Lulu Wang Scholars

Mentored research and curriculum-building experience for undergraduate students that takes place across 2 consecutive summers

The second year for this cycle’s Lulu Wang Scholars (LWS) program takes place June 2 – Thursday, August 7, 2025. New LWS applications will be accepted in 2026.

Program Overview

Lulu Wang Scholars are junior and senior undergraduate students who assist research educators with the development, refinement, and dissemination of a research skills building course, packaged in the style of a Course for Undergraduate Research Experiences, or CURE. Representing a novel approach for the co-creation of research skill building courses, the CURE resulting from the Lulu Wang Scholars program will be offered to 2nd year biology majors attending CUNY Hunter College as a credit-bearing course.

Additional Program Details

The Lulu Wang Scholars program is a 2 year cycle. We are entering the second year of this program cycle.

In Phase 1, which took place during summer 2024, the Lulu Wang Scholars cohort included 8 upper-level undergraduate students who had been previously exposed to basic research experiences. Recruited primarily from our partner institutions, Wellesley College and CUNY Hunter College, our 2024 Lulu Wang Scholars received mentorship from 3 RockEDU Fellows — postdoctoral researchers who worked together during the previous 4 months to build a research curriculum that will serve as the basis of the research skills building course. This is the research curriculum that Lulu Wang Scholars tested and refined, in collaboration with their mentors. 

Over the span of 10 weeks, Lulu Wang Scholars were:

• Introduced to the proposed laboratory techniques, tools, and systems that comprise the CURE curriculum
• Supported in developing a deepened connection to experimental design, execution, and analysis;
• Guided as they refine the scientific thinking required to reflect and iterate on experimental findings;
• Encouraged to editorialize the CURE framework to reflect both research results and lived experience as a STEM major and undergraduate

In Phase 2 of the Lulu Wang Scholars program, which takes place summer 2025, the focus will shift toward skills development around teaching, curriculum building, and inclusive pedagogy as it relates to scientific research education. Lulu Wang Scholars will continue working with their RockEDU Fellow mentors, the RockEDU team, and other advisors across 10 weeks. During this time we hope Emerging Fellows will have the opportunity to:

• Assist with teaching the June cycle of our CURE
• Participate in course evaluation efforts
• Use feedback to iterate on CURE curriculum
• Finalize course materials for publication and broad dissemination

Eligibility and Expectations

To be eligible for Lulu Wang Scholars program participation, students must be enrolled as a junior or senior at Wellesley College or CUNY Hunter College. Students must commit to the entirety of the Lulu Wang Scholars program — we can not accommodate attendance gaps.