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Office for Research and Graduate Education

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

CFAES

ORIP for Faculty

Who:
Faculty members on the CFAES Wooster Campus

What:
The 2025 OSU Research Internship Program on the CFAES Wooster Campus (ORIP)

Where:
CFAES Wooster Campus; 1680 Madison Ave, Wooster, OH 44691

When:
May 12 to July 18, 2025

How:

Indicate your interest via the undergraduate research experiences survey. 

ORIP applications have closed for summer 2024. Please check back in the winter for details on ORIP 2025.


Overview

The CFAES Wooster Campus provides an annual summer research internship opportunity for motivated graduating high school seniors and current underclassmen at college or university over the age of 18. The OSU Research Internship Program on the Wooster campus (ORIP) is tailored specifically to enhance student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Past ORIP participants have been involved in research ranging from bee abundance, to grapevine health and soil quality, to cross-reactivity of human coronavirus-specific antibodies. 

View 2024 ORIP Projects

Through laboratory and field research, interns receive a hands-on experience in data collection and analysis, project design, and scientific communication of results.  


Logistics

Faculty mentors on the CFAES Wooster campus are needed to accommodate as many students as possible, so please consider participating in this program. Without your cooperation, ORIP would not exist. ORIP encourages faculty mentors to engage graduate students and postdocs in co-mentoring the research scholars, which provides an excellent mentoring opportunity for your staff. 

Participation in ORIP can increase student competitiveness for scholarships and admission to college and graduate or professional schools. Students are encouraged to explore the websites of the departments and faculty labs on the CFAES Wooster Campus that are doing research in their areas of interest and contact the lab directly before applying to the program. On the application there will be an opportunity to indicate whether you have already communicated with a student about ORIP, though this is not a requirement to apply for the program. If a student is chosen for ORIP and they have not connected with a potential faculty mentor, they will be matched with an available faculty mentor based on the student’s experience and interests.

Throughout the duration of the 10-week program, interns will work with their mentors and the faculty advisor to write a report detailing their research topic, methods, and findings which will be due at the end of the program. Students will also be required to participate in a final symposium where they will give a 12-minute presentation on their summer research. All faculty mentors and staff are encouraged to attend to support the interns. 

A core aspect of ORIP is networking, not only with faculty and professional students in your lab, but with the other participants of the program. To inspire this connectivity between interns during the program, every Friday is reserved for ORIP participants to gather for a Lunch and Learn session. Attendance at each Lunch and Learn session is required unless otherwise approved by the faculty advisor, so please plan for their absense each week from 12:00-1:15. Lunch and Learn sessions allow time for interns to come together and share their experiences over the past week with one another over a meal, followed by a brief overview of an area of CFAES research or opportunities within our college presented by CFAES Faculty members, Postdoctoral Scholars, or Graduate Students. 


Investment

Student interns will be selected on a competitive basis by the ORIP selection committee. Interns will be required to work a minimum of 30 hours per week and will be paid at a rate of $13/hour for the 10-week program (300 total hours). Daily hours and schedules will be determined by the research that is being conducted and will be settled between the student and their mentor. 

ORIP will pay up to 150 hours of the 300-hour program requirement to the most competitive applicants. Faculty mentors will be responsible for the remainder of the student's salary and benefits (150 hours). Students may also make separate arrangements with their faculty mentors for additional employment, so long as they do not exceed 38 hours/week. This additional time will be 100% funded by the faculty mentor. Faculty Mentors are responsible for approving time sheets and ending the student’s appointment in Workday.


Benefits

Benefits to faculty mentors and the CFAES Wooster community

  • Enhance performance of graduate students and postdocs
  • Create an intellectually stimulating research environment
  • Obtain high quality student interns
  • Increase research output

Benefits to graduate student and postdoc mentors

  • Greater research productivity
  • Supervisory experience
  • Mentoring experience
  • Strengthen resume

Benefits to the local community

  • Boost student interest in science in the area
  • Enrich performance of students from local schools
  • Strengthen OSU engagement with community
  • Engender public support for OSU

Get Involved 

Indicate your interest via the undergraduate research experiences survey. Note that this will replace the ORIP Faculty Application. 

  • Primary Location
  • Department Affiliation
  • Previous Experience
  • Potential projects in your lab for an undergraduate researcher for summer 2025

ORIP applications have closed for summer 2024. Please check back in the winter for details on ORIP 2025.


Program Contact

Alexis Didinger | ORIP Coordinator
208 Research Services, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691
Phone: (330) 462-6157
Email: didinger.2@osu.edu