The Penn Research Experience for High School Students gives Philadelphia 11th and 12th graders a rare opportunity to tackle college-level research.
2 min. read
Three years ago, when Kithya Borey was a second-year high school student, his then-science teacher suggested he might be a good fit for a rigorous research-focused summer program at Penn. It helped that Borey had no summer plans, but he was also intrigued by the prospect of lab work at the college level. He took a leap and applied, earning a spot in the highly selective Penn Research Experience for High School Students (PREHSS), previously called Penn LENS.
Every year, a small group of students from Philadelphia public and charter high schools take part in the highly selective Penn Research Experience for High School Students. Throughout their five weeks on campus, those students are immersed in hands-on STEM projects, getting a rare look at doing science in college—or even as a career.
Borey, now a rising second-year at Penn studying biochemistry and biophysics, says his 2022 stint with PREHSS—where he spent five weeks working on a bioinformatics project—gave him the confidence to explore his interest in science. “The chance to work alongside faculty from different fields helped me understand how scientific questions are tackled from multiple angles,” Borey says.
PREHSS, offered to rising third- and fourth-year students in Philadelphia with a strong and demonstrated interest in STEM, pairs these high schoolers with graduate students, postdocs, and other research staff who work with them in a lab under the supervision of senior faculty. They focus on specialized projects that they ultimately present during a concluding symposium. This year, the program ran from the end of June to the end of July, with students based in labs from many Penn Arts & Sciences departments, including chemistry, psychology, biology, earth and environmental science, as well as Penn Medicine’s division of transplant surgery.
PREHSS alums say their time on campus is often a key factor in their college-selection process—18 of the 114 have matriculated as Penn students—but even more than that, students and program staff point to how PREHSS offers opportunities many have never had before.
Once the program kicks off, students gain rare access to high-level scientific pursuits, like the work being done by Joseph Kable, Jean-Marie Kneeley President’s Distinguished Professor of Psychology, part of an initial group of faculty who worked to bring in grant money for the program.
Kable has hosted PREHSS high schoolers in his lab for a decade. While they’re with him, he holds a weekly project discussion—a conversation that often touches on working in science, as well as the broader field. “The students often have lots of questions about science more generally, or the paths I took in my career and why,” Kable says.
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