Opportunity Description
The SFI Undergraduate Complexity Research (UCR) program is a 10-week residential experience in complexity science research.
Each student develops a project in collaboration with their mentor(s); projects are selected and refined through discussions early in the program, based on ideas from students and SFI researchers.
Students learn how to combine theory, methods, and data from the physical, natural, and social sciences to ask big questions about real-world complex systems using the rigorous methods employed at SFI.
Through a series of seminars and workshops, students enhance their skills as researchers and prepare for the next steps in their academic and professional journeys.
Undergraduate students from all backgrounds in the physical, natural, and social sciences and mathematics are invited to participate. Strong quantitative skills and/or experience with a programming language are favorably considered.
Objectives
- Focus: Students conduct an independent research project under SFI mentorship.
- Method: Learn to combine theory, methods, and data from physical, natural, and social sciences to study complex systems.
- Goal: Use rigorous, transdisciplinary methods to address “big questions” about real-world systems.
- Skills: Enhance research skills through seminars, workshops, and preparation for future academic/professional steps.
Summary of the Santa Fe Institute UCR Program 2026
- Type: Internship
- Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
- Duration: 10 Weeks
- Eligible Countries: All
- Benefits: Travel support to/fro, $7,000 Stipend, Free housing and Meals
- Deadline: 14th January, 2026
Eligibility Criteria for the Santa Fe Institute UCR Program 2026
- International Applicants: Welcome from any country. Limited visa assistance is provided for international participants.
- Undergraduate Status: Must be actively enrolled (part-time or full-time) in an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree program.
- Return Requirement: Applicants must intend to return to at least one additional academic term of undergraduate study after the program ends in August.
- Ineligible: Students who will fully complete their undergraduate degree before the program ends.
- Eligible Students: Includes those from two-year and four-year institutions, and transfer students (even during the summer between schools).
- Dual-Degree Programs: Eligible if you will still be in the undergraduate portion and return to it for at least one term afterward.
The Program covers:
- Travel support to/from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- $7,000 Stipend
- Free housing
- Meals.
Required Documents
- Academic CV or Résumé
- Research Statements (including short project proposal)
- Letter of Recommendation
- Unofficial Transcript(s).
