BURST (Beginning Undergraduate Research Summer Training)
The BURST (Beginning Undergraduate Research Summer Training) program provides opportunities for USD undergraduates with minimal prior research experience to participate in full-time research or creative works training under the guidance of a USD faculty mentor for 10 weeks (June 1, 2027 - August 6, 2027) during the summer.
BURST Scholars will be awarded
- $6000 stipend
- $500 for necessary research supplies
- 50% reduced USD summer housing rate (shared room)
- Professional development and community-building activities with other summer research scholars and faculty
BURST Mentors will be awarded:
- $4,000 stipend when mentoring 1 student
Starting Summer 2027, faculty who solely mentor two or more students in a full 10-week summer research program (STAR, BURST, McNair, or Catalyst) will receive their program's base stipend plus an additional $2,000, up to a combined cap of $6,000 per mentor, per summer.
| Program | Base stipend (1 student) | Stipend when mentoring 2+ students |
|---|---|---|
|
STAR |
$3,000 |
$5,000 |
|
BURST |
$4,000 |
$6,000 |
|
McNair |
$4,000 |
$6,000 |
|
Catalyst |
$4,000 |
$6,000 |
- This increase applies only to mentors solely supervising 2 or more students simultaneously for the entire 10-week program duration.
- The $6,000 figure is a cap, not a per-student amount. Mentoring more than two students does not increase the stipend beyond this maximum.
- This applies across STAR, BURST, McNair, and Catalyst. Stipend amounts for mentors of a single student remain unchanged.
The 2027 BURST application will be available on January 4, 2027 through February 19, 2027 at 11:59 PM. Student and faculty components of the application must be submitted by the deadline to be considered for funding. See below for details on Eligibility and How to Apply.
Update 8/13/2026
The 2027 BURST/STAR application will be available on January 4, 2027 and will close on February 19, 2027 at 11:59 PM PST.
Scholar Eligibility
Open to all continuing USD undergraduate students
Students graduating in May 2027 are ineligible to apply for the summer 2027 application cycle.
Students should not have participated in a substantial* undergraduate, faculty-mentored research experience
Ability to dedicate approximately 40 hours per week to mentored research over 10 weeks during the summer
No remote projects will be considered at this time, though short excursions for research purposes are allowed.
Commitment to participate in programmed events including professional development workshops and community building events during the summer
Substantial is *defined as more than 200 hours of research (for course credit, volunteered or paid), participation in a previous summer research program at USD (such as Catalyst, McNair, STAR, BURST) or another institution. Students who have done extensive research but are applying for a research experience in a new discipline may be eligible for BURST. If you are unsure about your eligibility for BURST, please consult your faculty mentor and OUR before applying.
Interested in Applying?
Optional: Fill out this quick interest form to receive reminders, updates and information regarding the BURST program and application.
Identify a faculty mentor
Talk with faculty you already know or join the OUR-SEARCH network to identify a potential faculty mentor for this program.
Meet with your faculty mentor or student to discuss potential research projects
Once you have identified a faculty mentor, you will need to meet with them to discuss potential research projects. We recommend meeting with each other more than once during this process.
Review application requirements and timeline below
Once you have identified a research project and are ready to begin preparing your application, you should thoroughly review the application requirements below and ensure everything is completed and submitted by the deadline. Make sure to consult the provided rubric as you prepare your application.
Students
Prepare a scholar statement of interest
A one-page statement (single-spaced, 11-point Arial font, 1" margins) that addresses the following:
- Why BURST?:
- Why are you interested in gaining experience and training in research or creative works?
- How will participation in BURST help you achieve your potential educational and/or career goals?
- Learning About Your Project From Your Mentor:
- What was something that surprised you about the way your mentor described your project?
- What day-to-day activity or activities of your research experience are you excited about?
- What is something you don’t understand about your project and/or that you want to learn more about?
- Personal Connection:
- Explain how this specific project connects to your own interests, academic background, and goals.
- What about this particular research area excites or motivates you?
- How does working on this project align with what you hope to learn or accomplish for your own professional development
Include the three categories above as subheaders in your statement to ensure each prompt is clearly addressed. You are welcome to use our pre-made BURST statement template. You are not required to take up the whole page; this is the maximum limit offered. Your statement should demonstrate both your general motivation for participating in undergraduate research and your enthusiasm for the proposed project you'll be working on.
Submit the student portion of the BURST application by the deadline.
The 2027 BURST application will be available from January 4, 2027 through February 19, 2027. Student and faculty components of the application must be submitted by February 19, 2027 at 11:59 PM to be considered for funding.
The student application requests the following:
- General information about the student applicant
- General information about the faculty mentor
- Scholar statement of interest
- AI disclosure
Faculty
Prepare a mentor statement
A two-page project description and mentoring statement (single-spaced, 11-point Arial font, 1" margins, inclusive of figures and tables but references can extend to a second page) that addresses the following:
- Brief Project Description (~.5 page)
- Clear project goals for the BURST scholar to achieve during the summer period and an explanation of why the project is suitable for a student with no prior (substantial) training in research or creative works
- The significance of the project should be understandable for a general educated audience
- The details of the project are less important than articulating how the project is appropriate for the student’s background
- Clear project goals for the BURST scholar to achieve during the summer period and an explanation of why the project is suitable for a student with no prior (substantial) training in research or creative works
- Mentoring Plan (~1.5 pages)
- Explain how the student will be involved in the project throughout the summer. Describe logistics regarding student training, including skills you will help the BURST scholar develop to conduct the project, how often you will meet with the student, the nature of your interactions and meetings with the student (e.g., activities or topics to be discussed), and resources and support you will provide.
- Detail how you will provide opportunities for professional development tailored to the BURST scholar's needs and potential educational/career goals.
- Describe your mentoring philosophy. Explain how your mentorship is tailored to the individual scholar and how you will support the BURST scholar and provide a supportive environment that fosters student growth and success. Show evidence that you have had intentional conversations with the student to learn about their goals, strengths, background, etc. and have thought carefully about how to mentor them to achieve success.
- Planned Travel (1-3 sentences if applicable)
- Discussion of how planned travel will fit into the mentoring plan. You are generally expected to meet with the scholar weekly in-person (at minimum). If you have extensive travel throughout the summer, you would likely not be able to meet the expectations of a BURST mentor.
If applicable, attach the group project supplemental document or the interdisciplinary or joint-mentor document. See details here.
For a joint-mentor proposal through the BURST program, the mentors co-write a single project description and mentoring statement. This statement should address how the mentoring will be divided between the faculty, and why circumstances make a joint mentoring situation desirable or necessary. Each faculty mentor should still submit their own Google form. with mentor information,
Submit the mentor portion of the BURST application by the deadline.
The 2027 BURST application will be available from January 4, 2027 through February 19, 2027. Student and faculty components of the application must be submitted by February 19, 2027 at 11:59 PM to be considered for funding.
The mentor application requests the following:
- General information about the mentor applicant
- General information about the student
- Mentor statement
- AI disclosure
Evaluation and Awards
The Office of Undergraduate Research does not review or rank BURST applications. Instead, we gather five committees of faculty from the five disciplines (creative works; engineering, computer science, and math; humanities; life and physical sciences; and social sciences) to review and rank BURST applications.
As shown in the BURST rubric, much of the application evaluation will focus on the components submitted by the faculty mentor. BURST funding is limited; even excellent applications may not be funded in a given year. Do not get discouraged if you are not awarded a BURST fellowship in your first attempt — you can apply the following year if you are a continuing student, and you may be able to work with your mentor or our office to find other summer research opportunities.
Timeline
January 4, 2027
Application opens
February 19, 2027 at 11:59 PM
Application closes
February 23, 2027 - March 17, 2027
Applications reviewed and ranked by discipline committees
March 19, 2027 - March 26, 2027
Applicants notified of funding decisions
April 5, 2027
Award acceptance deadline
Interdisciplinary and Group Projects
If your project involves multiple faculty mentors (interdisciplinary) or requires a group of students to be funded (Group Projects), your faculty mentor(s) will have additional required application materials. You may view these additional guidelines, but they are directed to faculty mentors.
Program Contacts
Discipline Contacts
FAQs
If you have no prior faculty-mentored training in research or creative works as an undergraduate, BURST is mostly likely the best fit for you. However, you are eligible for both BURST and STAR. The best approach is to first identify a faculty mentor for your summer project, then discuss with them the program that is most aligned with your project. In some cases, even if you have never participated in independent research/creative works, a faculty member may advise you to apply to STAR based on completion of advanced coursework that may include research/creative works, or the nature of your project.
If you have previously participated in faculty-mentored undergraduate research or creative works, you are not eligible for BURST and you should apply to STAR. The exception to this rule is if your total research/creative works experience as an undergraduate has been less than 200 hours, your prior experience was before you were enrolled as an undergraduate (e.g., if you participated in a high school experience or PURE), or if you are starting research in a different discipline area. Consult your faculty mentor and/or OUR (ugresearch@sandiego.edu) to determine if you are still eligible for BURST.
The student stipend for BURST is $6,000, which is comparable to other summer research programs across the country. In addition, BURST scholars are eligible for a 50% discount on summer housing at USD. Because BURST is a full-time program for 10-weeks of summer, students are not able to hold an outside summer job or internship or take summer courses during their research commitment.
Yes! You do not need to have declared a major to apply for BURST and you can work with a faculty mentor from any discipline. However, certain projects require background or training in a particular discipline, so some faculty mentors outside of your major may not have projects that are suitable for you.
No, all BURST scholars are awarded $500 in supplies funds, as needed for the project. There are no additional forms to fill out. Information on how to properly use these funds will be provided to the student/faculty team upon receiving an award.
Yes! You are encouraged to apply for other opportunities because the funding for BURST is limited. If you choose to accept another opportunity, please let us know so that we can remove you from consideration for BURST.