Sponsors are encouraged to visit students in the field during the summer program and to attend the Keck Research Symposium. Funds are available to support both of these activities. Juniors are required to complete a semester, block, or year of independent study or a thesis based on the Keck summer research when they return from the field. This work must culminate in a paper evaluated for credit at the home institution. The students prepare for the summer by reading background information.
Research begins in the summer with four weeks of field or laboratory work.
The participants help one another collect data and discuss problems and results throughout the four weeks. During the following academic year, the students continue their work as independent research projects or senior honors theses at their home institutions under the guidance of an on-campus sponsor . The research group continues to communicate through e-mail and may come together for an academic year workshop. The student project culminates in a paper evaluated for credit at the home institution, an oral or poster presentation at the research symposium in April, and an extended abstract published in the symposium volume. Many of students also present their work at regional or national professional meetings.