GatorLabs Presents
The University of Florida Center for Precollegiate Education and Training is proud to offer our middle school program GatorLabs Presents: for 6th, 7th & 8th grade students who reside in Alachua County!
These are day camps offered on Alachua country public school student holidays/teacher professional workdays. (Students must be picked up and dropped off daily).
Sessions will be held on the University of Florida campus, where students will work alongside undergraduate and graduate science students and faculty researchers to explore different science concepts from microorganisms to galaxies.
Need Based Scholarships Available, please email cpet@cpet.ufl.edu for more information after you apply.
Learn more about the offerings for fall 2025 below:
10/20
GatorLabs Presents: The Science of Scary - October 20th, 2025
Join us as we will be exploring all types of “spooky science” – from The Science behind Anxiety, zombie disease transmission, and all the creepy crawlers in-between.
Open to all Middle School Students in Alachua County
Drop off: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Pick Up: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: McCarty Hall (UF)
Apply By 10/13/25: bit.ly/glpresents
Program Cost is $40
11/24 - 11/25
GatorLabs Presents: Gator Gourmet - November 24th & November 25th, 2025
Join us for a two-day adventure into the science of food. Students will dive into nutrition, precision and measurement, and the engineering principles that bring delicious creations to life.
Open to all Middle School Students in Alachua County
Drop off: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Pick Up: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: McCarty Hall (UF)
Apply By 11/19/25: bit.ly/glpresents
Program Cost is $70
12/19
GatorLabs Presents: Gator Maker - December 19th, 2025
DESCRIPTION TBA
Open to all Middle School Students in Alachua County
Drop off: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Pick Up: 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: McCarty Hall (UF)
Apply By: TBA
Program Cost is TBA
The student may be placed on a waitlist if not invited during the first time their application is reviewed.
- This is an active waitlist, and applications will continue to be reviewed until the program is filled. Students must confirm their place on the waitlist to continue being considered. The waitlist is not ranked.
If you are not selected for the program, we wish you luck on your future endeavors. We do not provide or give comments or feedback on applications
The UCPET staff abide by FERPA and University application standards and therefore do not discuss applications, applicant data (individual or aggregated), nor selection with students or parents. Once an application is submitted, students may view and download, but not edit, their application through the online portal.
*Please note that applicants, not their parents, receive all correspondence from our office. It is the student’s responsibility to provide a working email address and check that email address regularly for communication from UF CPET. Failure to respond to email in a timely manner may result in the student being placed on the wait list. At any time, applicants and parent “collaborators” may check on acceptance status in the on-line portal. *
