Summer Program

OVERVIEW - Summer 2025

Welcome to the program! We are thrilled to have you all participate in an undergraduate research project this summer, and hope that it is a rewarding and educational experience. Summer 2025 program dates are June 2, 2025 through August 8, 2025.

This page collects information about the people running BURE this summer, and planned BURE events and enrichment activities.

All events are open to all undergraduate researchers in Cornell Bowers CIS, whether or not your research is funded through BURE. If you would like to be part of these activities, please contact the BURE team (bure@cornell.edu).

STAFF

The primary contacts for BURE 2025 are:

Rebecca Dillon (Program Administrator)
Sainyam Galhotra (Faculty Organizer)
Dan Kowal (Faculty Organizer)

We have a great team of graduate students helping us run BURE this year:

LOGISTICS

There will be flex space in Rhodes 117, which can be accessed by all Cornell Bowers CIS students with a card swipe. Please keep in mind:

These desks cannot be reserved. Please do not leave anything in the room.
This space is a quiet working environment. Please use other spaces on campus for Zoom calls, research conversations, and social activities.
Please help us keep this space clean!

If your mentor is in the CS department, please discuss with them the option of hoteling in potentially available lab space in Gates.

We are organizing all BURE events to be in-person in Ithaca. We plan to make most events virtually accessible to students at Cornell Tech.

EXPECTATIONS

The main activity in BURE is research supervised by your mentor. We also have the following expectations for all BURE students:

Not take other jobs concurrently. BURE is a full-time commitment.
Attend the regular BURE events. These activities supplement your research experience with time to learn general research skills, and discuss with other students.
Participate in the symposium at the end of the summer. This will involve presenting a poster and/or giving a talk.
Fill out an end of the summer survey.

BURE EVENTS AND ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES

RESEARCH PRACTICES AND ACADEMIC CULTURE SEMINAR

During the first week of the program from 10:30am-12pm in Gates G114, we will have a seminar on research practices and academic culture. This will be a classroom-style activity, with plenty of time for interactive discussions. We will be adapting the excellent course materials from Harvard's class for first-year graduate students (CS 290), developed by Yaniv Yacoby and others; course materials can be found here. Recordings of these seminars can be found here (you must login to Box with Cornell credentials).

Date	Topic	Facilitator
June 2	Communication in Collaborative Environments	TBD
June 3	Mental Health in Research	TBD
June 4	How to Skim a Research Paper	TBD
June 5	How to Do a Literature Search	TBD
June 6	PhD Life and Grad School Applications	TBD

SUMMER TALK SERIES

Every Wednesday from 1:00-2:00 PM in Gates G114, a faculty member will give a research-related talk.

Date	Speaker	Title
June 4	TBD	TBD
June 11	TBD	TBD
June 18	TBD	TBD
June 25	TBD	TBD
July 2	NO TALK	NO TALK
July 9	TBD	TBD
July 16	TBD	TBD
July 23	TBD	TBD
July 30	TBD	TBD
August 6	TBD	TBD

MENTORING SOCIALS

Every Friday from 2:00 PM-4:00 PM, you'll meet up in small groups for a mentoring social. Each group will be led by one of our BURE graduate students, and you'll meet up or walk somewhere to talk about how things are going.

SUMMER RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

To wrap up the summer, we'll hold a BURE Symposium, scheduled for August 8, 2024 from 3-5 PM in Gates G01 and the First Floor Atrium. Ithaca-based students will participate in a poster presentation and our NYC-based students will share pre-recorded talks. Recordings of the NYC-based students can be found here (you must login to Box with Cornell credentials)

CODE OF CONDUCT

All BURE participants are expected to abide by Cornell's Student Code and Research Integrity policies. In addition, we expect everyone to follow a basic principle at all events and related activities, whether digital or in person: be nice and treat each other with respect. For instance, we do not tolerate:

Behavior that is disruptive, disrespectful, or degrading to others, whether through messages, images, or personal interactions.
Harassment or discrimination based on age, ancestry, color, gender identity or expression, national origin, physical or mental disability, religion, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics.

We encourage everyone to help create a welcoming and safe environment. If you see or experience any concerning behavior, please let us know.

Departments

The college

Students

Research & Faculty