Undergraduate Research

Statistics and Data Science Summer Research Program

The Department of Statistics and Data Science, in partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research, sponsors a funded summer program for undergraduate research. The program is aimed at sophomore and junior majors in Statistics and in Data Science at WashU, but other closely related areas may also be considered.

Students who are selected work on an 8-week research project with current a SDS faculty member. The student becomes part of an engaged, cross-disciplinary summer undergraduate research community. Awardees participate in this community, including attending a research ethics workshop, giving a lightning talk on their project, and submitting mid- and end-of-award reports.

Students present their work at the Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium in the semester following receipt of the award.

Interested in Applying for the SDS Summer Research Program?

Please meet with an SDS faculty member to discuss possible research problems before you apply. To find more information about the research profile of current SDS faculty visit The People page and view their websites.

Application Components:
1. Updated Resume
2. (Unofficial) Transcript
3. A short (< 2 pages) letter describing your proposed research ideas, expectations from participating in an SDS undergraduate research program, and why you think you are the right candidate for the program. If you would like to work with a specific faculty member, indicate this in your letter.
4. A letter or email copy from a faculty member who has agreed to work with you on a summer research project.

To apply, send these materials via email to Dr. Joe Guinness at joeguinness@wustl.edu by February 28th, 2026.

We expect to make decisions in early March.

SDS Summer Research Program Participants

Summer 2025:

Grace Lin (Advised by Robert Lunde): Comparing Musical Genre Connections in Solo and Collaborative Songs

Calvin Kapral (Advised by Vasileios “Bill” Katsianos): Comparative Study of Detection and Correction Methods for Heteroskedasticity in Phenotypic Traits Due to Latent Genetic Interaction Effects

Jimin Lee (Advised by José E. Figueroa-López): Market Making Control Problem with Inventory Risk

Cindy Nan (Advised by Ran Chen): Cross-National Predictive and Causal Analysis of Depression Risk Factors in Asian Student and Working Populations

Peter Peng (Advised by Hong Hu): High Dimensional Asymptotics of SCAD Penalized Regression

Heidi Tamm (Advised by Bo Li): Spatial Statistics in Earth Sciences

Summer 2024:

Thomas Li (Advised by José E. Figueroa-López)

Vedul Palavajjhala (Advised by Debashis Mondal)

Brian Wei (Advised by Nan Lin)

Tingxuan Xu (Advised by Jimin Ding)

Sirui (Avery) Chen (Advised by Nan Lin)

I would encourage other students to apply for the SDS Summer Research Program because it is a great way to explore research in a supportive environment even if you have not done research before. Be open to asking questions, iterating on your approach, and pushing through challenges. The program gives you the freedom and mentorship to learn deeply and contribute meaningfully.
― Calvin Kapral SDS Summer Research Program participant, Summer 2025