REPU 2025 recap

As the 2025 cycle of REPU comes to a close, we find ourselves reflecting not on a reinvention, but on the steady and intentional growth of a community-driven initiative that began in 2008. For over 17 years, REPU has created opportunities for Peruvian undergraduates to gain hands-on research experience at leading institutions abroad — supported by mentors, peers, and a growing network of alumni. What makes this year special is how much more coordinated, participatory, and robust that network has become.

This cycle saw unprecedented alumni involvement across nearly every level of the organization. Former mentees from recent years took on leadership roles as mentors, branch coordinators, and event organizers. The result was a more connected experience for our current cohort — one where support was not limited to a single mentor, but extended through structured peer mentor systems, community panels, and experience-sharing events. While these elements are not new to REPU, this year they reached more mentees, more consistently, and with greater intentionality than ever before. 

REPU Atix, our domestic internship track, continued to strengthen its presence and impact. This branch exclusively selects students from regions outside Lima and connects them with labs based in our capital city Lima. In 2025, REPU Atix benefited from a broader base of mentors and logistical support, enabling more comprehensive and tailored guidance for each mentee and greater satisfaction among our trainees. These students not only carried out meaningful research projects, but also became fully integrated into the broader REPU cohort, participating in academic and community activities alongside their peers in international internships. 

Academically, this cycle challenged mentees to grow not only as researchers but also as communicators. For the second year in a row, students were required to write abstracts summarizing their projects. New this year was the implementation of poster sessions, which complemented the lightning talks at the REPU Seminar. This multi-format approach pushed mentees to translate their research into formats suited to diverse audiences — a critical skill in any scientific path. The seminar itself, held over two days (in-person at UTEC Ventures and virtually via Zoom), was a celebration not only of research, but of the collaboration and commitment behind it. 

This commitment extends far beyond each cohort. Many alumni from previous years have recently been admitted to highly competitive graduate programs and summer schools around the world (Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, UCLA, Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, BioPhySAL Summer School, DAAD Scholarship) and our former REPUbio 2012 Luis Hernandez (PhD) was offered an Assistant Professor Position at Stanford University. Their success speaks not only to individual effort, but to the long-term impact of a program that stays with its mentees long after the internship ends. REPU’s model — rooted in giving back — is now fully visible in action, as more and more alumni reinvest their time, expertise, and leadership into the community that supported them.

Organizationally, REPU has also matured. Two newly established teams-funding and organizational strategy committee began laying the groundwork for a more sustainable future. As REPU grows, maintaining quality and access requires careful planning — and this year's volunteers have stepped up to that challenge. The program is no longer just a pathway for research exposure; it is a growing platform for scientific leadership built by Peruvian people for Peruvian people.

REPU 2025 showed what happens when collective responsibility becomes culture. This year’s progress — in academic rigor, geographic reach, mentorship quality, and internal structure — was made possible not by a few, but by many. And while each seminar marks the end of one cycle, it also signals the continuity of something deeper: a community that evolves because its members take turns leading, supporting, and building it forward. We are proud to celebrate another successful year — and even prouder to know that the next one is already in motion.