The Ultimate Guide to Landing High School Research Internships
Aug 25, 2024
Vignesh Nagarajan
Why You Should Get a Research Internship
Getting scientific research experience gives you the chance to explore an area that you’re curious about, to see what day-to-day work is like, and see if you want a career in that niche.
It also provides you with skills that you’ll use, even if you don’t pursue a career in STEM. Such as:
Critical thinking skills
Organization
Tackle complex tasks
Solve complicated problems
Work independently
Time management
Resilience
Adaptability
And if you do choose to go into STEM, then you have already got hands-on experience working in a lab and doing scientific research. You’ll learn to operate sophisticated equipment, conduct experiments with precision, manage data effectively, and adhere to stringent safety protocols.
It also shows colleges that you’re truly passionate about science, that you’ve chosen to spend your free time getting involved. Plus, when you get to college, you’ll already be familiar with working in a lab and solving problems.
Doing a research internship can also help you compete and win in science competitions, pursue your own research projects for publication, and be a strong candidate for scholarships.
How to Get a Research Internship
Cold emailing
Research labs around where you live and see who works there. These could be at a university or a commercial one. Either way, look into what they research and use these as a hook for your email.
For instance, you’ve seen that at a university in your town, there is a professor who does genetics research using CRISPR. You would read one or more of their papers and refer to them in the email.
That way, you show your interest and dedication, rather than just asking something of them. This increases your chances of hearing back and getting a research internship. Try not to be disheartened by rejections, and keep persevering to reach your goals.
You can use LinkedIn to search for internship openings that you could apply for. To boost your chances, you should build out your LinkedIn profile with your picture, experience, and interests. You should also post about what you’re studying or reading related to your area of interest to show your passion for science.
Network
If you’re lucky enough to have a family member or friend who works in a lab, then reach out to them! Share what you’re interested in and why, and see if they have an open spot. If they don’t, maybe they’ll allow you to shadow them for a day or week. They may even have a space in the corner of your lab for you to pursue your own research.
If you show interest and put yourself out there, you can open doors to create an opportunity.
Types of Research Opportunities
Local labs
Working in a lab part-time over a longer period of time is the best way to gain experience, do a larger research project, and network with other scientists. However, it’s not always possible. If you can find a research internship in a lab near you over the summer break, that’s already amazing.
Summer programs
If you live remotely or can’t find any lab opportunities near you, then you can use your summer to do research. There are a lot of summer STEM programs available; some are free, others are paid. And they give you the chance to work in a lab, do research, and be mentored by faculty at top universities.
Online opportunities
If you’re struggling to find an in-person internship and are interested in CS, engineering, or another field that doesn’t require you to be in a lab, then look online. You may find courses or opportunities that will provide you with new skills and enable you to do more independent research.
Independent research
Doing independent research isn’t an internship. However, you can use public data, studies, and theory to do your own research. You won’t have all the tools available in a lab, but you can still do a lot on your own. Doing this will also boost your chances of getting an official research internship.
Let’s look into research opportunities that are actually available to high school students.
14 Research Internship Opportunities for High School Students
Innovator Global Lab
Indigo Research's Innovator Global Lab is a research program for high school students with hands-on wet lab biotechnology research, where students conduct independent projects and create publication-ready research papers.
It’s held in the summer in Pasadena, New York, and Singapore. Students are mentored by world-class professors, work in professional wet labs, and the program provides support for students to write research papers to publish.
For students interested in biology and biotech, it’s a great opportunity to do real research and write a paper.
Research Science Initiative
The Research Science Initiative (RSI) is a prestigious, free summer science and engineering program held at MIT.
It takes place over 6 weeks and focuses on individual research projects. The first week is made up of classes, and then students get into a lab to research their project before presenting it at the end.
The program is also held in Bengaluru, India.
Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program
The Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program is an 8-week program. Students choose from 8 different areas of research and get one-on-one guidance from their mentor.
For the first two weeks, you have classes and training in the morning and then go to the lab in the afternoon. After that, you’ll spend 6 weeks working in a lab full-time.
They also offer bioengineering internships, which provide hands-on experience, but you won’t be in the lab.
Summer Science Program
The Summer Science Program (SSP) is a rigorous five-week residential summer research experience designed for highly motivated high school juniors.
Students do advanced research in astrophysics, biochemistry, bacterial genomics, and synthetic chemistry at 12 campuses across the US, where you get to live while conducting research.
BU RISE
Boston University’s RISE program offers 6-week research internships. They offer opportunities in astronomy, biology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, medical laboratory research, neuroscience, physics, psychology, and public health.
They also offer a track called Practicum, where you study and do group research in Computational Neurobiology or Data Science.
Science Internship Program
UC Santa Cruz offers an 8-week open-ended research program called the Science Internship Program (SIP) in science, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and art under the mentorship of UCSC researchers.
It’s a really good opportunity to get research experience, work on a project that interests you, network with mentors, and meet like-minded students.
HOPP Summer Student Program
The Summer Student Program is an 8-week, biomedical or computational lab-based internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK).
During the research internship, the student completes a self-directed project guided by a mentor. The areas of research are:
Cancer biology
Cell & Molecular & Developmental Biology
Chemistry/Chemical biology
Computer Science/ Computational Biology/ Genomics
Engineering/ Optics/ Imaging/ Research Tools
Immunology/ Immuno-oncology
Pharmacology & Drug Development
Structural Biology
Simons Summer Research Program
During this prestigious research program, students do hands-on research in science, math, or engineering at Stony Brook University. They participate in research teams with faculty mentors while living on campus for 7 weeks.
Anson L. Clark Scholars Program
The Clark Scholars program is only open to 12 students for an intensive seven-week summer research program. They offer different areas of research, including:
Biology/Cellular & Microbiology
Cancer Biology
Chemistry
Computer Science
Economics
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mechanical Engineering: Cancer Bioimaging
Physics
Summer Science Research Program
The Summer Science Research Program (SSRP) is a team-based mentored research program. SSRP Scholars will participate on a research team designed and guided by scientific trainees from the Tri-Institutions (Rockefeller, MSK, and WCMC).
The 32 students accepted are split into 4 research teams, and each team has at least 3 dedicated mentors. Each team focuses on a research topic, aligned with the scholars and mentors areas of expertise.
MIT Primes
MIT Primes is a free year-long after-school program that offers research projects in mathematics to high school juniors and sophomores for students in Greater Boston.
They also offer PRIMES-USA is a free year-long distance mentoring in math research in the USA.
Program participants work on exciting unsolved problems in mathematics. Applied mathematics projects include problems in theoretical computer science and computational biology.
Delta Delve
Delta provides virtual work experience opportunities at renowned companies. You won’t be able to get into a lab, but you will get to work at companies such as Ferrari, AWS, and Allegheny Health Network.
Students get hands-on experience, guidance from a mentor, and the opportunity to explore different career paths.
NASA Internship
NASA offers Pathway internships, where interns gain work experience in a prestigious company on real projects. They offer internships in different areas, including engineering, science, accounting, HR, IT, and more.
It’s not a research opportunity, but for students interested in aerospace engineering or real-world experience in STEM, it’s an excellent opportunity.
EnergyMag
EnergyMag offers virtual internships for college and high school students, focused on increasing renewable energy and energy storage technologies.
The internships are unpaid, you work with a mentor, and often do research into a topic and do a report at the end of your time at the company.
How to Make the Most of Your Internship
Set clear goals
When you start at your internship, sit down with your mentor to define clear goals.
What are you aiming to accomplish during your time at the lab?
What does your mentor expect from you?
What would you like from them?
You can work with those goals in mind so you know what to do to excel.
Document your work
Use a lab notebook to document everything you’re doing. This will help you manage and organize your experiments, but also so that you remember what you’ve done in the future. That way, you can accurately refer to your work in a scholarship or college application.
Ask questions
As an intern, it’s expected that you don’t know everything (or even anything!), so make sure that you ask questions.
It’s a great way for you to learn and to demonstrate your curiosity and passion for science.
Common Challenges & How to Overcome Them
Challenge 1: Rejection letters
A common challenge is receiving rejection letter after rejection letter. It’s frustrating and can really get you down. But instead of giving up, try to refine your approach. Try to adjust your email or your cover letters to see if that gets a better response.
Challenge 2: Small town
If you live in a small town, there may not be any labs near you. Instead, look at remote internships that may help you gain some experience in the area you’re interested in. Otherwise, see if there are any summer internships or research opportunities that you could participate in.
Challenge 3: No experience
If you’re being rejected from internships for not having any experience, you can feel stuck in a loop. But start to do side projects at home to build up skills, do extra coursework, or take online courses. That way, you can show your passion and theoretical knowledge to improve your chances of getting a research internship.
Turning Interest into a Research Internship
There’s no single path to getting a research internship. What separates successful students is not where they start, but whether they start and treat research as a long-term skill, not a short-term résumé item.
If you approach research intentionally, choosing opportunities that align with your interests, documenting your work, and learning how to communicate your results, the payoff compounds. You become more competitive for internships, science fairs, publications, and STEM scholarships. And by the time you reach college, you’re already operating ahead of the curve.
