Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship program seeking summer session proposal

Proposals from faculty for the Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship (DUIRI) program will be accepted beginning Monday, Feb. 9. DUIRI supports faculty-led, interdisciplinary teams of undergraduates investigating challenges in the strategic areas of global security, global health and global sustainability.

Faculty project proposals for summer 2026 must align with one of these three thematic areas.

Each project should involve two or more distinct academic disciplines (typically faculty from different departments) with one identified project lead. Faculty may submit multiple proposals; however, each faculty member may lead only one project for the summer 2026 session, regardless of the number of submissions.

Proposal submission window

• Faculty proposal portal opens: Monday, Feb. 9
• Proposal deadline: March 6

Important instructions for faculty submitting proposals

• While completing the proposal on the OURConnect portal, please ensure that the research area field includes only one of the following categories:
  • Global security
  • Global health
  • Global sustainability
• In the project description, faculty should clearly explain:
  • The interdisciplinary nature of the project
  • How the project addresses a challenge within the selected research area

The summer 2026 DUIRI session will run from May 19 through Aug. 8 and supports a full-time undergraduate research experience for more than 10 week (40 hours per week). Each participating student receives a $5,000 fellowship, distributed in installments over the course of the session. Of this amount, 66.68% is funded by DUIRI, while 33.32% is typically supported by the faculty leading the project; however, when a project is backed by a partnering institute, this 33.32% cost share is covered by the institute, alleviating the financial responsibility for individual faculty members.

DUIRI will partner with select Discovery Park District institutes for summer 2026. Sponsored projects aligned with an institute’s research mission will receive priority consideration. Faculty working with partnering institutes should clearly indicate this alignment within the project title and description.

Faculty can submit abstracts for individual projects on the DUIRI website using their Purdue Career Account credentials to log in. Undergraduate students may then apply for up to three projects from March 19 to April 6. Faculty project supervisors will review all eligible student applications before making final selections. The deadline for selecting students will be April 24.

During the summer 2026 session (May 19-Aug. 8), students will engage in full-time research (40 hours per week) under faculty supervision, culminating in a poster presentation and a one-page abstract or summary of their results.

More information is available on the DUIRI website. Faculty should direct any questions about the program to Peter Bermel at pbermel@purdue.edu. Students should contact Pramukh Gowda at duiri@purdue.edu/pramanna@purdue.edu.