Application for the 2025 Empower Fellowship is now closed.
Description of the fellowship
The Empower Fellowship provides full-time, immersive paid research opportunities to select University of Delaware students with limited laboratory experience. During the 10-week residential summer program, research fellows work on unique research projects and hone their laboratory skills. At the culmination of the program, students present the results of their research at a symposium.
In addition to working on novel scientific projects, students practice critical 21st-century professional skills including critical thinking, collaboration, and information literacy. Students receive one-on-one mentorship as they read, write, and discuss cutting-edge science. Through this program, Empower Fellows become educated health consumers that can interpret and explain difficult scientific concepts to experts and lay audiences alike.
The Empower Fellowship also provides weekly professional development opportunities for students. Research fellows receive individualized mentorship and coaching as they build and expand their professional network. Simultaneously, students are exposed to a wide diversity of biomedical careers found in a cancer center through a weekly career series. At the end of the fellowship, participants are equipped to pursue numerous STEM professions.
Fellows are paid up to $5,200 for ten weeks of full-time research and provided with free housing. This program is funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R25 CA259244), philanthropic support from Thomas and Kay Hofmann, and through ongoing institutional commitment from the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the University of Delaware.
Who is eligible to apply?
To apply to the Empower Fellowship, University of Delaware students must:
- Be a current UD undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences in good academic standing,
- Attend the Science Discovery Tour in the years preceding their application to the program (register for Discovery Day)
- Be at least eighteen (18) years of age,
- Pass a mandatory health and drug screening, and background check,
- Have relevant immunizations/vaccinations (MMR, VAR, COVID, TB, TDAP, HBV/HepB declination form, FLU) and pass a 2-step TB test,
- Agree to complete all homework by assigned due dates, and
- Commit to work full time for 10 consecutive weeks at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
How do I apply?
To apply for the Empower Fellowship, eligible University of Delaware students complete an online application and submit a current college transcript via Dropbox. Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit a letter of recommendation. Letters of recommendation must be sent directly from the recommenders via Dropbox. Applications are then reviewed by a panel of program staff and alumni and qualifying finalists interview with program staff in January.
The deadline to apply for the 2024 program is Monday, December 9 at 11:59 pm.
Important dates to remember:
- October 7, 8 am – Empower Applications open
- Discovery Days (10 am – 2 pm)
- Friday, October 11
- Friday, October 25
- Friday, November 15
- Tuesday, December 3
- December 9, 11:59 pm – Empower Application closes
- January 8 – Top applicants will be contacted for interviews
- January 21 – Interviews with Empower Fellowship candidates begin
- March 1 – 2025 Empower Fellows are selected, and onboarding process begins
- June 2 – Empower Fellowship Begins
- August 8 – Empower Fellowship Cancer Research Symposium
Please direct all questions to Dr. Theresa Austria, Manager of Academic Programs and Training at [email protected].