About

The High School Student Research Program at St. Bonaventure University is a two-week summer research experience for high school sophomores and juniors, pairing students with SBU faculty members on authentic, faculty-led STEM research projects in fields of the student's choosing. Located on SBU's campus in Olean, in Western New York, the program gives students genuine college-level laboratory access well before they apply to college — working on real, ongoing research rather than demonstrations or simulations.

Over two weeks, each student is matched with a faculty mentor and works on a cutting-edge STEM research topic in biology, computer science, chemistry, or a related field. Most days include a lunch session where scientists and researchers from different STEM fields share career insights and practical advice on preparing for college and beyond. The program concludes with a poster presentation in which students present their completed research — developing the science communication skills that matter in both college applications and future research careers. A year-long virtual mentorship component continues students' connection to SBU scientists after the summer ends.

Now in its eleventh year, the program has reached approximately 85 students from nine states and two countries. Alumni have gone on to attend institutions including Harvard, and seventeen SBU alumni who began as high school research students later enrolled at St. Bonaventure for undergraduate study — a pipeline that speaks to the program's depth of engagement. Applicants must be completing their sophomore or junior year before the summer. The program is small and selective by design, with class sizes kept intentionally limited to preserve the quality of individual faculty mentorship.

For a motivated high school student in the sciences who wants genuine research mentorship — not a campus tour dressed up as science — SBU's program is one of the more substantive options available at a small university, with the kind of individual faculty attention that larger research programs sometimes struggle to replicate.