Honors Summer Research Institute (HSRI)

The Honors Summer Research Institute (HSRI) is an eight-week summer program intended to foster and promote interdisciplinary collaboration among Honors Scholars engaging in summer research with an NJIT faculty mentor or through an affiliated entity. Participating scholars learn about the wide-range of research conducted at NJIT through peer research presentations and discussions. The HSRI is a research milestone experience and scholars who participate fully will receive an honors course reduction.

The HSRI is open to all Honors Scholars conducting full-time, on-campus research during the HSRI period. Some examples of research experiences that would provide such research include the NJIT Provost Summer Research Fellowship, NJIT NSF REU programs, department- or faculty-sponsored  research or assistantships. At the time of application to the HSRI, scholars must have an established relationship with an NJIT faculty member willing to serve as the applicant’s research mentor.

The HSRI is a unique educational, social, and research training opportunity. HSRI Scholars will work together with other scholars to learn how to present their research and how to critically review their peers’ research. The program concludes with presentations and awards at the NJIT International Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium on July 23 - 24, 2025. 

Several funding options have been available for scholars to participate in this program over the past several years, such as through the Provost Summer Research Fellowship or an Honors College summer research award thanks to the generous support of ADHC alumni and friends. Below are the various Honors College awards which have been available to sponsor Honors Scholars’ full participation in the HSRI program and corresponding full-time research.

• Honors Summer Research Institute (HSRI) Grant
  $3000 stipend, 8 weeks
  Funded by the ADHC Dean’s Fund for Student Development
  Applications from all disciplines will be accepted and considered.
   
• The Honors College Moonshot Grants for Engaged Scholarship
  $5000 stipend and a $1500 budget, 10 weeks, 1 recipient
  Funded by Rohini Kadle, MD and Vatsal Shah, PhD, PE '08H, '09, '15
  The Honors Moonshot Grants develop and recognize bold, interdisciplinary projects that apply the unique technical abilities and training of Honors Scholars to important social and cultural questions. Ideal projects find innovative approaches that address major issues of common concern in an engaging manner that both helps raise awareness of, and resolve the problem.  Local solutions to global challenges are particularly welcome. (In the event that a group project is selected, the total award may be given to the group based on the recommendation of the review committee).
   
• The Honors College "Life on the River" Grants 
  $3500 stipend, 8 weeks
  Funded by the ADHC Dean’s Fund for Student Development
  The Honors College "Life on the River" Grants support the interdisciplinary study of the history and impacts of the Passaic River on neighborhoods in Newark, NJ. Grantees will receive funding to support their efforts to collaborate with local stakeholders to learn about communities' experience of the river and to identify possibilities for engineering solutions to address local needs. Grantees will learn systems thinking and use a variety of historical, anthropological, and engineering methods to collect and analyze the data they gather and will present their findings both at the NJIT International Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium and to community stakeholders. Students will receive support from a faculty advisor as well as a professional engineering consultant to complete their research. This research will help us launch ENGR 493 Honors - Service Learning for Engineers in the Spring of 2026.
   
• The Honors College Langan Grant in Civil and Environmental Engineering
  $3500 stipend, 8 weeks, 1 recipient
  Funded by Langan Engineering, Stewart Abrams, Principal, ADHC Board of Visitors
  The Honors College Langan Engineering Grant supports proposals within the field of Environmental Engineering or Environmental studies broadly defined. 
   
• The Honors College ANS Geo Grant
  $3500 stipend, 8 weeks, 2 recipients
  Funded by ANS Geo, Inc., Vatsal Shah, PhD, PE '08H, '09, '15, Principal Engineer
  The Honors College ANS Geo Grant supports an outstanding project in civil or environmental engineering or related projects.

In the News

NJIT Honors College Summer Research Tradition Funds Record Number of Scholars, read the article here. 

ADHC HSRI 2023 Group Photo

NJIT Honors College Creates Interdisciplinary Research Pipelines, read the article here. 

ADHC - HSRI 2021.jpeg

HSRI 2021-July22.jpg

Read about the Honors College Debuts Program Promoting Undergraduate Research here.     

Collage of photos of the 2018 HSRI Recipients with Dr. Dobiszewski, click here to see complete gallary of photos.

NJIT's 11th International Undergraduate Research Symposium, read the article here.

(Above, left to right) Dean Louis I. Hamilton, Honors College, Laura Gould, Katherine DeMottie, and Arif Uddin, just a few of the students who participated in the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Click here for a complete gallery of photos.

Undergraduate Research Snapshot: Jennifer Callaghan Investigates Bullet-Proof Armor, read the article here.

(Above) Jennifer Callaghan (center) and Ayushi Sangoi, a biomedical and chemical engineering major, use an impact hammer to conduct modal testing, a form of vibration testing, as adviser Kyle Dobiszewski looks on. This type of testing characterizes the frequency response of a sample material — in this case, a commercially available ballistic fiberglass panel. Their work is supported by an FY18 Faculty Seed Grant.