“I wanted Syracuse high school students who have interests in physics to see what it’s like to work as a paid scientist,” says Branch, who graduated from the Syracuse City School District. “I think it’s extremely important for students to get experience conducting research in an actual science lab.”
Expanding the Program
With the help of physics professor Jennifer Ross, Henninger High School science teacher Melanie Pelcher, and fellow Syracuse alum and Henninger High School graduate Devon Lamanna ’23, G’24, SURPh was born. Now, thanks to the NSF funding awarded to Ross and fellow physics professor and department chair Mitch Soderberg, the summer program will be funded through the summer of 2026.
“The new NSF support is a game-changer,” says Soderberg. “It signifies to the students who participate that not only those of us in the SU physics department and Syracuse city schools, but also policymakers in the federal government, see value in helping them get excited about STEM disciplines and see the potential for them as future professionals who will someday help drive innovation and discovery.”
The three-year grant, totaling nearly $1 million, allowed the program to grow from 12 students in 2023 to 24 in 2024 and brought in additional faculty mentors. SURPh was made possible in past years thanks to funding from the John Ben Snow Foundation and internal support from the Engaged Humanities Network and the physics department.
“This program could not have achieved NSF funding without these other sources to prop us up,” says Ross.
Now called the Syracuse University Physics Emerging Research Technologies Summer High School Internship Program (SUPER-Tech SHIP), the program just wrapped its summer session with a closing ceremony and poster session. Through SUPER-Tech SHIP, students were exposed to skills and concepts related to computational physics, biophysics and particle physics during the six-week program.
Read the full story on the Arts and Sciences website.