What is the Summer Institute?
The Integrative Movement Sciences Institute - Summer Institute (IMSI-SI) is an interdisciplinary research and training incubator supported by a nationwide network of faculty from 20+ institutions, renowned for their expertise and leadership in biomechanics, muscle physiology, biophysics, neuroscience, rehabilitation sciences, and rehabilitation engineering.
The program, funded by the National Science Foundation, runs between May and September to accommodate multiple academic calendars and offers:
- Intensive Research Experience: Participants engage in collaborative research projects that tackle fundamental questions in movement sciences.
- Skills Development: The program helps trainees develop important professional skills in scientific reasoning, quantitative literacy, experimental design, data processing and analysis, model-based inference, communication and team-science skills.
- Supportive Mentorship: Trainees benefit from near-peer mentorship and collaborative co-supervision from experts across our nationwide network of IMSI-affiliated institutions.
- Financial Assistance: IMSI provides financial support for project time, travel, and living expenses to eligible Summer Institute trainees to minimize financial barriers to participation.
- Fostering Interdisciplinary Team Science in a Community of Belonging: IMSI-SI is an interdisciplinary and collaborative community, open to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral trainees from a wide range of educational backgrounds, underscoring IMSI's dedication to accelerating research progress through fair and inclusive scientific practices.
"Our trainees have had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in cutting-edge techniques and develop strong connections to an outstanding network of scientists across the country."
– Dr. Monica Daley, Director of IMSI
"The most fun part about working with IMSI is just being able to collaborate with a wide diversity of people, whether I was working with people that had a big understanding of what I was researching, and people that had no idea what I was researching."
– Hanna Chow, 2024 Trainee
Supportive Mentorship
Expert scientists co-mentor trainees through research projects, seminars, workshops, and short-lab courses, to introduce a range of experimental and theoretical approaches to movement sciences.
Interdisciplinary Connections
The curriculum is designed to build interdisciplinary connections and integrate across organizational scales from molecules to whole-body movement and interactions with the environment.
Develop Skills
The curriculum helps trainees develop skills in effective interdisciplinary communication, team science, quantitative analysis, coding skills in Python and Matlab, and model-based reasoning and analysis.
Science Communication
IMSI-SI culminates in a Capstone Research Symposium, where trainees give presentations on their summer research activities. Trainees also have opportunities to engage in public science communication and outreach with IMSI teams.
Funding support
Training stipends: Subject to eligibility, trainees receive $600/week living stipend for the project duration for participating full-time (40 hours/week) in the research and training curriculum. Part-time participation will need to be approved by faculty supervisors and the IMSI director, with a stipend rate pro-rated accordingly.
Mentors: A $500 mentoring honorarium will be awarded to near-peer mentors who will meet regularly with their mentees and complete an Excellence in Mentoring certification program (with commitment to complete ~10 hours of workshops throughout the Summer). Mentors are typically graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who have previously participated in IMSI and will be matched as mentors to junior trainees.
Mentor-trainees: Participate as trainees on a project in a new area outside their current research, and also act as near-peer mentors for junior trainees within an area of their expertise. Mentor-trainees will receive both the training stipend and the mentoring fellowship honorarium.
Housing and travel: For those participating in projects away from their home institution, we will reimburse for economy travel and assist with housing costs. Trainees will need to arrange housing through the IMSI program to ensure the use of University-approved options.
IMSI-SI Research Workshop Recordings
Classic and Isolated Muscle Experiments
Discussion of isolated muscle experiments presented by Dr. Kiisa Nishikawa, Dr. Jenna Monroy, and Dr. Greg Sawicki.
Computational Muscle Modeling
Research workshop on Computational Models presented by Dr. Bert Tanner
Whole Muscle Work-loops, Experiment, Data Analysis, and Interpretation
Demonstration of work loop experiments with a Manduca moth presented by Dr. Simon Sponberg and Ethan Wold.
Optimal Control and Reinforcement Learning for Predictive Simulation of Behavior
Workshop discussing optimal control presented by Dr. Christian Hubicki.
Sensorimotor Feedback Control in Movement
Exploring sensory feedback in movement control, rehabilitation, and adaptation, led by Dr. James Finley and Dr. Kelli Sharp.
Linear Rheological Models of Muscle
Discussion of linear rheological models of muscle presented by Dr. Madhusudhan Venkadesan.
Moving Work-loops from Muscles-level on the Benchtop to Joint-level in Humans
Workshop on Joint-Level Work Loops led by Dr. Greg Sawicki examining the mechanics of joint power and energy exchange in movement.
Integrating Experiential Design with Modeling Studies
Workshop exploring the integration of computational models and experiments in movement science with Dr. Monica Daley, Dr. Anne Silverman, and Dr. Katie Knaus.