Ten class days, one research question, one finished paper. From December 19 to 30, 2026, CRI's Winter Online Research Program meets live online with professors from UCSF, Notre Dame and Emory. Students begin with their own interests, sharpen them into a research question with their professor, and work toward a complete research paper in English, revised through feedback from the professor and a TA.
A ketamine project and a Harvard admission
A past CRI student who researched with Professor Jason Sello of UCSF, one of this winter's faculty, was admitted to Harvard. The project looked at ketamine's uses as an anesthetic and an antidepressant, then asked whether the drug might also treat irritability in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Working from the way ketamine blocks NMDA receptors, the student explored its potential for drug repurposing. Starting from a broad interest, the student narrowed it to a specific question and, with feedback from the professor and TA, finished an English research paper. Read the full story on the Student Success page.
No single experience decides a college admission; colleges weigh academics, activities, essays and more together. What research can do is show a student's academic direction in concrete terms, especially when the student can explain why the topic mattered to them, what they investigated, and which conclusions they changed after feedback. Other CRI students from 2025 also received offers from Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Penn, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Columbia and the University of Chicago, among others.
This winter's faculty
This year's program brings together three professors with very different academic backgrounds.
Life sciences and pharmacy: Jason Sello, UCSF
Jason Sello is a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the UCSF School of Pharmacy. His research covers the discovery, design and synthesis of bioactive molecules, and how drugs produce their effects. Students drawn to biology, chemistry or pharmacy can use his course to turn a general interest in medicine into precise questions about molecules, drugs and disease mechanisms.
International relations and foreign policy: Sebastian Rosato, Notre Dame
Sebastian Rosato is a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame who studies international relations theory. With John Mearsheimer, he co-wrote , an analysis of how states make foreign-policy judgments. In his course, students move past personal opinions about international conflicts. Using theory and case studies, they analyze how states read one another's intentions, and why they end up in conflict or cooperation.
