The Research Science Institute (RSI) is a highly competitive summer research program for rising high school seniors around the world, sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) and hosted by MIT. It is often regarded as "the most prestigious and competitive high-school science program in the nation" [1]
Founded by Admiral H.G. Rickover in 1984 (and originally called the "Rickover Science Institute" through the 1986 session), it is now run by a close associate of his, CEE president Joann P. DiGennaro. Approximately 75 students from around the world (generally, around 50 from the United States and 25 from other countries) participate in a six week summer program, although this number has increased in recent years. The first few weeks of RSI include lectures given by distinguished professors and scientists, including a number of Nobel laureates, with the remainder centered around individual research projects through mentors in the Boston area. RSI has links to the Department of Defense, and several RSI positions are reserved for overseas Department of Defense students. RSI's staff is generally composed primarily, if not entirely, of alumni, with recent Rickoids (RSI alumni, from the Institute's original name) filling in as counselors and TA's, and older alumni taking administrative, lecturing, or tutoring positions.
Fields Medalist Terence Tao attended RSI in 1989.[2]
The program's social facets include Ultimate, as well as traditional trips to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Georges and Spectacle Island off the Boston Harbor and to the Charles River Esplanade to view the 4th of July fireworks.
Though it has convened at various locations (including two years, 1990 and 2004, when the program was held concurrently on both coasts - at UC San Diego and The George Washington University in 1989-1991, and Caltech and MIT in 2004), the Institute is most often linked to MIT, where it has been held every summer since 1992, for various reasons including availability of local mentorships (with Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT, and Harvard Medical School all within a few minutes of central campus) and convenience of facilities. The program participants were housed in East Campus through 2003. Since 2004 RSI participants have lived in Simmons Hall.
In the year 2006, a new program, RSI-Fudan, (Chinese name: 未来科学家夏令营) was held at Fudan University in Shanghai, China for Chinese students. [3] Thirty five local students were selected from key high schools to participate in the program, and the staff was composed with previous rickoids and CEE/Fudan affiliates from both the U.S. and China.