• Must be a rising junior (in your sophomore year when applying) or rising senior (in your junior year when applying)

• Must be 16 years of age by the first day of the program but not 18 years of age before the last day of the program.

• Must be a permanent US resident currently residing and attending school in the US

No exceptions will be granted. Requests for exceptions will not receive a response.

• Dates: June 22- August 2, 2025

• Applications open January 15, 11:59 PDT

• Applications deadline March 15th

• Teacher recommendations accepted through March 19, 11:59 PDT

• Student, parent, and referring teacher contact information

• School information, including weighted and un­weighted GPAs

• Two teacher references submitted through the Young Scholars Program teacher recommendation website. The online recommendations will form the primary reference, separate, formal letters of recommendation are not required and will not be reviewed

  • One reference MUST be from a science teacher

  • The other must be from another teacher

  • Recommendations from counselors or mentors from outside of school are discouraged

  • References are due at the same time applications are due - We can accept references through March 19, however, you must plan ahead to give your teachers sufficient time

• Summary of school activities and other interests, activities, and research experiences

• Personal essays

How do I request a program fee reduction or an application fee waiver?

See more information on our Program Costs page

Program Fee Reduction Requests: Funds are available to assist those students who might otherwise be unable to attend due to financial constraints. To request consideration for a fee reduction the student should submit a letter describing parent/guardians’ financial obligations and need for support to the director, Megan Bettis by the application deadline HERE

Application Fee Waiver Requests: Applicants can request an application fee waiver by completing a form HERE. An application fee waiver will be granted to any student who requests one prior to the application deadline.

The UC Davis Young Scholars Program is a summer residential research program designed to expose approximately 40 high-achieving high school students to the world of original research within the fields of the biological, agricultural, environmental and natural sciences.

Participants in the UC Davis Young Scholars Program work one-on-one with research faculty and research groups in state-of-the-art laboratories for six weeks. Each student will work on an individual project and prepare a journal-quality paper and symposium presentation about their work.

In addition to scientific research, the UC Davis Young Scholars Program strives to introduce participants to the climate and culture of living and learning on a university campus. Staff make every effort to model the experiences that participants will have during their first years of college.

All participants will be enrolled in five units of University Group Study Credit. Assignments for the program include research notebooks, a written article of journal quality describing the research project and its conclusions, presentation of the individual project at a research symposium and presentation of research to students at the home high school. All work in the program is graded and credit will be awarded after home presentations are completed.