Welcome to the Irene Piscopo Rodgers ’59 Summer Science Institute (SSI) Home Page
The University of Mary Washington Irene Piscopo Rodgers ’59 Summer Science Institute is a program that offers UMW science majors an opportunity to participate in a summer-long, research project supervised by a faculty member. This is a great way for students to get hands-on research experience outside the classroom. The institute runs concurrently with the summer sessions (mid-May through mid-July). Room, board, and a stipend are provided to participating students.
Participating in the Summer Science Institute
Faculty participants are selected each fall either by their department or by application for open positions. Each Faculty participant will mentor two students on their research for the ten-week program, concurrent with the UMW Summer Sessions. In addition, faculty will conduct summer science related workshops, meetings, outings, and other activities throughout the summer.
Summer Science Institute student participants are selected each spring by the participating faculty. Each student will receive a stipend, free room and board (double occupancy if living on campus, board only if living off campus) and each project will have an expense account. The students will work with their faculty member on a research project for the ten weeks concurrent with the UMW summer sessions. Throughout the summer, students shall participate in summer science related workshops and activities. All students will give an oral or poster presentation on their research at the SSI Symposium, usually held on the Wednesday of the last week of the second summer session. Winners in both the Oral Presentation and Poster Presentation sessions will be awarded a scholarship, supported by the John C. and Jerri Barden Perkins ’61 College of Arts and Sciences Student Research Endowment. 
History of the SSI
With the help of a DuPont grant, Professor Ray Scott (Chemistry) spearheaded the organization of a summer science institute in the summer of 1999. Mary Washington College took over funding the program completely in the summer of 2002. Its purpose was to create a summer research program for students in biology, chemistry, earth and environmental science, and physics. The original program funded 7 teams of researchers, each with one faculty member and two students. In the summer of 2004, the program was expanded by Dean Phil Hall to include mathematics and computer science. Physical Geography was added in 2024. Also in 2024 the SSI was renamed The Irene Piscopo Rodgers ’59 Summer Science Institute, recognizing Ms. Rodgers’s long commitment to Mary Washington, its students and faculty, and her $30 million dollar gift to fund student research in the sciences. Over the last 25 years, the Summer Science Institute has served over 500 students across the STEM disciplines at UMW.
SSI in the news
Learn more about SSI by browsing the UMW news archives.