Our Summer 2026 CENG Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) will support 70+ projects, and each project will select 1-2 students depending on funding availability. Each SURP student participant will either receive a fixed CENG Summer Research stipend of $3,500 (provided as financial aid to your student account) or a paid by the hour position. Preference will be given to College of Engineering students and students who have not yet participated in SURP. To see a list of all CENG SURP projects available for Summer 2026 visit ceng.calpoly.edu/surp Feel free to reach out directly to the faculty advisor if you have questions about a specific project. Note that some faculty may not respond to email over spring break. Students can apply to up to five individual SURP projects and applications are due via MustangJobs on April 13. The first round of students will be selected by April 29.
Mustang Jobs will ask students to submit the following materials per project:
- Resume
- Cover letter that answers the following three questions:
- Describe why you are interested in this specific research project.
- Describe how participating in SURP and working on this specific research project, will help you advance your academic and professional development goals
- Describe how your past experiences (academic, job, volunteer) and various identities might positively impact what you bring to this specific research project.
As Cal Poly Solano students cannot yet access Mustang Jobs, they can send a list of the names of up to five projects to Dr. Benson, Associate Dean of Research at bbenson@calpoly.edu.
SURP Qualifications:
· Have at least a 2.5 higher ed cumulative GPA.
· Be registered for classes for fall 2026 with undergraduate standing (masters students and students in the blended program who will have graduate standing by fall 2026 are not eligible for this undergraduate program). Lower division students (those who have completed their 1st or 2nd year at Cal Poly) and transfer students who just completed their 1st year at Cal Poly are especially encouraged to apply.
· Be available to work 20 hrs/week, over 8-weeks over Summer 2026.
· Be eager to learn, capable of self-direction, and willing to solve open-ended problems where the answer is not in the back of the book!
SURP Description:
The College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program (CENG SURP) is a unique opportunity for undergraduate students (at both the Solano and SLO campuses) to engage in hands-on research with a faculty mentor while using critical thinking, collaborative, and entrepreneurial skills. SURP is an 8-week long program (can be non-contiguous and can spill into the fall term), and students are expected to spend around 20 hours/week working on their research projects and additional time preparing and presenting their poster for the annual SURP+ symposium which will be held in Oct 2026; SURP students and their faculty mentor will agree upon a start date (can be on or after June 22nd), timeline, and mode (in-person, hybrid, remote) for their research project.
The goals of SURP are to:
1. Help Cal Poly undergraduate students develop professionally and enhance their portfolios for future employment.
2. Give opportunities for CENG faculty to advance their research/project agendas over the summer
3. Build lasting student-faculty mentoring relationships
4. Provide opportunities for industrial and other external sponsors to work with Cal Poly faculty and students to advance connections, gain access to Cal Poly talent and capabilities, and engage in valuable collaborative activities.
For any questions, please reach out to Dr. Bridget Benson, Associate Dean of Research and Assessment at bbenson@calpoly.edu
