Admissions
The Wolfram Summer Research Institute brings together a community of intellectually curious and ambitious students from around the world. We welcome applications from people at all stages of life—college and trade school students, graduate students and researchers, professionals at any point in their careers, and even those in retirement looking to pursue meaningful projects and lifelong learning. While most of our participants are graduate students or post-graduate researchers, we value a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. We look for applicants who are ready to think creatively, pursue original research and contribute to our collaborative environment.
Our admissions team values:
- Intellectual curiosity and initiative: Willingness to explore new ideas and push beyond traditional problem-solving approaches.
- Research potential: Readiness to commit time and energy to developing an independent research project from concept to implementation in just three weeks.
- Computational thinking: Familiarity with thinking and coding within the computational paradigm, particularly in Wolfram Language, is an advantage but not a requirement.
- Collaborative spirit: Openness to feedback from mentors and peers within the give-and-take of an immersive program environment.
We seek diversity in geographic location, educational pathways and life experiences. The strength of our program comes from bringing together people with different perspectives to work on creative and ambitious projects.
Application Timeline
The application period opens each November. While we do evaluate applications on a rolling basis, we offer two rounds of admission:
Early Decision
- To be considered for an early acceptance decision, apply by February 27.
- We will notify applicants in the Early Decision pool of their application results by March 27.
- Applicants must accept or decline their offer by May 1.
Regular Decision
- The application for the Wolfram Summer Research Institute is open until May 1.
- We will notify applicants of their application results by May 8.
- Applicants must accept or decline their offer by May 15.
All scholarship applications should be submitted by April 17, as funding is limited and in high demand.
Program fees must be paid in full no later than May 15.
The Application Process
Submit your application by completing the application form, which opens in November. In addition to essential information, the application will ask you to describe your prior experience with Wolfram and Wolfram Language, computational thinking, research and projects. You will also be asked to review and analyze alumni projects and consider potential project ideas.
Applicants with Wolfram Language experience may be asked to complete short coding challenges to demonstrate their familiarity with the language and explain their problem-solving process. Applicants with limited programming experience, either with Wolfram Language or other languages, may instead be asked to work through An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language or complete another assessment designed to evaluate reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Selected applicants are invited to a video interview with a member of the director team. During this interview, applicants can expect to be asked to expand on their written application or coding responses. In some cases, a second interview may be scheduled to further explore the applicant’s project proposal or other relevant areas.
Accepted students may be invited or required to complete preparatory learning, such as An Elementary Introduction to the Wolfram Language, Creative Computation, Fast Introduction for Programmers, pre-program training or other free Wolfram training resources.
Each year, we admit approximately 50–60 students. We welcome applicants from around the world, and all students must be at least 18 years old by the start of the program. Our admissions decisions are based solely on academic and program-relevant criteria, without discrimination on the basis of gender, gender identity, race, color, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
Scholarships
Students’ ability to pay tuition is not factored into our admissions decisions. Scholarship requests are considered only after acceptance decisions are finalized, using a separate application process.
Scholarship decisions are based on a combination of demonstrated financial need and how students plan to use what they learn in the program. While scholarships are often awarded to applicants who can demonstrate strong Wolfram Language skills and the ability to complete an advanced project within the short program timeline, we also consider the potential for growth and long-term impact. Our goal is to ensure that the limited scholarship funds are allocated to students who will benefit most from the opportunity and carry their work forward beyond the program.
Pre-program Training
The week before the Wolfram Summer Research Institute begins, admitted students can take part in pre-program training. This course is designed to help students review Wolfram Language fundamentals, strengthen their computational thinking skills and begin preparing for the research ahead. We focus on ensuring that all participants are prepared for the rigor of the Wolfram Summer Research Institute.
Participation in the pre-program training may be required for those with less prior experience in Wolfram Language or computational research, and it is strongly recommended for all students as a way to connect with peers, refine skills and enter the program ready to dive into their projects.