Bridge Undergraduate Science Jr. Program (BUGS Jr.)
An Immersive Summer Research Program for High School Students
We are training the next generation of students to surmount disciplinary boundaries, create professional networks, and engage in world-class research as they work to better understand the human body and human health.
UPDATE: Due to an overwhelming number of applications received for the 2024 BUGS Jr Program, we anticipate that the rate of acceptance will be lower this year than has been typical in previous years of the program. We sincerely appreciate your interest in our program and in advancing STEM education and research opportunities for aspiring youth.
Additional information will be posted here as it becomes available.
Timeline for the 2024 BUGS Jr Program:
2024 BUGS Jr Program application portal is NOW CLOSED
- Friday, May 3, 2024: BUGS Jr Faculty/Mentor Contracts due via Qualtrics.
- Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – Monday, May 20, 2024: Offers of provisional acceptance in the 2024 BUGS Jr Summer Research Program are emailed to the Student and their Parent/Guardian.
- Monday, June 17, 2024: BUGS Jr Summer Research Program begins.
- Thursday, August 1; Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3, 2024: BUGS/BUGS Jr Summer Research Finale Symposium (schedule to be determined – students should be available for full period).
Please email bugsprogram@usc.edu with any questions.
– The Bridge Institute team
HANDS-ON RESEARCH
The BUGS Jr Program runs concurrently each summer with a parallel program for undergraduates, Bridge Undergraduate Science Program, known as BUGS for short. Students in the BUGS Jr Program pair with a USC Faculty Member and the members of their laboratory, often graduate students or postdoctoral fellows, to perform hands-on research in state-of-the-art research labs at USC.
Students also benefit from weekly BUGS Jr Program activities, including campus tours, journal clubs, career symposia, technical panels and Bridge-sponsored peer community-building activities such as research seminars and multi-disciplinary social mixers.
Curious to learn the kind of research our previous BUGS have done? Get to know a few of our alumni in the BUGS Jr Alumni Focus, or peruse our list of alumni to see some of the people who participated before and the projects they worked on.
EXPLORE DISCIPLINES
BUGS Jr is one of a few immersive U.S. programs that allows students to explore across scientific disciplines and additionally incorporates opportunities to collaborate with students in the USC School of Cinematic Arts. A unique highlight of the program is the summer finale symposium (the first Friday and Saturday in August) where BUGS Jrs present their work to their scientific mentors, peers and family, as well as the university community in dynamic poster sessions that allow them to showcase their efforts from the summer research program.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
If you are currently a high school student, or will be an incoming freshman during the upcoming school year, you are eligible to participate in the BUGS Jr Program. Students who will graduate from high school in Spring 2024 should apply to this BUGS Jr Program.
There is no citizenship requirement to participate in the BUGS Jr Program. [We do not provide VISA sponsorship for program participation].
There is no GPA requirement to participate in the
BUGS Jr Program.
PROGRAM DATES
2024 BUGS Jr Program application portal is NOW CLOSED
Provisional Acceptances emailed: May 1 – May 20, 2024
Program begins: Monday, June 17, 2024
Program ends: Finale Symposium — Thursday, August 1; Friday, August 2 & Saturday, August 3, 2024
Interested in working together or have an idea to share?
Bridge Undergraduate Science Program
(BUGS and BUGS Jr. programs)