SUNY Chancellor Marks Summer Research Internships With Visit to Brookhaven National Laboratory
July 20, 2023
Students From 8 SUNY Campuses Participate Through the Community College Internship and Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship Programs
Upton, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King, Jr. today marked the summer research internships with a visit to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). SUNY students across eight campuses are participating in BNL's Community College Internship (CCI) or the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) this summer.
During the 10-week programs, students are encouraged to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers by participating in research experiences at BNL, one of DOE's 17 national laboratories and the only one in the Northeast.
Of the 150 interns at BNL this summer, 56 are attending from one of eight SUNY campuses. Each student receives a stipend of $650 a week or $6,500 for all 10 weeks in addition to housing and transportation. Most students choose to live on-site. All students are matched with a scientist for their entire internship.
Chancellor King has emphasized the need to expand internships as part of SUNY's agenda for student success; diversity, equity, and inclusion; research and scholarship; and economic development and upward mobility. Earlier this spring, Chancellor King announced SUNY's goal that every undergraduate student will have the opportunity to participate in an internship before they graduate. In April, SUNY launched the Chancellor's Summer Research Excellence Fund to support 150 paid internships across six research-intensive campuses, and following the enactment of the state budget with historic investment in SUNY, the Chancellor announced a new $10-million fund to provide annual sustainable support for internships across state-operated campuses.
Chancellor King and Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis joined David Manning, stakeholder relations director at BNL, and Ken White, manager of the Office of Educational Programs, to meet with SUNY summer interns in their lab locations to learn about their scientific work. Chancellor King also addressed the entire student intern population.
SUNY Chancellor King said, "Employers look for internship experience when hiring, so our goal is to have every student have an internship by the time they graduate. The more we connect students to internship opportunities, the more we are positioning them for greater social mobility. For college students who are eager to be a part of revolutionary research in a vibrant and fast-paced setting, this internship is an exceptional opportunity not many have access to. With a research mentor and access to laboratory experience, each student can apply their classroom knowledge and independent research skills in a real-world setting. Across SUNY, and particularly at Stony Brook University, which has been a partner with Brookhaven National Laboratory for 25 years, our students and faculty are at the forefront of groundbreaking research and innovations which aim to solve our planet's most pressing issues. I am grateful to Brookhaven for supporting this future generation of researchers, and I am inspired by the work of our students."
These student interns attend one of eight SUNY campuses: University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, SUNY ESF, Farmingdale State College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Stony Brook University, and Suffolk County Community College.
Stony Brook University was one of the initial participants this year of the Summer Research Excellence Fund, along with Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, SUNY ESF, and SUNY Polytechnic Institute. The fund covers all student costs for the internship, including, but not limited to, student stipend/salary, tuition/fees, housing, meal plans, child care, and transportation.
Stony Brook President Maurie McInnis said, "Witnessing the role modeling and mentorship that results from intentionally pairing aspiring scholar-researchers to work side by side with leading innovators and scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory is truly inspirational. In meeting scholar interns from Stony Brook and other SUNY campuses to learn about their scientific work at BNL, which is made possible thanks to the Chancellor's Summer Research Excellence Fund, it is clear that these bright and talented students will continue to excel at the highest levels to realize their ambitions in STEM-focused careers."
In his State of the University Address, Chancellor King set a goal that every undergraduate student will complete a research or other real-world internship before they receive their degree—providing campuses with the support to scale up their internship programs with $10 million in annual operating support from this year's enacted budget.
BNL Internship Programs
The CCI and SULI programs provide interns with the opportunity to work under the guidance of scientific and engineering staff on projects that are relevant to the DOE mission of ensuring America's security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. Student interns participate in cutting-edge scientific research programs and have an opportunity to present research findings.
BNL also holds a Quantum Materials Summer School, where this summer, students from Farmingdale, SUNY New Paltz, and Stony Brook are attending. The six-week program introduces college students to the world of quantum information science.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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