What is the Summer Institute?
SI is the Ohio Supercomputer Center's two-week residential program where gifted high school students learn through project-based, hands-on experiences. Working in small teams, students use OSC's supercomputers to solve complex science and engineering problems, catch hackers using network forensics, study the spread of the bird flu, design computer games and more.
Who is eligible to apply?
Ohio residents currently in their freshman, sophomore or junior years of high school.
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Program Details
2024 Dates
Summer Institute will take place June 2-14, 2024.
Applications typically open in January and close in April. Accepted students are notified in May.
Location
Ohio Supercomputer Center
1224 Kinnear Road
Columbus, Ohio 43212
Cost
$526 per attendee
The fee covers housing, meals and program tuition, including laboratory visits, insurance, chaperones, social activities and equipment costs. Please note that the costs of the program are highly subsidized from other funding sources (i.e. it costs OSC significantly more to provide these programs that what attendees are charged). In effect, all attendees are receiving scholarships for the program and hence individual, personalized scholarships are not available.
Projects
Attendees will work in small teams on diverse and challenging research projects. Teams are comprised of a project leader (staff member who created and designed the project) and up to four students. Learn about past projects.
Schedule
| Day | Activities |
|---|---|
| Sunday | Welcome presentation / overview; Dorm Check-in |
| Monday | OSC Overview; Introduce Projects; Team Building; UNIX/Python |
| Tuesday | Project Selection; Unix/Python |
| Wednesday | Project Training; Field Trip: Chemistry Demo |
| Thursday | Project Training; Field Trip: Museum of Biological Diversity |
| Friday | Project Training; Field Trip: Center for Automotive Research; Parents pick up students |
| Saturday | Off day |
| Sunday | Dorm Check-in |
| Monday | Project Work |
| Tuesday | Project Work; College Student Discussion Panel; Group Photos |
| Wednesday | Project Work; Field Trip: SOCC; Late Night at OSC |
| Thursday | Project Work; Cybersecurity Preso; Field Trip: Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center |
| Friday | Project Work; Presentation Practice; Closing Ceremony |
Contact Information
(614) 688-8300 or si-contact@osc.edu
Program Impact
Alumni Survey Results
A recent survey revealed that over 82% of SI alumni pursued a higher education degree in science or engineering. Several of the colleges they went on to attend included:
- California Institute of Technology
- Case Western Reserve University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- John Hopkins University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- The Ohio State University
- Yale University
Testimonials
“Everyone was really nice, students and teachers. Using a supercomputer for the first time was a really cool experience, and it was just overall really fun and interesting.”
“I came to the institute thinking that most people were going to be intoverted nerds like myself, but I was completely surprised after the first few days. The kids around me were exceedingly nice, outgoing, and intelligent at the same time, which made me love the program even more.”
“I think this camp was a lot of fun though, and it was 100% worth it.”
“SI gave me a chance to experience a higher level of research. All of these experiences have really opened my mind to a lot of educational opportunities. Thank you for making this camp amazing!”
Read about SI 2023 and the camp's overall impact on students' futures.