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AI Summer Research Program

Explore. Innovate. Build the Future of AI.

The UNT AI Summer Research Program offers undergraduate and early graduate students a structured, hands-on research experience in artificial intelligence and data science — guided by expert faculty and industry collaborators. Designed to give participants a real taste of academic and applied AI research, this immersive summer opportunity helps students build skills, contribute to real projects, and elevate their academic and professional trajectories.

Program Structure

Project Work

  • Develop and execute an AI research project

  • Collaborate with a faculty mentor and peer cohort

Weekly Seminars

  • Guest talks from industry and academic leaders

  • Skill-building in algorithms, ethics, systems, and tools

Professional Development

  • Resume and portfolio mentoring

  • Research communication and presentation skills

Final Symposium

  • Showcase project results

  • Network with peers, faculty, and industry partners

 

MS students (AI, Data Engineering, AI-oriented CS or CE) Students in this group are required to sign up for CSCE 5934: Directed Study credit under one of the program coordinators if accepted - check your degree program if such credit assists toward graduation. Only those selected for the program will be able to sign up for course credit.
MS students in other Colleges (e.g. Information, Business, Science, etc) or Engineering departments Given current resources, 10-15 students in these colleges or other departments will be selected. Proficiency in programming and diversity of skills will be used in selection.
TAMS students TAMS students who are also selected for the TAMS Summer Research Scholarship will be required to be at Discovery Park at least 30 hrs/week following the 10 week summer class schedule, as the program requires 10 weeks of participation
Undergraduates Undergraduate special topics course options are possible with one of the coordinators. Up to 10 UNT undergraduates (not in TAMS) will be accepted.
PhD students Do not apply to the program in the same manner as other students; however, Ph.D. students conducting AI-related research that can benefit from engaged, focused, and well-managed AI students are strongly encouraged to present their project idea to one of the program coordinators well before the first day of the summer program as an option for program students to sign up. If a Ph.D. student's project is selected, they will be expected to help advise the group pursuing that project with almost daily contact during the relevant program session.
Faculty Faculty with project ideas are also encouraged to contact one of the coordinators who maintain a curated list of project titles, abstracts, and resources that the students in the AI summer program select among on the first day. Note: The day-to-day project planning, meeting, and advising are provided by the program coordinators and participating graduate students. It is suggested, though not required, that faculty providing project ideas or support are available for contact by project groups at least once/week over the summer for feedback. In our experience, the ideal project options provided by faculty are well-defined problems with data readily available that students can pursue relatively independently, with only daily assistance by a coordinator or knowledgable grad student. Additionally, students have to choose it on the first day so it must be appealing among the options available, and all project options presented are expected to lead to external impact.

 

Application Details

Review the following requirements and make sure you meet them before proceeding to the application:

Availability

  • You are available without extensive interruption for both the morning and afternoon sessions every workday in the 10 weeks of the program.
  • In-person attendance is required. You should not be taking concurrent summer classes during your session given demands of the program.

Experience expectations

  • You must be actively completing a degree program at UNT or through a previous arrangement with the coordinators.
  • You have substantial programming experience, ideally Python.
  • For CSE MS students only, you have taken an introductory AI/Machine Learning/Data Science course (e.g. you can explain what "cross validation" is, and why it's useful - or you understand train/validation/test splits).
  • Your GPA at UNT must be 3.0 or higher, and you must have completed at least one semester of courses at UNT prior to the summer.
  • If you are a TAMS student: these are not requirements - though similar experience is encouraged.

Materials to prepare before submission

  • Prepare a Resume or CV for upload for the online application.

For Questions, Comments, or Concerns

Email one of the summer program coordinators: Mark Albert at mark.albert@unt.edu or Ting Xiao at ting.xiao@unt.edu. If it is not urgent, please allow up to two workdays for a response.