Discover research with BURE.

The Bowers Undergraduate Research Experience (BURE) offers Cornell Bowers undergraduates a unique opportunity to explore the world of research through a hands-on, 10-week summer program.

Open to all Cornell Bowers undergraduates, BURE pairs students with a faculty mentor to work on a real research project. BURE students gain valuable skills, build connections, and learn how to conduct an independent research project.

View 2026 Summer Program

Participate in cutting-edge research.

A student smiles and looks at the camera while sitting at a desk with two computer monitors

“One thing I love about doing research at Cornell is that they really put the students at the forefront of the research. You really get to work on the things you find most interesting.”

Benny Rubin ’25

Why join BURE?

  • Work one-on-one with a faculty mentor
  • Develop research and technical skills
  • Explore whether a Ph.D. or research career is right for you
  • Join a community of curious, motivated peers
  • Attend a series of enrichment talks on technical and career topics throughout the summer
  • Present your project at the end of summer Research Symposium

%20bure [at] cornell.edu (Contact the BURE team)

 

Interested in AI applied to material sciences? Apply here to AI-MI Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) AI Track.

  • Duration: 10 weeks during the summer
  • Format: Full-time, in-person research experience
  • Goal: Help students explore independent research and discover future graduate study paths and research careers
  • Payment: Hourly wage or research stipend
  • Open to all Cornell Bowers undergraduates
  • Applicants must have completed at least one core course in CS, IS, or SDS
  • BURE is a full-time commitment, with students required to attend all program events in-person

Applications for summer 2026 are now closed.


Application Components include:

  • One-page statement describing your research interests and any relevant experience
  • Cornell transcript
  • Ranking of 4 prospective faculty mentors
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Cornell Bowers

Research takes time, and undergraduates don’t have much time to spare when the semester starts. But come summer, thanks to BURE, Cornell Bowers undergraduates can give research the time it requires.

BURE Basics

Learn more about eligibility, the application process, expectations, and more.

To participate in BURE, you must be a Cornell Bowers undergraduate major who will be returning to campus as a student in the fall semester following the program. Applicants must have completed at least one core course in CS, IS, or SDS.

If you have not yet officially affiliated with a Bowers CIS major but intend to do so as soon as you are eligible, you are still welcome to apply.

BURE projects may be based at either the Ithaca campus or Cornell Tech, depending on your faculty mentor’s location. However, all official BURE programming and events will be held in person at the Ithaca campus.

Please note that students are required to attend all BURE programming, and additional funding is not available for projects based at Cornell Tech.

Students are hired as either hourly employees or as researchers on REU supplements. Hourly employees are expected to work 40 hours/week, are not allowed to work more than 40 hours/week, and are not allowed to participate in outside employment. Researchers on REU supplements will receive a stipend.

BURE does not cover housing and meals.

Program dates for Summer 2026 are June 1, 2026 through August 7, 2026. Please note, BURE students are required to participate in the full duration of the program and all events.

Participating Cornell Bowers faculty mentors are listed below, and are updated for each summer of the program.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to speak with a prospective faculty mentor before submitting their application to discuss potential research interests and fit.

Participating Faculty Mentors

Explore faculty mentors for Summer 2026 along with any required or suggested skills for working in their lab.

  • Aditya Vashistha
  • Angelina Wang (Cornell Tech)
    • Required: strong coding abilities and data analysis in python; suggested skills (or willingness to learn): working with deep learning models.
  • Angelique Taylor (Cornell Tech)
    • Suggested:
      • Comfortable reading academic papers and writing concise summaries.
      • Experience with user studies or a willingness to learn.
      • (Development Project) Software engineer experience via an internship, work experience, coding competitions, or contributions to open source repositories (e.g., GitHub)
      • Experience solving complex problems and comparing alternative solutions, tradeoffs, and different perspectives to determine a path forward
      • Reliability, curiosity, and the ability to work independently and in a small team.
  • Cristian Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil
  • David Mimno
  • Francois Guimbretiere
  • Qian Yang
    • Required: At least one of the following skills or experiences - (1) LLM and NLP, such as discourse analysis, fine-tuning LLMs for conversational outcomes, etc; (2) REACT web app development; (3) interaction design and JavaScript implementation.
    • Suggested: Multiple skills as described above.
  • Rajalakshmi Nandakumar (Cornell Tech)
    • Required: know ML and interested in ML for vision. Or 2) Interested in working with hardware / fabrication.
  • Thijs Roumen (Cornell Tech)
    • Suggested: Experience with CAD tools; alternatively (or complementary), experience with or interest in Assistive Technology
  • Wendy Ju (Cornell Tech)
  • Yian Yin
    • Required: Must be enrolled in INFO-6940 course "Quantifying Scientific Ideas, Careers, and Teams” in Spring 2026.