Program dates

June 2 - August 8, 2025

Application dates

The application portal is now closed. Please check back in the fall for Summer 2026 updates.

Define your career path at Roswell Park

If you’re a college junior, decisions about your future profession are looming.  Our College Summer Research Experience in Cancer (SURE-CAN) at Roswell Park can help you take that all-important next step in your career.

How to apply FAQs Contact us

 

A bench-to-bedside research experience like no other

We’re an internationally-renowned research institution, and one of a select number of nationally designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country. Our multidisciplinary focus means a unique immersion in cancer science that makes impacts in advancement of cancer healthcare and delivery you won’t find anywhere else.

Bench-to-bedside experience

Mentorship and collaboration

The latest technology

Here at Roswell there’s a huge focus on translational research so you’re not just sciencing for science purposes, you’re sciencing because what you’re doing at the lab side you’re hoping to take it into the hospital, and that is also going to heal someone somewhere in the future. Danielle Twum, Summer Research Program Student

 

In addition to lab work in our cutting-edge research facilities, you’ll take part in weekly lectures on cancer biology and career options. At the end of the 10-week program, you’ll present your project in the formal setting of our program research conference and Buffalo Research Day – and maybe even win a “Best Talk” award that’ll look great on your grad school application.

Speaking of grad school…you can get your master’s, your PhD and do post-doc work at Roswell Park too. In fact, 80% of summer students who apply to our Roswell Park PhD program in Cancer Science are accepted!

 

Add innovative and impactful research to your resume

Build your CV and interview talking points with research topics like these:

  • “Mechanisms of Taxol Resistance in Prostate Cancer Cell Lines”
  • “Effect of Radioprotectant Drug CBLB502 on Proliferative Cells of the Irradiated Mouse Brain”
  • “Development of Interactive Prostate Cancer Education Program for African American Lay Health Advisors”

 

Find your focus

A summer research experience is a great chance to deeply explore a specific cancer science interest – or try something new. When you apply, you’ll rank your choices among our key research areas:

  • Cancer Epidemiology
  • Cancer Genetics, Genomics and Development
  • Cancer Prevention & Health Behavior
  • Cancer Stress and Biophysical Oncology
  • Computational Oncology: Bioinformatics/Biostatistics
  • Experimental Therapeutics 
  • Tumor immunology

Flavored tobacco products

Interested in tobacco research? Be sure to take a look at the WNY Center for Research on Flavored Tobacco Products. It’s the first program in the country dedicated to the study of this growing trend.

Read the news release Visit FlavoredTobacco.org

Funded research for CSTEP sophomores

If you’re a current college sophomore enrolled in New York’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), you can take advantage of the R25 Summer Research Experience Program Grant.

You can apply as a sophomore to receive a research experience in the summer after sophomore year and return again to continue your research after junior year. During your second summer, you’ll mentor your peers starting their first sophomore summer experience.

Application tip: Indicate that you’re a CSTEP sophomore on the application form, and select a mentor who participates in this program.

To learn more about R25 funding, contact us at OCET@RoswellPark.org.

Ready to get started?

Check out the specs below for all the fine-print details, and then read through the FAQS. Please check back in the fall for Summer 2026 application updates!

You must meet all the following criteria at the time of application:

  • Eligible applicants include U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents who are either:
  • Enrolled in their junior year of college at the time of application (graduating class of 2025) OR
  • Enrolled in their sophomore year AND participating in a SUNY C-STEP, LSAMP or McNair Program 

All participants in Roswell Park's experiential research programs will be required to show proof that they are fully vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the World Health Organization (WHO).

  • There is no application fee.
  • Funding is available to provide a $6000 support subsistence allowances for applicants accepted into the summer program. Funding support is made possible by our NCI R25 grant and is awarded based on the qualifications of applicants and criteria required by our outside funding sources. This allowance can be used for food, incidentals and dormitory/housing costs.
  • You are responsible for your travel expenses to and from Buffalo, New York.

Out-of-town students have the option to find their own lodging. A list will be provided at the time of acceptance.

How to apply

Step 1 - Prepare your personal statement that answers the following questions (limit to 300 words):

  1. What are your education and career goals, and what is your motivation towards the goals you have chosen for yourself?
  2. How will an internship in a cancer research laboratory help you to achieve your education and career goals?
  3. What knowledge, skills and insights do you hope to attain from a cancer research training experience?

Step 2 - Review available mentored research experiences above. 

It is highly recommended you print or reference this list when ranking your choice of mentor in the online application. 

Step 3 - Choose your reference

In the online application, you will be asked to provide contact information for a professor, advisor or other individual who can assess your abilities in science. Be sure to notify this individual that you are using them as a reference and that they should expect an email from someone in the Roswell Park program asking them to complete an online recommendation on your behalf.

Step 4 - Have an unofficial transcript readily available to upload.

Step 5 - Complete your application. *Applications are now closed - please check back for updates on Summer 2026 applications!

Questions?

For more information about the College Summer Research Experience at Roswell Park, connect with:

Pamela Hershberger, PhD
Pamela Hershberger, PhD
Department of Oral Oncology

Pamela Hershberger, PhD
Pamela Hershberger@RoswellPark.org