Resources

Student resources

Biostatisticians design studies and analyze data in medicine and public health. Many students first hear about biostatistics late in college. I collected the programs and resources below for undergraduates who want to learn more and for graduate students applying for fellowships. For a full list of current programs with deadlines, see Research opportunities, which I update every week.

My path. I grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and went to Capital High School. I graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2019. I then earned my MS and PhD in biostatistics at UNC Chapel Hill. I am now a postdoctoral fellow in biostatistics at Johns Hopkins.

What a biostatistician does. Biostatisticians build and apply statistical methods for health data. The daily work includes designing clinical trials, writing code to analyze data, and working with doctors and scientists on their questions. When standard tools fail, biostatisticians develop new methods. My own research focuses on data with missing or censored values, such as the age at disease onset in Huntington disease.

Learn about the field

STATtr@kFrom the American Statistical Association: articles on statistics careers, scholarships, and early-career advice.

Attend a workshop

ENAR Fostering Excellence in Biostatistics WorkshopA free one-day workshop on March 14, 2027 in Boston. Students meet biostatisticians from academia, government, and industry. Lunch is included, travel awards are available, and a graduate program expo runs the same evening.

Spend a summer in biostatistics

All of the programs below cover housing and pay a stipend.

Weill Cornell Biostatistics Summer InternshipJune 7 to July 23, 2027, in New York. The program pays a $5,000 stipend and provides housing. The deadline is February 19, 2027.
Harvard Summer Program in Biostatistics and Computational BiologyReturns in 2027 after a pause in 2026. The program covers travel and living costs. Deadlines are expected in October 2026.
NIH Summer Institutes in Biostatistics and Data ScienceA group of funded programs at universities including Boston University, Columbia, Iowa, UTMB, and Yale. Most sites post dates in winter, with deadlines in March.
Michigan Big Data Summer InstituteA six-week research program with housing, a stipend, and travel support. Check the site for 2027 dates.

Try research in any field

A first research experience does not have to be in biostatistics. Mine was not. The programs below pay a stipend and cover housing.

University of Minnesota Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program (LSSURP)Ten weeks of research in the life sciences for students headed to graduate school. The program covers travel, housing, and meals and pays a stipend. The deadline is usually in early February. LSSURP was my first summer research program.
Michigan State Advanced Computational Research Experience (ACRES)A ten-week NSF-funded program in computational and data science research. The program pays a $7,000 stipend and covers housing, meals, and travel. I took part in ACRES as an undergraduate.
Big Ten Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)Summer research at Big Ten universities for undergraduates preparing for graduate school.
Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification ProgramEight to ten weeks of research at about 20 partner universities for students headed to a PhD. One application covers several schools. The deadline is usually in early February.
NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)A searchable list of funded summer research sites across every field of science, including statistics and mathematics.
Pathways to ScienceA large database of summer programs and fellowships, searchable by field and student level.

Apply to graduate school

Graduate school application tracker (Excel)A spreadsheet I made for tracking programs, deadlines, application fees, faculty of interest, and letters of recommendation. Deadlines and letter counts update by themselves, and a month-by-month timeline is included. I built the spreadsheet with help from Claude, an AI assistant. Please modify it to fit your needs.
Científico Latino Graduate School Mentorship InitiativeFree one-on-one mentoring for students applying to STEM master's and PhD programs. The program also offers application fee waivers. I mentor students through the program.
Alex Lang's NSF GRFP application guideA guide by a past awardee that collects advice, past winners' essays, and links in one place. Most of the advice carries over to personal and research statements for graduate school.
Official NSF GRFP tipsGuidance from the program, including the review criteria. Check the official site for current rules and deadlines.

A few notes from me:

MS or PhD. An MS takes about two years and leads to analyst jobs in industry, government, and academia. A PhD takes about five years, usually comes with a stipend, and trains students to develop new methods. Many PhD programs admit students directly from college.
Coursework. Most programs expect calculus through multivariable calculus, plus linear algebra. Real analysis helps for PhD programs. Programming in R or Python helps for every program.
Letters. Letters from research mentors carry the most weight. A summer program is a good way to get one.

Get in touch

If you are a student thinking about biostatistics or graduate school, please email me at jvazqu18 [at] jh.edu. I am happy to talk about programs, applications, or graduate school life.

Every entry was checked in October 2026.