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Summer Medical Research Fellowship Program

Medical students, especially first year students, have a unique opportunity to participate in scientific research activities at a professional level in our SMRF program. Students develop clinical or basic-science research projects that ultimately contribute to faculty research projects which target the enhancement of prevention, treatment and cure of disease.

This competitive program is open to all medical students. Not all proposals will be funded. Participants receive a stipend* for the six-week program, which usually takes place in the summer.

Students who successfully complete a project are required to present a poster during Research Day the following year. The Rowan-Virtua SOM Research Committee evaluates all of the presentations, as well as students' participation in interactive discussions surrounding their research.

*The stipend is taxable. Rowan University will send all SMRF Program Participants a 1098-T by February of 2026. No stipends will be processed until final IRB/IACUC approvals are received.

Application Procedures

  1. Find a Faculty Mentor 
  2. Review Application Guidelines. They are also available for download.
  3. Students fill out the Student SMRF Application and submit the proposal using the application guidelines above by February 12, 2025.
  4. Mentors fill out the Mentor SMRF Application.
  5. Need a research idea? Check out the annual Research Day poster repository for inspiration.

Application Guidelines

The Rowan-Virtua SOM Research Committee and ad-hoc members review and evaluate the SMRF research proposals. The program is competitive and it is anticipated that not all proposals will be funded.

The full guidelines, evaluation criteria and contact information is available on the SMRF Application page.

For general student research, visit the Medical Student Research webpage.

Guidelines and Criteria