Summer Student Program class of 2025 arrives at JAX

The Summer Student Program (SSP) class of 2025 has arrived at The Jackson Laboratory campuses in Bar Harbor, Maine, and Farmington, Conn. for an immersive 10 weeks of discovery, scientific collaboration and adventure.

The SSP annually brings talented college-aged students into the JAX community for hands-on participation in research discovery. Paired with a faculty mentor, students develop an independent research project in one of JAX’s areas of expertise, such as genetic resistance to cancer treatment, neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and machine-learning-enabled approaches to studying mouse behavior. Throughout the summer, students develop their scientific communication skills and culminate their experience by presenting their research to family, friends and the broader JAX community.

This year’s students were selected from a highly competitive pool of 575 applicants from 46 out of the 50 U.S. states and from Puerto Rico. Thirty students comprise the final cohort (23 in Bar Harbor and seven in Farmington), including one student who, thanks to a generous philanthropic gift, has returned to JAX for a second summer to continue a computation project. These students represent 19 states, 27 universities and two high schools.

Members of the class of 2025 class enjoy art, cooking, sports and music. Many volunteer their time by serving in hospitals and hospices, helping people learn to read, and working in community food pantries and soup kitchens. One volunteers in a translation center. Another is a wildland firefighter.

Laura Muller, Ph.D., director of STEM and undergraduate education at JAX, says the group embodies the SSP’s tradition of convening people who bring to the program wide-ranging backgrounds and interests, yet also a shared passion for scientific research.

“So much of the summer program is about stretching outside your comfort zone,” Muller said. “These students will be living, learning and sharing new experiences together inside and outside the lab. We’re excited to see where the summer takes them.”

Since its inception, the SSP has graduated more than 3,000 alumni including three Nobel laureates. Private support for the SSP has long been a driver of philanthropic gifts, which provide participants with an immersive residential experience and ensure that JAX science continues to benefit from a range of dynamic perspectives.