Monmouth College-Illinois Central College Summer STEM Scholars Program

Monmouth College-Illinois Central College Summer STEM Scholars Program
in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
July 21-Aug. 17

Conduct hands-on research, gather data, and design experiments that will open a world of possibilities for you. In addition to spending time in laboratories and working in fields, the four-week program includes trips to the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium and other museums in the region.

The Summer Scholars Program is an ideal way to learn about majors and career paths available to those who major in science, technology, engineering, and math – also known as STEM.

Housing and food are provided; all participants will be given a $2,080 stipend.

This application will help us learn more about who you are and your personal and academic interests.

Student Information

First Name

Preferred Name

Last Name

Email Address

Birthdate

Mailing Address

Country

Street

City

Region

Postal Code

Legal Sex

Gender

If you would like, we invite you to share more about your gender identity.

What are your preferred pronouns?

What degree are you pursuing at Illinois Central College?

How many college level semester hours have you earned prior to August 2024?

Would you like to receive information about transferring to Monmouth College in the future?

Yes

Expected entry term to Monmouth College

Please provide a parent email address if they would like to receive information about Monmouth College.

Primary Academic Interest

Please select any other academic interests
To select multiple values, hold CTRL (or CMD/⌘-key if using a Mac) and click your selections.

Do you have any pre-professional interests?

Are you interested in participating in Marching Band?

Are you interested in participating in NCAA III athletics at Monmouth College?

Sport

What are your additional extracurricular activities?
To select multiple values, hold CTRL (or CMD/⌘-key if using a Mac) and click your selections.

Scholars Program Information

First, we ask you to review the project descriptions below and then select your first choice based on your interests and career goals.

Biology Program – Instructor, Dr. Kevin Baldwin
Program Mentor – TBD

Exploring Biomechanics with Charismatic Mega-Arthropods
How do organisms work? Biomechanics integrates ideas from engineering, anatomy, physiology, animal behavior, and other disciplines in order to better understand organismal function. We will design and build equipment to measure movement and forces to better understand how organisms do what they do.

Some potential goals/projects:
Observe dragonflies and butterflies in the lab and field to generate hypotheses.
Use infrared cameras to measure field temperatures of insects and relate temperature to movement and performance. Build a small wind tunnel to better understand aspects of insect flight. Learn how to collect, analyze, and visualize data.

Astronomy Program – Instructor, Dr. Michael Solontoi
Program Mentor – TBD

The Terrible Secret of Space
Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. For countless generations humans have looked up at the night sky and have tried to understand what is out there. This summer is your chance to do so with telescopes (from 8” to 20”) and instrumentation to make scientific observations of celestial objects from nearby asteroids to the most distant galaxies. A few potential goals/projects:

Observe nearby comets, watching for changes in their appearance
Image the Sun over several weeks measuring sunspots and solar activity
Observe a “transit” of a planet orbiting another star
Characterize a variable star
Measure the expansion rate of the Universe
Delve into the wide range of astronomical data accessible to do science with many objects
Visualizing astronomical data and results

Students who are generally interested in space-stuff and are willing to work at night on occasion are encouraged to select this project.

Next, we will ask you to answer a few questions to evaluate your candidacy and help us get to know you better, including a question where we ask you to explain why you chose the projects that you did. This question and the others will allow us to place you in the project that best matches the demands of the project and your interests. Faculty members will read your answers to help them decide what project you might enjoy.

If you have any questions, please contact our Program Coordinator, Michael Solontoi.

Summer STEM Scholars Program: First Choice

Summer STEM Scholars Program: Second Choice

Project Selection

We are excited to learn about your interest in these projects. To help our faculty decide what project you might enjoy best, please tell us more.

Why did you select your top project? (We suggest a response of 75-100 words)

Academic and Personal Interests

We are interested in learning more about who you are. Answer the following questions briefly (suggested 75-100 words) so that we can evaluate your candidacy. Faculty members will read your answers to help them decide which project you might enjoy best.

What was your favorite academic activity (science, arts, music, forensics, drama, math, etc.) in high school and/or college why?

What kinds of things are you interested in studying in college? If you are not sure, just write about the things that you are interested in exploring.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Please include at least one non-sport related activity that you enjoy.

Why are you interested in participating in the Summer STEM Scholars Program and what do you hope to gain from participating?

Optional: Feel free to tell us anything that you think would help us understand who you are.

Verification

In place of your signature, please type your full legal name: