All student independent research projects are regularly carried out under the mentorship of a RISE fellow, or one of the resident faculty within the department, on a project of mutual interest. Senior projects conducted under the Honors Program and leading to a successfully defended thesis, result in specialized honors in physics being awarded at graduation. Finally all physics majors are encouraged to apply for and participate in one or more summer research internships, either at Drew in the Summer Science Institute or externally. All students who have wished to do so in the past five years have been accepted in nationally competitive summer programs. Students participating in such programs have the opportunity to immerse themselves in an area of possible future research interest, measure themselves against students from other schools, scout out potential graduate schools, and possibly publish their research as an undergraduate.
Students regularly share their summer experiences at a series of fall physics department colloquia.