Summer Hope Academic Research Program (SHARP)

The Summer Hope Academic Research Program (SHARP) aims to provide students with full-time research opportunities in their areas of interest. Working with faculty mentors, students learn cutting-edge research techniques, analyze data and primary sources, conduct literature reviews, and prepare posters to present their findings at divisional poster sessions and professional conferences. Some students even publish their research. Outside labs, studios, libraries, and museums, students engage in various social activities and seminars on career preparation and research-related topics through Be SHARP programming.

Hope College is ranked #31 for Research and Creative projects by U.S. News & World Report 2025, ahead of Dartmouth College and Northwestern University. Student/faculty collaborative research is embedded in all four academic divisions: arts, humanities, natural and applied sciences and social sciences.

• During SHARP 2024, 193 students and 89 faculty mentors worked on 106 projects.
• Hope students made 71 presentations at off-campus conferences, published 14 articles/scholarly chapters and submitted 28 papers for publication in 2023.
• More than 250 students showcase their research projects at Hope’s A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (CURCA) every spring.
• Faculty, staff, and students received $9,871,134 in external funding in fiscal 2024.
• Students repeatedly receive national recognition at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR), the largest undergraduate research conference in the country.

Your gifts to the Summer Hope Academic Research Program (SHARP) will directly support the costs associated with programming, project and program materials, faculty mentorship, student stipends and the overall administration of the program.