Summer Research Program

We offer international bachelor or first year master students in life sciences eight weeks of lab-immersion during the summer. Join one of our research groups and experience what it means to be part of the thriving science community in Switzerland. The program is open to students in biology, biophysics, chemistry, bio-engineering, bioinformatics, quantitative biology and related fields.

2027 applications are open

2027 application deadline: November 15, 2026

Program Dates: July 5 – August 27, 2027

Before applying, it is necessary to read the SRP site including the FAQs. The FAQs contain information about the updated application form.

Program features

• 20-25 participants each summer
• 8 weeks of lab experience
• Mentoring by faculty and scientific staff
• Access to scientific seminars
• Science related & personal development Friday afternoon workshops
• Closing symposium with poster session or presentations from all participants
• Rich program of social activities, including a day hike to Swiss alps with raclette, BBQs and a few possible excursions to points of interest such as  CERN

Length and timing

• 2 months – July 5th to August 27th 2027
• Students must be present during the entire program
• Application deadline – November 15th 23:59  CET

Application Tips

• Application deadline – November 15th 23:59  CET
• Please note that you must have your transcript, short answer essays and referee details ready to upload when you start to fill out the application.
•  The topics for all the short answer essays are found in the FAQs.
• There is no option to save and come back to it.   The referee will only receive their link to upload your letter when you submit your application. Make sure beforehand that they can provide your reference.  Please keep this in mind when organizing your application.

Scientific goals and benefits to the students

• Join on-going research in a lab of the EPFL School of Life Sciences
• Learn new techniques while studying a research topic related to current health issues
• Improve critical thinking and experimental design
• Prepare for future independent research as a graduate student
• Experience the excitement and challenges of scientific research gaining insight into what a research career entails

Stipend, housing and travel costs

• Each student receives CHF 3,600 for the two-month period which covers housing and living costs.
• Housing is reserved and paid for out of the stipends beforehand. You will have approximately CHF 1,700 left to live on. 
• Students are housed in Lausanne near the EPFL campus.
• Students usually have single rooms and share a kitchen and bathroom facilities with their fellow SRP participants. We cannot make special housing arrangements.
• The majority of travel costs to and from Switzerland is covered. The program reimburses up to CHF 1,000 for overseas flights and CHF 500 for shorter distances.
• Students working in Geneva labs will receive a larger stipend to cover most of their travel to and from the program in addition to their extra travel costs to go to Geneva to work. 

Participating Labs 2027

• Altug Lab – BioNanoPhotonic Systems
• Antanasijevic Lab – Virology and Structural Immunology
• Barth Lab – Protein and Cell Engineering
• Bastings Lab – Programmable Biomaterials Laboratory
• Blokesch Lab – Molecular Microbiology
• Brisken Lab – Hormones: Keys to Breast Cancer Prevention and Therapy
• Dal Peraro Lab – Biomolecular Modeling
• Gallini Lab – Empowerment of healthy cells to prevent skin cancer
• Gönczy Lab – Cell and Developmental Biology
• Hummel Lab – Defitech Chair of Clinical Neuroengineering | Geneva
• Ijspeert Lab – Biorobotics
• Jeschek Lab – Synthetic and Applied Microbiology – Lonza Chair of Sustainable Biosynthesis
• Kim Lab – Molecular and Synthetic Neuroengineering
• Kozicka Lab – Proteostasis and Molecular Therapeutics
• La Manno – Brain Development and Biological Data Science
• Maerkl Lab – Biological Network Characterization
• Manley Lab – Experimental Biophysics
• A Mathis Lab – Computational Neuroscience & AI | Geneva
• Maynard Lab – Regeneration and Neurogenomics
• McCabe Lab – Neural Genetics and Disease
• Nakatsuka Lab – Chemical Nanotechnology
• Navarro Lab – Neuroimmunology and Aging – Giorgi-Cavaglieri Chair in Immunology of the Aging Brain
• Paoli Lab – Microbiome Immunity and Ecology
• Persat Lab – Microbial Mechanics
• Priestley Lab – Neurobiology of Memory
• Radenovic Lab – Nanoscale Biology
• Ramdya Lab – Neuroengineering
• Sakar Lab – Microbiorobotic Systems
• Schrimpf Lab – NeuroAI
• Stellacci Lab – Supramolecular Nanomaterials and Interfaces Laboratory
• Tang Lab – Biomaterials for Immunoengineering
• Thomä Lab – Paternot Chair in Cancer Research
• Van de Ville Lab – Medical Image Processing | Geneva
• van der Goot Lab – Cell and Membrane Biology
• Westmann Lab – Systems and Synthetic Evolutionary Biology