Student Research
Institute
Institute
Partner brief, September 2026
Research experience should not require working for free.
We raise money from companies and give it to students, so that taking a research position never depends on being able to work for free.
The problem
Most student research positions pay nothing. Nearly 70 percent of college students work while enrolled,1 so the students who need a paycheck turn the positions down. Students who hold paid positions leave college with 1.61 job offers on average and a median starting salary of $62,500. Students who worked unpaid average 0.94 offers and $42,500.2
What a gift pays for
- A summer of housing and living costs near the lab
- The journal fee for a finished paper
- Textbooks and preparation
- A named fellowship in your company's name
What we have done
- 45+
- student researchers funded
- 12
- US universities, including Stanford, UChicago, Harvard, and MIT
- 1
- public health organization using research we funded: the Boston Congress of Public Health
How it works
- Your company funds one named cost for one student.
- We confirm the position with the lab and pay the student.
- You hear what the gift paid for when the position ends.
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