Voorhees University Opens Applications for Fall 2026 Research Internships

A 3.6 grade-point average is the price of entry. Voorhees University's Center of Excellence for Research and Program Innovation, known as CERPI, opened applications on March 30 for its Fall 2026 Paid Research Internship Program, pairing Denmark-based undergraduates with faculty researchers across fields that stretch from biomedical science to artificial intelligence. The GPA floor makes this one of the more selective opportunities at an institution with a 100% general admissions acceptance rate, and it signals that CERPI is building a credentialed research bench rather than simply filling seats.

The paid designation is the headline detail for most of the roughly 507 students enrolled at Voorhees. Stipend specifics are not listed in the announcement itself; the Office of Financial Aid and Student Affairs handles those questions alongside credit arrangements and housing logistics for any off-campus placements. What the announcement does specify is scope: eligible projects span biomedical research, health disparities, AI and data analytics, energy and environmental sciences, and STEM education research. Depending on the project, interns may work on-campus in Denmark, at partner sites off-campus, or in hybrid roles.

Dr. Zhabiz Golkar, Voorhees's Endowed Professor of Biology and CERPI's principal investigator, is the faculty figure most directly tied to the center's track record. Under her direction, CERPI secured $17,267.47 in faculty-student research awards for the 2025-2026 academic year through the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities organization and the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, funding three projects. One of those focuses on computational evaluation of AI-guided design for bacteriophage development, a project that sits at the intersection of biology and machine learning and gives some sense of the caliber of work Fall 2026 interns would be joining.

To apply, students need four things: a faculty or staff recommendation letter, a personal statement describing their research interests, a current resume or curriculum vitae, and an official academic transcript. A GPA below 3.6 is the most direct disqualifier. Enrollment outside a STEM discipline is the other: the announcement restricts eligibility to STEM students, which sets this CERPI program apart from broader university internship tracks that welcome humanities and social-science majors. Some positions are open to graduate students where projects require advanced technical skills.

For Bamberg County, where Voorhees functions as one of the county's largest employers and its only four-year institution, the practical stakes are tangible. A formalized, externally validated research program gives local students a documented credential that travels well, whether toward graduate school applications or health-care, agribusiness, and technology employers increasingly present in the Lowcountry. Position listings, mentor profiles, and application forms are available through the university's news page; questions about program logistics go directly to CERPI or the Office of Financial Aid and Student Affairs.