FAQs

SISRM will offer hybrid programming in summer 2025. Some classes are offered virtually, workshops will be held in-person and live-streamed for those participating virtually, and many RAships are offered as remote opportunities.

UChicago undergraduates who cannot stay in Chicago during the summer may participate in our remote coursework and workshop offerings. Students who opt for remote programming will be paired with remote RAships.

The tentative timeline for SISRM’s 2025 application is as follows:

January-February

• Submit an application to participate in the program

March

• Receive notification of RA awards (matches are made by SISRM) by March 22

April–May

• Confirm your participation in SISRM by April 8
• Register for one SISRM methodological course; 
• Attend RA orientation (dates TBA)

June–August

• June 10–July 12
  • Participate in the Practice of Social Scientific Research;
  • Complete the summer methodologies course;
• June 10–September 29
  • Complete work on the Summer RA project

Students in the RA program should expect to commit 315–365 hours for the 10-week summer program:

• 100–150 hours for coursework
  Courses are condensed 10-week courses and meet all requirements for a standard 100 unit class. As such, students participating in SISRM coursework should expect to dedicate 6–10 hours per week to class time. In addition, we recommend allocating 2–4 hours per day to homework/study time. This time commitment will vary student by student.

• 55 hours for workshops and excursions
  Workshops meet for the first 5 weeks of Summer Quarter for 75–90 minutes during the lunch hour (lunch is provided). Field trips typically take 2–4 hours and occur on Fridays.

• 160 hours for the RAship
  RAships require a 160 hour commitment and can be divided up throughout the Summer according to the project’s needs and the RA’s schedule.

Students may participate in one of two ways:

Students may apply to participate in SISRM more than once, however, SISRM cannot prioritize repeat applicants in the application review process. In addition, repeat applicants who are admitted to the program are expected to take a new SISRM course (no substitutions) and participate in the workshop series. If you have questions about new RA opportunities for the summer, please reach out to SISRM staff for guidance. 

Due to the time commitment required for SISRM, we discourage students from over-committing to more than one intensive summer program. However, it is feasible for most students to maintain part-time employment while participating in SISRM.

No, we do not re-match projects once the initial match has been made.

SISRM’s student/RA Project matching process is intensive and requires careful consideration of your application materials, academic goals, and skills and the way they align with the project needs of our faculty applicants. In addition to the complexity of matching students to projects, we typically have a long waitlist for positions in the RA program. For these reasons, we do not re-match students to program once awards have been made.

All students participating in the SISRM RA program are required to take one of the SISRM-sponsored courses. No exceptions will be made and no alternative/substitute courses will be permitted.

SISRM designs its programming to work in tandem with the summer course offerings, most of which differ slightly from their academic year counterparts. If you have already taken a methodology course for your major, we encourage you to examine the other course offerings to see what might complement your academic interests. Most majors and many minors will count a course by petition if they are not already cross-listed.

No. Our courses are not set up for hybrid participation. All in-person courses must be taken in-person at the time of their offering. 

All SISRM courses, virtual and in-person, are offered as synchronous courses. Registered students should expect to participate in the course at the listed time.

Yes. All UChicago students who register for one of the SISRM methodologies courses will receive 100 units of course credit on their transcripts. In addition, in many cases, the courses may be used to satisfy major or minor requirements.

UChicago undergraduates self-register for summer quarters through my.uchicago.edu. To register, you must first activate the Summer term. Follow the activation guidelines to do so. All other students will receive direct information about course registration once they have applied and been admitted to the program.

• Financial aid may be available for eligible domestic and international UChicago College students who will be enrolled in courses during the Summer Quarter (including the September Session). For more information on summer financial aid, please visit the financial aid website.
• Current UChicago College students who have additional funding for summer through a special scholars status, fellowship, or award, should discuss summer support with the appropriate program adviser.

SISRM Fellows receive $5,000 stipends to support their RA work. Stipends are issued at the beginning of Summer Quarter in one lump sum. 

If you’ll be in Chicago for the duration of Summer Quarter, we encourage you to explore the city! The following links/resources will help you get to know the city:

• Summer Transportation Options
• Summer Dining Options
• Millennium Park (free) concert series
• Grant Park Music Festival (free) concert series
• Museum Free Days
• Free things to do in Chicago this summer
• Summer programming on Navy Pier
• Get yourself some ice cream