Top 30 STEM internships for high school students
By Sarena Y, Editor of MehtA+ High School Thriving Guide
High school internships give students an opportunity to apply what they have learned in the classroom. Internships can provide students insights on what it is like to be working in a specific career. Along with gaining valuable hands-on technical skills by working alongside professionals, internships can also teach students soft skills such as communicating with a manager, presenting findings and networking with other employees.
Students may find that their passions truly align with their choice of career or they may find that a particular career is not something they would be interested in. Whatever the case may be, internships can also enhance one’s resume for college applications as well as other internships who may be looking for prior experience.
For students interesting in pursuing a career in STEM, here are our top 30 STEM internships.
1. Microsoft Discovery Program
During this 4-week internship, Discoverers will have the opportunity to experience the Design phase of the product development cycle, develop foundational skills while gaining mentorship from Microsoft employees and community building. Interns will discover how their passions can evolve into a career in tech at Microsoft and beyond.
Age: High School Students
Location: Onsite, applicants must live around Redmond, Washington or Atlanta, Georgia
Script written by an intern of MehtA+ STEM & Social Media Internship Program
2. MehtA+ STEM & Social Media Internship Program
Students participating in the AI/Machine Learning Research Bootcamp who have a financial need can participate in the MehtA+ internship-study program to completely cover the costs of the camp. Interns have the option to write technical articles, write scripts/edit videos for Miss Paws And Friends YouTube channel, create graphics for social media and help with camp curriculum.
Age: High School Students
Location: Virtual
3. Amazon Future Engineers
At Amazon, supporting underserved students in their computer science education is not only important — it’s imperative to building a diverse tech industry and future. The Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship program provides students with an opportunity to upgrade their careers with up to $40,000 in scholarships and an offer to complete a paid summer internship at Amazon.
Age: High School Seniors
Location: Onsite
4. Meta Summer Academy
Students will learn coding, explore careers, and develop soft skills that will help propel them into successful careers. Meta’s goal is to inspire and motivate young people to achieve economic success, stability, and mobility through skills development and early career exploration in the tech industry.
Age: High School Sophomores
Location: Onsite, applicants must live in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks, Redwood City
5. Stanford Compression Forum Summer Internship
This internship is intended to provide early exposure to research transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students will be grouped to multifaceted projects that will benefit from their existing interests and strengths, while exposing them to new areas. Projects will be mentored by students, faculty and staff of the Stanford Compression Forum and its affiliated organizations. Themes will span and combine the science of information and communication, engineering, the arts, linguistics, psychology, biology, neuroscience, computer science, technology, philosophy, and design, among other areas.
Age: High School Juniors and Seniors
Location: Virtual
6. RISE Internship
RISE Internship students will tackle a research project and acquire valuable technical and analytical skills, culminating in the Poster Symposium. In some cases, research interns will submit their work to national science fair contests such as the Regeneron Science Talent Search. Interns will participate in weekly workshops that provide insight into the scientific process, research ethics, reading a research paper, making a poster, and networking in the scientific community.
Age: High School Juniors
Location: Boston University
7. Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship
Students will gain hands-on experience using cutting-edge sophisticated equipment and technologies, develop and exercise scientific writing and communication skills, explore STEM career choices through discussion forums and meetings with role models and develop and exercise creative skills, crucial to performing innovative research
Age: 15 years or older
Location: Virtual, Hybrid or In-person at George Mason University
8. Fred Hutch — Summer High School Internship Program
The internship begins with two weeks of hands-on training on laboratory safety techniques and skills in the Fred Hutch Training Labs. For the remaining six weeks, interns are paired and immersed in mentored activities in a Fred Hutch research group in Seattle. Interns also participate in research seminars, attend professional development workshops focused on college and careers, and enjoy social activities with their teams and peers. The program culminates with presentations to the Fred Hutch community.
Age: High School Juniors
Location: Seattle
9. Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) Summer Internship Program
The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) offers an annual summer internship program to provide meaningful on-the-job training. The internship program provides real-world leadership development experiences in diverse career fields such as research and data analysis, public relations, human resources, AgTech research, coding and robotics, information technology and more.
Age: High School Seniors
Location: Onsite
10. Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences (JHIBS)
The virtual research experience includes numerous activities related to science, including: educational presentations, professional development training, learning basic laboratory techniques and experiments, mentorship training and more.
Age: High School Juniors or Seniors
Location: In-person at John Hopkins or Virtual
11. KP Launch Program
We enable technology on a massive scale. 6.9 petabytes of data? We got it. Acres of virtual servers? Yep. Innovative apps and award-winning systems? Check. All used to support the most vital system of all: life. Come build, design, and maintain systems that support our mission and vision. At Kaiser Permanente Information Technology, our integrated systems and innovative platforms shape the future of health care. And each of our approximately 6,000 IT professionals define — and redefine — the role technology plays in our industry.
Age: 16 years or older
Location: Onsite; Applicants must be from Northern California
12. Plant Genome Research REU
High school summer research internships at Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI), Cornell University, and the USDA provide an excellent opportunity to gain research experience and explore a scientific career or biological major. Their positions are focused on students interested in plant science research and computational biology and require no prior lab experience.
Age: 16 years or older
Location: Boyce Thompson Institute
13. NASA OSTEM Internship
OSTEM internships offer students an opportunity to gain practical work experience while working side-by-side with mentors who are research scientists, engineers, and individuals from many other professions. Internships may be full time or part time; and, they may be on a NASA center or facility, or even working from your home or dorm.
Age: 16 years or older
Location: Virtual or In-person
14. EnergyMag Internship
EnergyMag offers a limited number of virtual internships to both college and high school students who want to make the world a better place by increasing the share of renewable energy in the world, learn about the energy storage industry, and get work experience in an exciting and fast-moving environment. Virtual internships provide students the opportunity to gain on-the-job training in non-school settings without having to work on-site. Instead, internship hours are completed virtually.
Age: High School Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors
Location: Virtual
15. Adler Planetarium Summer High School Internship
Adler Teen Programs exposes young people to a variety of careers and provides them with the opportunity to gain real-work experience, and collaborate with peers from across the city. As a result, teen interns gain a range of transferable interpersonal and professional skills to apply within both academic and professional spaces.
Age: High School Students
Location: Adler Planetarium
16. NIH Summer Internship Program in Biological Research
NIH offers research opportunities in biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences with opportunities to explore basic, translational, and clinical research. Students interested in biology, engineering, epidemiology, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, physics, computer science, bioinformatics, and other health-related fields are invited to apply.
Age: High School Juniors and Seniors
Location: NIH Centers in Maryland
17. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Summer High School Intern Program Research
NIST research is subdivided into six organizational NIST laboratories that conduct research in a wide variety of physical and engineering sciences. The labs respond to industry needs for measurement methods, tools, data, and technology. Six laboratories participate in the SHIP program. Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL), Engineering Laboratory (EL), Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), Material Measurement Laboratory (MML), NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) and Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML).
Age: High School Juniors and Seniors
Location: Maryland and Colorado
18. Student Research Internship Program at the Scripps Translational Science Institute.
Interns will attend one-two weekly seminars and prepare for these seminars accordingly. They will develop an independent research project to be completed by the end of the internship with the help of a mentor. Presentation of the research project will take place at a Translational Institute Research Meeting and the concluding intern poster symposium.
Age: 16 years or older
Location: Scripps Translational Science Institute
19. U.S. Department of State’s Pathways Internship Program
Students have opportunities to explore federal careers while being paid for the work performed.
Age: 16 years or older
Location: Onsite
20. National Security Agency Student Programs
There are business, computer sciences, applied arts, engineering, graphic arts and manufacturing tracks.
Age: High School Juniors
Location: Onsite — Maryland
21. Air Force Research Library Scholar Program
Topic of the internship depends on the selection of mentors.
Age: High School Students
Location: Various onsite regions
22. Northwestern University’s STEM Pathways Program
At Northwestern, their schools, affiliate health systems and other partners offer an exciting array of programs to inspire, mentor and prepare young people for future careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
Age: High School Students
Location: Onsite
23. United Planet Virtual Internship
Sample roles include: Program/Project Support (Research, Project Design, Project Management, Monitoring & Evaluation); Marketing & Communications (Digital Marketing, Social Media, Content Management, SEO, Graphic Design, Public Relations); Virtual Office Assistance/Support Technical Support (Webmaster, WordPress, Programming); Strategy; Finance/Accounting; Grant Writing; Fundraising; and Teaching/Mentoring (Language, Music, Art, Business Skills, STEM) just to name a few.
Age: 16 years or older
Location: Virtual
24. Syracuse University (SU) Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Research Internship
Syracuse University’s (SU) Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Research Internship Program is a 6-week non-residential summer research internship for student in the greater Syracuse area. The College of Engineering and Computer Science program exposes high achieving Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) oriented high school students to advanced engineering and computer science research, in order to stimulate and deepen their interest in pursuing a STEM Career.
Age: High School Juniors
Location: Syracuse University
25. Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program
Interns will be working on taking fish population surveys, establishing aquatic vegetation and fish habitat, electrofishing, snorkeling, examining specimens under a microscope, water quality testing, data processing, assisting with children’s educational programs and much more!
Age: 16 years or older
Location: Onsite, all 50 states
26. Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) High School Apprenticeship
Interns will spend their summers in a university research lab or in one of the U.S. Army Research Laboratories and Centers through this unique internship opportunity. They will experience firsthand the innovation and research that is driving the future of the United States of America.
Age: High School Students
Location: Onsite (multiple locations)
27. PHC Group, LLC Mary Miller Summer Program
Under the guidance of the Public Health Director, interns will actively assist the team via social media-related projects, online community interaction and technical support. They will be invited to explore creative approaches to (virtual) collaboration and relationship building; and expected to responsibly exercise authority utilizing property and interfacings for the purpose of PHC Group’s mission, only.
Age: High School Juniors and Seniors
Location: Virtual
28. Spikeview Social Media and Product Strategy Internship
Adults have LinkedIn. Teens have Spikeview. Interns interested in joining a fast-growing global startup can join Spikeview and work on content creation and social media marketing.
Age: High School Students
Location: Virtual
29. Rockefeller University Summer Science Research Program
SSRP Scholars will participate on a research team designed and guided by Rockefeller trainees. SSRP teams mirror the structure of a Rockefeller laboratory, where one trainee serves as team lead with support from dedicated scientist-mentors. Each team will have their own space in the RockEDU laboratory.
The SSRP team experience is enhanced by elective scientific courses, guest lectures, and social events.
Age: High School Juniors and Seniors
Location: Rockefeller University
30. Spark Summer Internship Program
Spark Summer Internship Program will act as a liaison and bring to the interested high school students in the USA, specifically, the Greater Seattle area, appropriate opportunities to interact with industry experts, professors in well-established institutions, community leaders, to experience working in a professional environment and prepare them intellectually and emotionally for the road.
Age: High School Students
Location: Students must be from Washington State
