Registration for RIT’s summer semester, offering in-person and online formats, is open. Undergraduate and graduate students can take advantage of a 12-week session (May 14-Aug. 12) and two six-week sessions (May 14-June 27 and June 30-Aug. 12). Graduate students can also enroll in a targeted seven-week session (May 14-July 7). The goals are for students to continue making progress toward their degrees, earn additional credit hours to catch up or get ahead, dedicate themselves to immersive undergraduate research, and explore interests outside of their majors, all while taking advantage of flexible schedules. While there will be many courses offered online this summer, some on-campus courses will also be offered. In addition, matriculated undergraduate students will receive grants when they register for six to 11 undergraduate credits this summer. Students registering for six to eight undergraduate credits will receive a grant of up to $2,000 for the summer semester; and students registering for nine to 11 undergraduate credits will receive a grant of up to $3,500 for the summer semester. Students are eligible for only one financial award. Students supported by RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf will receive an adjusted grant amount. RIT’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will apply the grants, which are in addition to any other need-based eligibility the students may have, as a credit toward summer semester bills. “RIT is giving our students opportunities to remain connected to the university, their professors, and their classmates through summer course offerings. Students can enroll in rigorous courses and are able to focus solely on those courses, earn extra credits toward their degrees, and continue to exercise their minds throughout the summer,” said Joe Loffredo, RIT associate vice president and registrar. Popular courses available this summer include College Algebra, Introduction to Statistics I & II, Applied Statistics, Interpersonal Communication, Introduction to Psychology, College Physics, and Calculus, among others. The complete list of course offerings is available on the RIT summer semester 2025 website. For more information, email registrar@rit.edu.

Soft matter physics has broad applications across many industries, and as the field grows, so do opportunities at RIT. Shima Parsa, assistant professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to advance her research in experimental physics and bring additional opportunities to RIT students. NSF CAREER funding supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as mentors in research and education while advancing their field. Thousands of proposals are submitted each year, with only about 500 funded. Parsa investigates how soft particles flow or become trapped in various confined environments by using optical microscopy to quantify the flow, transport, and clogging of the particles. “The area of soft matter physics addresses many problems that are impossible to study numerically,” explained Parsa. “We create test cases in my lab tuning one variable at a time to figure out how the interactions at the micro scale result in large scale phenomena.” There are several areas of industry where the research can be applied, from mass production in the food industry, to the chemical industry, to pharmaceuticals. Students are an essential component to the award research. Parsa will have graduate students learning how to design experiments, build pieces in the lab, and analyze data. The educational component of the funding is also focused on student retention and community building. “As physicists we are very good at preparing students to go to graduate school, but students aren’t focusing on a lot of soft skills that are required in industry,” said Parsa. “We will look at how students can prepare themselves from day one that they arrive on campus, and at building a community for graduate students while learning how to apply for jobs, build resumes, and pitch ideas.” Parsa added that most of her students leave her lab and go on to high-salary industry jobs, thus making the emphasis on management and collaboration skills especially important. “I’m really looking forward to giving the next generation the opportunity to get good jobs,” said Parsa.