, etc.

• The mentor must be a Faculty Affiliate of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Stanford, or willing to become a Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance Faculty Affiliate. 
• Mentors and/or members of their lab (e.g., graduate students, postdoctoral fellows) are expected to provide weekly feedback on the undergraduate students’ research proposals as part of the Spring class and to meet regularly during the Spring and Summer quarters.
• Mentors will be expected to provide a lab space, desk, and support for the scholar’s research project.

• Faculty should complete and sign the Training and Mentorship Plan and return it to the student, who will upload the plan to the SlideRoom application portal by the application deadline, 11:59pm on January 24, 2025.
• As you create your plan, be mindful that this might be the first research experience for this student. It is important to be thoughtful about how to equip them with the skills to do excellent research, introduce them to your field, and integrate them in your community. 

The sooner the better. You want to give them ample time to get to know you to see if you are a good match for one another, discuss a potential project, and come up with a training plan. We suggest you confirm with your selected faculty member before the end of the Fall quarter.

Almost all of what we know about health comes from the study of disease or injury. The Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance takes the opposite approach: we are studying peak human performance, with the goal of enabling all people to achieve optimal health and well-being. This collaborative effort brings together multiple disciplines, including biology, psychology, engineering, and medicine to understand and advance human health. We will translate these scientific discoveries into practical approaches that improve the performance of all individuals. 

Some examples of human performance research from past scholars:

• Bianca De Los Reyes (Human Biology ’25) worked with Professor Craig Heller examining whether cooling the palms of female athletes could mitigate their fatigue, allowing them to bench press more weight over the eight week study.
• Kaien J-Spencer (Human Biology ’26) spent his summer working with Dr. David Spiegel preparing a study investigating the effect of interventions like hypnosis or breathwork on the brain and stress.
• Brian Khoo (Management Science ’25) worked with Dr. Kevin Shea creating statistical models to understand knee development in young children.

See more examples of research projects from our 2022 Undergraduate Scholars or our 2023 Undergraduate Scholars.

Reaching out to multiple faculty will give you a better chance of connecting with a mentor.

Reaching out to graduate students or postdocs in the lab can also be a great way to connect with faculty members and get to know if you are a good fit for the lab. 

We strongly recommend working on the brief description of the proposed research project with your faculty mentor. Generally it would be helpful to provide the research question, a brief background on the importance of the question, the proposed method you plan to use to answer the question (likely this will be a method in which your faculty mentor and their lab specialize), an ideal result, and the potential impact on or relation to human performance. Remember this is a brief description (max 250 words), and that you will spend the Spring quarter refining your research proposal in the course with guidance from the teaching team and your faculty mentor, so many of the details will come later. 

A strong application will include a description of a proposed research project that relates to human performance. We are happy to help you with this. Email odayj@stanford.edu!

Housing costs are not included in the $8000 stipend.

The BIOE190 class (Tuesdays, 9-10:20am in the spring quarter) is a very participatory and active in-person experience, so we cannot accommodate students who cannot join in-person on campus. It wouldn’t be as full of an experience for you or for the other scholars.

The program orientation will be on the first day of the summer quarter, June 23, 2025 (according to the Stanford Academic Calendar). The program will run for 10 weeks, and students work out details of their research schedule during those weeks with their faculty mentors.