Sustainability Undergraduate Research in Geoscience and Engineering Program
Are you interested in climate change research? Using the latest technology to monitor crop yields in Tanzania? Creating computer simulations of tsunamis?
SURGE provides undergraduates from a U.S. institution the opportunity to gain mentored research experience at Stanford University in the Earth and environmental sciences, energy, ocean sciences, as well as civil and environmental engineering, during the eight-week period of June 23, 2023 to August 11, 2023. We especially encourage students who are seeking a formal research experience for the first time to participate.
If you’re a STEM major starting to explore fields related to Sustainability, we invite you to apply to SURGE 2023!
For examples of last year’s research projects, please check out our SURGE 2022 projects. We will be updating the SURGE 2023 projects websites starting on December 17th until January 25th a few days before the Feb. 1st application deadline.
The SURGE 2023 application portal will open starting on December 1st, 2022 and closing on February 1st, 2023.
SURGE supports diverse perspectives in sustainability, energy, engineering, and the Earth sciences. Because we all live on this planet.
The underlying philosophy of SURGE is to train students by creating a supportive and rigorous work environment. We set high expectations for our scholars: To prepare them for a potential career in the field of geoscience and engineering, while ensuring that they get the most from their stay at Stanford. We are committed to advancing a culture of inclusion, respect, accessibility, and empowerment for all the program participants.
Each SURGE scholar is matched with a faculty member from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and has the opportunity to work in a research group or laboratory. The scholar is assigned an interesting and challenging project from a broad range of Earth science and engineering topics that are accessible within the eight-week summer period.
SURGE also includes workshops on applying to graduate school and understanding geoscience and engineering careers. The program culminates with a research symposium at Stanford, where scholars present results from their summer projects to faculty, mentors, and colleagues. SURGE is a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site funded by the National Science Foundation and the school.

Funding for this REU site is provided by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Earth Sciences located in Alexandria, VA. Award Abstract # 1852022. The NSF contact for this program is Aisha Morris. NSF does not handle REU applications; please contact each REU site directly for application information. More information about the NSF-REU programs
Because we all live on this planet
The opportunity to work under a mentor and make meaningful contributions to his research was one of the greatest benefits for me. One of the most important lessons that I learned was to continue on in the face of difficult challenges. More specifically, learning MatLab will be an invaluable asset to me in both my academic and professional career.
~ SURGE Scholar