How to Apply

All forms must be submitted via Zintellect, the ORAU online application system. All application components must be received in the system in order to be considered. 

• Participating Centers

  This year’s participating centers are:

  • ADAC-ARCTIC
  • Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE)
  • Center of Excellence for Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense (CBTS)
  • Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis (CINA)
  • Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI)       
  • National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) 
  • Soft-target Engineering to Neutralize the Threat RealitY (SENTRY)

Faculty Application and Eligibility Information

• Application

  All forms must be submitted via Zintellect, the ORAU online application system. All application components must be received in the system in order to be considered.

  A complete faculty application consists of:

  • Faculty Application Form Deadline: December 30, 2024, 11:59PM
  • A current Curriculum Vitae (CV)

    • CV required information:

      • Colleges attended, dates of attendance, degrees received, field of study, and titles of theses and dissertations

      • Chronology of professional employment and significant academic and professional activities

      • Any awards or honors received in the past five years

      • Current memberships/activities in professional organizations

      • Research experience

      • Courses taught

      • List of publications authored and co-authored, with refereed journal articles listed separately from reports, abstracts, papers in conference proceedings, etc.

  Please review the Eligibility requirements and Participant Obligations pages prior to submitting an application.

  After initial review and after receiving approval from the DHS Center, invitations will be sent to selected faculty applicants and their student team members.

  The following items must be submitted by February 7, 2025:

  • Research Project Proposal
  • Letter of Recommendation from the Department Head - Letter must address faculty plans to continue teaching/research at this institution during the current academic year. The letter of recommendation is requested by the faculty team member and must be submitted when completing the Research Project Proposal in Zintellect.
  • All student applications and references

  The faculty team member is responsible for ensuring the student(s) complete(s) and submits their application and all supporting materials on time.

  View the Faculty Application Guide

• Eligibility

  The program requires teams to be composed of one faculty member and up to two students (undergraduate and/or graduate level). Appointments will not be made to teams with no student member(s) or to teams without a faculty member.

  General Eligibility Information for All Team Members

  • Be at an eligible Minority Serving Institution (MSI) at that time of application.
  • Be a United States citizen by the application deadline.

    Evidence of U.S. citizenship (such as a photocopy of a U.S. passport, birth certificate, Certificate of U.S. Naturalization, or Certificate of U.S. Citizenship) must be submitted to ORISE at the time award is accepted.

  • Participate in the program for ten consecutive weeks during the same period as other team members. Daily on-site participation at the DHS Center may be required.
  • Have coverage under a health insurance plan before arriving at the appointment site and maintain coverage during the appointment.

  Previous participants may apply for a second summer if they meet the conditions listed above.

  Faculty Eligibility Information

  • Be teaching FULL time at an institution defined under Institution Eligibility as an MSI during the current academic year and plan to continue research at the same MSI during the academic year immediately following the summer appointment.
  • Be teaching an academic discipline related to a DHS Research Area.
  • Have Ph.D. (or Master’s degree, if teaching at an eligible community college) in a discipline, major, or concentration directly related to a DHS Research Area.
  • Be available to participate in a mandatory pre-appointment one day orientation meeting with DHS Center representatives.
  • Be available to participate in the mandatory half day DHS teleconference/webinar pre-appointment orientation meeting.
  • Not be receiving compensation for faculty time during the ten week appointment period from any other federally-funded research program.
  • There are no time limitations for receiving a Ph.D. (or Master’s degree, if teaching at an eligible community college) when applying to this program.

  • Preference will be given to early career faculty (although all faculty will be considered), with early career defined as one of the following:
    • No more than seven years since receipt of Ph.D. degree as of the application deadline;
    • No more than seven years since receipt of Master’s degree, if teaching at an eligible community college as of the application deadline;
    • If more than seven years since receipt of graduate degree, then less than seven years of teaching experience at a postsecondary institution as of the application deadline.

• Institution Eligibility Information

  See list of accredited U.S. postsecondary institutions that meet the statutory criteria for identification as Minority Serving Institutions.

  Institutions that meet at least one of the following criteria are eligible:

  • Must be an accredited two- or four-year institution of higher education whose enrollment of a single minority or a combination of minorities exceeds 50 percent of the total enrollment (20 U.S.C 1067k(3)); or
  • Must be an accredited two- or four-year Historically Black College or University under Title III Part B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1060 et seq.); or
  • Must be an accredited two- or four-year Hispanic-Serving Institution under Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.); or
  • Must be a Tribal College or University cited in the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act of 1994, the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978, or the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978; or a Native American-Serving, Nontribal Institution as defined by the Department of Education (see list of accredited U.S. postsecondary institutions); or
  • Must be an Alaska Native-serving institution and eligible as such in accordance with 20 U.S.C. 1058(b) and 20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)(2); or
  • Must be a Native Hawaiian-serving institution and eligible as such in accordance with 20 U.S.C. 1058(b) and 20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)(4)
  • Predominantly Black Institutions may apply and will be considered on a case by case basis.
• Obligations

  Summer Research Team (SRT) participants will engage in cutting-edge research while collaborating with DHS Center researchers and contributing to DHS Center goals. Full-time on-site participation at the DHS Center is required for both faculty and student team members during the ten week appointment.

  Deliverables

  All Team Members

  • Conduct a team research briefing at the DHS Center near the end of the summer research experience.
  • Complete a program feedback form by the last day of the research appointment.
  • Submit an eight to ten page summary report on his or her research experience by the last day of the research appointment.

  Faculty Team Members Only

  • Submit a one to two page plan addressing how he or she will integrate the DHS summer research experience into the classroom.
  • Collaborate with the DHS Center on a research proposal for follow-on funding for the year immediately following the appointment.
    The proposal should identify a collaborative research opportunity between the Team’s home institution and the DHS Center. The proposal for follow-on funding must be submitted by September 1, following the summer appointment unless otherwise noted by the program manager.

  Health Insurance

  • Participants must have coverage under a health insurance plan before arriving at the appointment site and maintain coverage during the appointment.
  • Participants must provide proof of this coverage prior to the start of the award.

  Housing and Local Transportation

  • Secure housing at assigned DHS Center before appointment begins.
  • Determine means of local transportation prior to arriving at the designated DHS Center.
  • Cover all living expenses including local transportation, room, board and entertainment.

  Policies/Regulations of the DHS Center

  Participants must adhere to the existing policies, regulations and procedures of the DHS Center.

  Additional information may be found in the Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions Policies and Procedures Handbook sent to those selected for appointment. The current year's guidance document for the Summer Research Teams will be available for review by award winners before award acceptance.

Student Application and Eligibility Information

• Application

  Faculty team members will nominate students for their team. ORISE will send an invitation to apply with the appropriate application to students selected by Faculty.

  Students and Faculty are expected to review the Eligibility requirements and  Participant Obligations areas prior to submitting an application.

  All forms must be submitted via Zintellect, the ORAU online application system. All application components must be received in the system in order to be considered.

  All Student Team Members

  Application

  Selected students will receive an invitation to apply via email.

  Student References

  Student enters reference information in Zintellect and selects references as part of the application process. References will be collected via Zintellect.

  Transcripts/Academic Records

  Unofficial transcripts or copies of the student academic records printed by the applicant or by academic advisors from internal institutional systems may be submitted. Transcripts/Academic Records must include name of the academic institution, name of the student, completed/in progress coursework and grades through fall 2024. Selected candidate will be required to provide official copies of the academic record before the appointment can start.

  Documents must have all social security numbers, student identification numbers, and/or dates of birth removed (blanked out, blackened out, made illegible, etc.) prior to uploading into the application system.

  Additional Information 

  First-year graduate students must submit their undergraduate transcript, including the last two years of courses, degree, and date degree was awarded.

• Eligibility

  The program requires teams to be composed of one faculty member  and up to two students (undergraduate and/or graduate level). Appointments will not be made to teams with no student member(s) or to teams without a faculty member.

  General Eligibility Information for All Team Members

  • Be at an eligible Minority Serving Institution (MSI) at that time of application.
  • Be a United States citizen by the application deadline.

    Evidence of U.S. citizenship (such as a photocopy of a U.S. passport, birth certificate, Certificate  of U.S. Naturalization, or Certificate of U.S. Citizenship) must be submitted to ORISE at the time award is accepted.

  • Participate in the program for ten consecutive weeks during the same period as other team members. Full-time on-site participation at the DHS Center is required.
  • Have coverage under a health insurance plan before arriving at the appointment site and maintain coverage during the appointment.

  Previous participants may apply for a second summer if they meet the conditions listed above.

  Student Eligibility Information

  • To be eligible for this program, students must:

    • Be at least 18 years of age at the start of the research experience period.
    • Have cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale at the time of the application.
      • GPA requirements will be strictly enforced. Faculty team members should ensure that all student team members meet the GPA requirement.
    • Be majoring in an academic discipline related to a DHS Research Area.
    • Provide proof of enrollment during Spring 2025.
    • Meet the general eligibility requirements for all applicants.
    • Meet one of the eligible academic standing conditions as defined below:

    Undergraduate Students

    • Be enrolled full-time at an eligible 4-year Minority Serving Institution as a sophomore, junior or senior as of the application deadline and plan to be enrolled full-time in the Fall semester immediately following the summer appointment as an undergraduate at an eligible 4-year Minority Serving Institution.

    • Be enrolled full-time at an eligible 2-year Minority Serving Institution defined under Institution Eligibility as an MSI during the current academic year and plan to be enrolled full-time in the Fall semester immediately following the summer appointment as a junior at an eligible 4-year Minority Serving Institution. Applicant must provide proof of application to a 4-year Minority Serving Institution by the student application deadline.

    Rising Graduate Students

    Be enrolled at a Minority Serving Institution defined under Institution Eligibility as an MSI as a senior as of the application deadline and plan to be enrolled full-time in the Fall semester immediately following the summer appointment in a graduate program in an academic discipline related to a DHS Research Area. Applicant must provide proof of application to a graduate program at an eligible Minority Serving Institution by the student application deadline.

    Graduate Students

    Be enrolled full-time in a graduate program at an eligible Minority Serving Institution defined under Institution Eligibility as an MSI and plan to be enrolled full-time in the Fall semester immediately following the summer appointment in a graduate program in a discipline relevant to a DHS Research Area.

    Graduate students completing their degree prior to the expected appointment start date are not eligible to participate.

What Happens Next?

DHS will review the initial applications, and then invite selected faculty members to submit a research proposal application. Invitations to apply will be sent to the selected faculty applicants and their student team members.

Only students who are invited by their faculty member are eligible to apply for this opportunity. If you are invited, you will receive a link via email to the student application.

Invited Student Application Deadline: February 3, 2025, 11:59PM EST

Team Proposal Deadlines:

The Team Research Proposal Application is not complete without the Faculty and Student Applications, the Faculty Proposal, all necessary Letters of Recommendation or Reference, and other required documentation.

Research Proposal Deadline for Faculty: February 7, 2025, 11:59PM, EST

Letters of Reference Deadline for Students: February 7, 2025, 11:59PM, EST