The WPI 2026 EREE Summer Program will be open for student applications in February 2026.
The Early Research Experience in E Term (EREE) program offers an in-person, on-campus, full-time first research experience to interested undergraduate students who have not yet had an authentic research experience at the college level. The Office of Undergraduate Studies will provide current first and second-year students an initial immersive research experience with a WPI faculty mentor. The goal of this program is to create pathways to deep and meaningful research experiences in STEM fields for undergraduate students.
2026 Dates:
Faculty proposals due January 23rd
Student application opens February 2nd and closes March 1 at 11:59pm
Faculty and students notified of selections at the earliest March 15th, at the latest May 7th
Program starts with Summer Research Orientation, Wednesday, May 27th, 10am - 12pm, UH 500
Professional development for students is Wednesday mornings, June 3rd through July 29th from 9-11am in Unity Hall room UH 420
The program ends with the Summer Undergraduate Research Showcase and Poster Symposium on Thursday, July 30th from 2-4pm in Alden Memorial Hall
More about EREE
This research experience provides students with the following:
The opportunity to participate in summer research early in their academic career.
A paid research experience ($4,500 over 10 weeks).
Close mentoring with a faculty member and graduate mentor.
Preparation for additional research opportunities at WPI and beyond.
Information and advice about future graduate research and career opportunities.
Weekly professional development workshops.
Program details:
Undergraduate students do a full-time, in-person, on-campus educational research position.
The 2026 Summer program will be held in-person in labs on the WPI campus.
The program runs during E1 and E2 terms.
Students attend weekly professional development workshops.
Students will showcase their work in a presentation at the end of the summer on July 30, 2026, at the Summer Research Showcase and Poster Symposium.
It is strongly recommended that students do not enroll in IQP, MQP, or other classes at the same time as EREE research, or hold a second day-job or summer-day-job.
Housing
Undergraduate students are expected to secure their own housing during the summer.
However, we have very limited funds to provide a housing subsidy for need-based students.
Requesting a housing subsidy will not affect a student’s chances of being selected for the program.
Who should apply?
All current first or second-year students (or rising sophomores and rising juniors) interested in their first research experience.
EREE selection and matching process:
Faculty submit a project of a size and scope that is suitable for a student's first research experience.
Interested students browse the list of available projects – (list of projects coming soon!).
Students looking for a paid summer research experience submit an application and indicate three (3) projects of interest.
EREE Steering Committee makes a faculty-student match.
Student application process
Student application available the week of February 2, 2026.
Student applications are due March 1, 2026 by 11:59pm ET.
Students should prepare these things before starting the application process:
Choose three (3) projects of interest from the listing of Project Opportunities. Pay close attention to the project numbers, as you will need these numbers for your application!
Write a resume – Need help? Contact the CDC for a virtual resume-writing appointment!
An official or unofficial academic WPI transcript - Need help? Instructions here.
Agree to participate in the weekly professional development workshops, the Summer Professional Development Series for Undergraduates (SPuDS), weekly throughout the program on Wednesday mornings
Agree to prepare and present a poster at the Summer Undergraduate Research Showcase on July 30, 2026
Answer this reflection question:
Each student brings a diverse set of skills and experiences (technical and non-technical) to a research group. Please describe three skills that you can bring to a new research group and three skills that you would like to learn or improve upon through a research experience. (Please limit your response to 300 words).
NO letters of recommendation are needed.
Student Project
Empowering 5G by Enhancing Network Security and Performance
A student team used an open-source framework to simulate 5G environments to prepare for future testing of scenarios like jamming attacks on networks.
