Summer Science Program

The Summer Science Program (SSP) is an academic summer program where high school students experience college-level education and do research in <a href="/facts/Celestial_mechanics/FA3uR78J">celestial mechanics</a> by studying the orbits of <a href="/facts/Asteroids/g7Ulr1VB">asteroids</a>, <a href="/facts/Biochemistry/fa2pWEBp">biochemistry</a> by studying the kinetic properties of <a href="/facts/Enzymes/DSI1Fh7y">enzymes</a>, <a href="/facts/Genomics/pVU3BGpL">genomics</a> by studying <a href="/facts/Antibiotic_resistance/jsbAywgx">antibiotic resistance</a>, or <a href="/facts/Synthetic_chemistry/3KXsVVwC">synthetic chemistry</a> by studying <a href="/facts/Macrocyclic/4GPougjf">macrocyclic</a> catalysts. The program was established in 1959 at <a href="/facts/The_Thacher_School/llDxqLcP">The Thacher School</a> in <a href="/facts/Ojai%2c_California/aEPPL49V">Ojai, California</a>. It now takes place on three astrophysics campuses, <a href="/facts/New_Mexico_State_University/CRh0lEgp">New Mexico State University</a> in <a href="/facts/Las_Cruces%2c_New_Mexico/0lGd629J">Las Cruces, New Mexico</a>, the <a href="/facts/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill/Wrd3mBWz">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</a> in <a href="/facts/Chapel_Hill%2c_North_Carolina/EmMmaTFt">Chapel Hill, North Carolina</a>, and <a href="/facts/University_of_Colorado%2c_Boulder/SzsmJFb7">University of Colorado, Boulder</a> in <a href="/facts/Boulder%2c_Colorado/nlzuFHN2">Boulder, Colorado</a>, and two biochemistry campuses, <a href="/facts/Purdue_University/dRuTdltL">Purdue University</a> in <a href="/facts/West_Lafayette%2c_Indiana/62qUfsTw">West Lafayette, Indiana</a> and <a href="/facts/Indiana_University_Bloomington/44gyhspU">Indiana University Bloomington</a> in <a href="/facts/Bloomington%2c_Indiana/kF5HqGJ7">Bloomington, Indiana</a>.
In the <a href="/facts/Astrophysics/krFPRWLA">Astrophysics</a> program, each team takes a series of images of a near-earth asteroid, then writes software to calculate its orbit and predict its future path. In the <a href="/facts/Biochemistry/fa2pWEBp">Biochemistry</a> program, each team isolates and models an enzyme from a fungal crop pathogen, then designs a molecule to inhibit that enzyme. In the <a href="/facts/Genomics/pVU3BGpL">Genomics</a> program, each team grows a culture of Vibrio natriegens under moderate antibiotic selection pressure.

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Summer Science Program