Students who love math and science and excel in these subjects have a chance to spend four weeks in residence at a University of California campus this summer learning about astronomy, marine mammal biology, robotics, computer graphics, environmental science and ecology, earthquake engineering, bioinformatics, tissue and tumor biology, physics and technology, and more.

The mission of the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science, popularly known as COSMOS, is to motivate the most creative minds of the new generation of prospective scientists, engineers and mathematicians in California and the nation, and to create a community of scholars.

COSMOS programs are offered at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz and, for the first time this year, at UC San Diego through the Jacobs School of Engineering.

COSMOS is a residential program for talented and motivated students who are completing grades 8-12. (Note: Applicants who will be completing the 8th grade must have taken science and math courses well beyond their grade level to be considered for admission to the program.)

COSMOS participants run laboratory experiments, conduct fieldwork and attend lectures given by UC faculty and master high school teachers. Class sizes are small, between 20-23 students, offering each participant a rich intellectual experience.

But the COSMOS experience goes beyond the classroom.

"The weekend activities, final projects and the COSMOS talent show were just a few of the incredible things that made my experience so memorable," says Erik Madsen. "Suffice it to say, COSMOS is not just about taking classes. It's about having fun, meeting others with similar interests, and learning about something in which you're interested at a level few high school courses would be able to match."

On a typical day, COSMOS students attend lectures, take courses or participate in labs or course-related field trips. Recreation and study groups are built into the evening and weekend schedules. Special activities and supervised field trips are planned for the weekends.

At UC Irvine, excursions may include the Palomar Observatory, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Catalina Island, San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh and Laguna Tide pools. At UC Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, kayaking in Elkhorn Slough, Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory and the Lick Observatory enrich course content. At UC Davis, students may visit Genentech Inc., the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Aerojet or the Center for Geotechnical Modeling. And at UC Dan Diego, field trips may include the Scripps Institution of Oceanography collections, the Birch Aquarium, the Scripps Research Pier, earthquake engineering laboratories and more.

The application and financial aid forms are available online at www.ucop.edu/cosmos, with links to the four program sites. Academically advanced students are invited to apply to one of the four campus programs by the March 15 deadline, after reviewing the course cluster offerings and prerequisites at each of the four sites. A non-refundable $20 application fee is required, and the application is returned online, with additional mailings that must be postmarked by March 15.

Selection is competitive. Students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement in science and mathematics and are completing the 8th through 12th grades from all California public and private schools are eligible to apply. Admission is based upon standardized test scores, grade-point average, achievement in science projects and/or competitions, teacher recommendations, motivation, and community service.

More than 1,900 students have attended COSMOS since its inception in 2000, coming from 46 of California's 58 counties. They constitute a culturally and ethnically diverse group, with girls accounting for about half of the participants.

Tuition is $1,600 for California residents, which covers room and meals in university residence halls, field trips and all academic activities. More than a third of California residents receive full or partial financial aid to attend, based on documented financial need. Non-California residents pay the full tuition cost of $6,200.

This year's program schedule will be: At UC Irvine, UC Davis and UC San Diego, July 10-Aug. 6. At UC Santa Cruz, June 26-July 23. Approximately 150 students will participate at each campus, with the exception of UC San Diego, where 80 students will be admitted to the program's first year at that UC campus.

Strong interest in the program from the corporate community, private donors and foundations in California and beyond allows COSMOS to provide financial aid for needy students, fellowships for 29 participating master high school teachers each summer and a range of program enhancements such as laptop computers in labs and guest lectures by nationally renowned science researchers and Nobel Prize laureates.


NOTE TO EDITORS: Upon request, interviews with past participants in most areas of the state can be arranged.