ViSUR Program

What is ViSUR?

The Vision Science Summer Undergraduate Research (ViSUR) Program is an 8-week in-person program that allows undergraduate students to work in a lab with a faculty advisor on a research project. Each student will receive a stipend of $4,000.

Summer 2022 saw the inaugural launch of the ViSUR Program. In addition to working on a project, the students had regular seminars with other summer undergrad students across campus and with our T35 students.

To read more about ViSUR 2022, please click the button below.

What is Vision Science?

Vision science is an interdisciplinary study of visual systems and perception and incorporates many disciplines, including optometry, ophthalmology, molecular genetics, neuroscience, and physiological optics. Vision science is the source of an array of research questions relating to how we see, how and why vision fails, and what can be done about it.

Researchers in vision science conduct human and animal research and modeling, yielding cutting-edge discoveries and applications in disciplines that include clinical care, adaptive optics, neurobiology, cell biology, bioengineering, perception, and public health.

To read more about the fields of vision science, please click the button below.

Vision Science at Berkeley

Renowned for its breadth of academic and faculty excellence, UC Berkeley is home to the nation’s leading vision research program. This research program embraces a multi-disciplinary, collaborative, and comprehensive approach to understanding the visual system and its connections to health and cognition. Underscoring the fundamentally interdisciplinary nature of vision science, our program is led by the largest academic vision science research group in the country and includes globally recognized leaders in optics, psychophysics, infectious disease, and immunology from at least 11 different departments – bioengineering, molecular and cell biology, neuroscience, psychology, and public health among them.

We study all aspects of the human eye and encourage a robust flow of ideas and a broad scope of research which includes how best to correct refractive error and other optical defects, developing optical systems for emerging technologies, addressing epidemic and visual maladies such as glaucoma and myopia, and much more. UC Berkeley’s vision science program has a track record for advancing innovative, high impact research while preparing our exceptional graduate student body to become future leaders in eye-opening and sight-saving research for the benefit of a diverse and inclusive society.

Find Your Focus

During an intensive 8-week summer program, students will hone their capacity to discover, innovate, and collaborate by immersing themselves in some of the exciting research currently happening at the Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science.

How to Apply

To apply for VISUR, please submit an application through the Graduate Division’s Summer of Inclusive Excellence Program. To apply through their website, please click the button below.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about the ViSUR Program, please contact Dr. Ruth Shoge, at:
rshoge@berkeley.edu.