Program Overview

KI Summer School in Medical Research

The KI Summer School in Medical Research is a research-introductory school for students enrolled in First-cycle (undergraduate) programmes at Karolinska Institutet. The goal of the Summer School is to introduce students to research early during their education at Karolinska Institutet, by performing a research project at Karolinska Institutet under professional supervision.

Programme Description

The Summer School is hosted by the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC) and financed by the Committee for Doctoral Education at Karolinska Institutet. The KI Summer School runs from June to August for 7 weeks, starting in June after the spring term ends and finishing before the autumn term begins.

Programme Structure

The Summer School starts off with an introductory week in June, with lectures covering a range of basic topics such as hypothesis testing, ethics, statistics, presentation techniques, description of Doctoral education at Karolinska Institutet, and how to write a scientific paper. Thereafter, students take part in a 6-week research project at a department of their choice at Karolinska Institutet. The research project is done under supervision, where the main supervisor is responsible for the student throughout the project period.

Application

Applications to the Summer School are submitted via the application portal PRISMA. The portal opens on 15 December 2025, and the deadline for application is 20 March. A decision of acceptance is sent out to students in late April.

Evaluation Criteria

The student's personal motivation for applying to the Summer School is of major importance in the overall assessment of the application. A solid track record of completed course credits from Karolinska Institutet is also important. It is a merit for the applicant to be in the beginning of their undergraduate training. It is also a merit to have identified a supervisor in the application.

The Student

To be eligible to apply, students need to be First-cycle (undergraduate) students at Karolinska Institutet. Masters students are not eligible. At the time of submission, students need to have accumulated a minimum of 30 credits from Karolinska Institutet. The research scholarship is set at 10 000 SEK/month, paid out according to scholarship regulations at Karolinska Institutet.

The Supervisor

Students interested in applying to the Summer School are strongly encouraged to contact a supervisor as early as possible. Identifying a supervisor at the time of submission is a merit for the application but not a requirement for being accepted. The main supervisor must be formally affiliated to and have a project account at Karolinska Institutet.

The Project

It is very important to limit the extent of the project so that it can be completed during approximately 6 weeks of full-time studies. Note that at least 1 week of the project time may be needed for preparation of the poster and the oral presentation. The introductory week of lectures at the beginning of the Summer School and the presentation days at the end are mandatory events; they are not to be used for doing the research project.

Project Evaluations

In August at the end of the Summer School, each student holds a brief presentation to their fellow Summer School participants, where the project and results obtained are disclosed. The student also prepares and defends a poster with their results during a designated poster session. Finally, the student has to submit a report of their findings written in the format of a scientific manuscript.

Programme Language

The KI Summer School in Medical Research is given entirely in English.