About
Research areas
We fund three fields. They share a data-rich subject and a habit of leaving students unpaid.
Health sciences
Clinical research, epidemiology, public health, and the science that becomes medicine. NIH funding contributed to published research tied to every one of the 210 new drugs approved from 2010 to 2016,1 and most of that research trains students along the way. Students we fund have published on kangaroo mother care, preterm birth, and adolescent mental health. See the published student work.
Life sciences
Bench research in biology, genetics, and biochemistry. These are the positions most likely to run for a whole summer at full-time hours, so they are the positions where housing decides who can say yes. Recent student articles cover gene editing and drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier.
Health economics and health inequality
Who gets care, who pays, and who is left out. The richest 1 percent of American men live 14.6 years longer than the poorest 1 percent, and for women the gap is 10.1 years.2 Students can study questions like that from public data without a lab, so it is the field where a small stipend goes furthest. Research we funded here is in use at the Boston Congress of Public Health.
Source: US tax and Social Security records, 2001 to 2014.2
Free data students start with
The data sources page lists the Health Inequality Project, CDC WONDER, HCUP, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, CMS data, and the Opportunity Insights data library.
What we do not fund
Fields outside these three, positions with no confirmed offer, and lab overhead or equipment. Students in other fields can still use the paid programs directory and the student toolkit.
Sources
- Galkina Cleary E, Beierlein JM, Khanuja NS, McNamee LM, Ledley FD. Contribution of NIH funding to new drug approvals 2010-2016. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2018;115(10):2329-2334. doi.org
- Chetty R, Stepner M, Abraham S, et al. The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014. JAMA. 2016;315(16):1750-1766. jamanetwork.com
Sources checked September 21, 2026. See every source we cite.
For companies and foundations
Fund a student researcher
Your gift pays for rent, a stipend, books, or a journal fee. It goes to a student who has the position and lacks the money to take it.