The ASPET Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program at the University of Florida is designed to give students a research experience that focuses on Pharmacology & Therapeutics and includes both drug discovery and biological therapies. It is an immersive, 10-week program with mentored independent research, course work, and enrichment activities. It is designed to attract students from the state of Florida as well as from across the country.

Undergraduate students accepted into the SURF Program will perform basic research in Pharmacology & Therapeutics while studying interactions between biological systems and chemical agents. Each SURF fellow will work in the laboratory of an individual member of the faculty. The program includes weekly discussion sessions with faculty members and current Pharmacology Concentration graduate students on selected topics in Pharmacology & Therapeutics and brownbag lunch discussions featuring guest speakers.  Fellows will also participate in their Pharmacology Immersion Program (PIP), which consists of a four-day immersive lecture, discussion, and laboratory methods program and is held during the early part of the program. It is designed to accomplish three overall goals: 1) render a general knowledge base of fundamental concepts in Pharmacology; 2) provide hands-on experience with methods commonly used within the multiple disciplines and experimental approaches within Pharmacology; and 3) facilitate engagement of students with primary faculty and other graduate students and post-doctoral trainees in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

Accepted applicants will gain experience in basic biomedical research, be introduced to the disciplines of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, and have the opportunity to present data in a typical graduate student seminar setting.  Each SURF fellow will receive a stipend.