15 Free Summer Science Programs for Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Aug 12
- 10 min read
Updated: Oct 18
If you’re a middle school student looking for an accessible way to explore science, consider a free science program during your summer break! Free summer science programs for middle school students offer a chance to explore advanced academic topics, gain early exposure to real-world scientific tools and methods, and interact with peers and mentors in a collaborative setting, without the financial burden of traditional enrichment programs. Whether you wish to experiment in a lab, work on coding projects, or explore ecology in the field, these programs can help you strengthen your scientific thinking and problem-solving skills.
In this list, we’ve curated a selection of free summer science programs for middle school students across the U.S. that offer full financial support and meaningful engagement during the summer months.
15 Free Summer Science Programs for Middle School Students
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2400; need-based financial aid is available.
Program dates: The upcoming Winter 2024 cohort starts on July 14
14 and runs for 8 weeks.
Application deadline: Multiple deadlines throughout the year. The upcoming Summer Cohort II closes on June 23
Eligibility: Middle school students in grades 6-8
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is a program for middle school students to work one-on-one with a mentor to explore their academic interests and build a project they are passionate about. Our mentors are scholars from top research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Duke, and LSE.
The program was founded by a Harvard & Oxford PhD who met as undergraduates at Harvard. The program is rigorous and fully virtual. We offer need-based financial aid for students who qualify. You can find the application in the brochure!
Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Program dates: May 17
Application deadline: Rolling admissions
Eligibility: Middle school students
The Stanford seeME program is a one-day summer event designed to immerse you in what engineering is really about. Hosted by the university’s Mechanical Engineering department, seeME connects middle school students with Stanford graduate students who lead interactive workshops on topics like wind energy, fire dynamics, data science, and even how driverless cars work. You won’t just be listening, you’ll be experimenting, building, and problem-solving in real-time as you explore how engineers approach real-world challenges. Each session is designed to help you understand how different types of engineering intersect with everyday life, from predicting disease outbreaks to improving industrial systems. The event also gives you a chance to ask questions about what it’s like to study engineering and see the wide range of careers it can lead to.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,790; need-based financial aid is available
Program dates: 25 hours over 10 weeks (on weekends) during the spring cohort and 25 hours over 2 weeks (on weekdays) during the summer cohort
Application deadline: Rolling deadlines. Apply here.
Eligibility: Students in grades 6-8
The AI Trailblazers program by Veritas AI is a virtual program that teaches middle school students the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Over 25 hours, you will learn the basics of Python as well as topics like data analysis, regression, image classification, neural networks, and AI ethics. Students learn through lectures and group sessions with a 5:1 student-to-mentor ratio. Previous projects done by students have included building a machine-learning model to classify music genres and creating a machine-learning algorithm to provide a custom list of educational resources based on selected specifications.
Location: U-M Ann Arbor Campus and Michigan Engineering Zone, Detroit
Program dates: U-M Ann Arbor Campus: June 23-27 | Michigan Engineering Zone: August 4-8
Application deadline: April 4
Eligibility: Middle school students in grades 6-8 who are Michigan residents
At the University of Michigan's Thinkabit Lab Summer Camp, you'll spend a week diving into hands-on STEM activities focused on solving real-world problems with technology. The free summer science program for middle school students introduces you to the basics of engineering and computer science through guided projects that might include building robotic crafts or exploring how computers process information. You’ll get to work in teams, meet engineers, and use real tools as you learn about the engineering design process from start to finish. Along the way, you’ll strengthen your understanding of science and math in a setting that encourages creativity and experimentation. The camp also highlights how technology can be used for social good, giving you a chance to design and build projects with a purpose.
5. MIT DynaMIT
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Program dates: Mid to late August (1 week for rising 6-7th graders, 1 week for rising 8-9th graders)
Application deadline: February 10
Eligibility: Rising 6th-9th grade students in the Boston area
Hosted by one of the world’s leading science and engineering institutes, DynaMIT is a free, week-long summer program where you can explore STEM through hands-on projects and mentorship at MIT. Aimed at students from low-income backgrounds, the program takes place on the main campus and introduces you to topics like forensics, electricity and magnetism, polymers, and materials science. Your day begins with group activities and presentations to introduce new concepts, followed by team-based experiments and challenges led by current MIT undergraduates. You’ll spend part of each day developing a capstone project that involves basic coding and design skills, with your mentor guiding you through the process. By the end of the week, you’ll have completed a working project that you can present to your peers and family.
Location: Select local schools in New York City
Program dates: July 7–August 1
Application deadline: May 15
Eligibility: Rising 6th-7th graders who are NYC residents
For those looking to understand how cities can use technology to become safer and more sustainable, NYU’s Science of Smart Cities (SoSC) program provides a practical introduction. As a participant, you’ll work in teams to explore topics like electronics, circuitry, environmental science, and programming with microcontrollers. You will learn to build and test real devices using sensors and hardware, applying your skills to address urban issues such as traffic management, energy efficiency, or pollution monitoring. The program emphasizes both technical skills and teamwork, guiding you through the entire process– from learning coding basics to designing and presenting a final project.
Location: Virtual via edX
Program dates: Self-paced (7-10 weeks)
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to anyone with sufficient coding experience
If you're looking for a university-led virtual option, HarvardX’s CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python gives you a deep dive into the core ideas behind modern AI. Aimed at students with some background in Python, this self-paced online course guides you through foundational topics like machine learning, logical inference, neural networks, and natural language processing. You’ll complete a series of practical projects where you build your own intelligent systems, such as solving puzzles using graph search algorithms or creating a basic handwriting recognizer. Along the way, participants also learn how to use key libraries that support machine learning and explore how tools like Bayesian networks and Markov models help computers make decisions. The course is free, but you can get a certificate if you choose the paid version!
Location: Virtual
Program dates: Self-paced (approximately 6 weeks)
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Eligibility: Open to all
The Computer Science 101 course from StanfordOnline is a self-paced experience designed for beginners, including middle school students with no prior coding experience. In this free summer science program for middle school students, you’ll explore what computers are, how they work, and what it really means to write and run code. You will get to experiment with small snippets of computer code directly in your web browser to understand key concepts like loops, logic, and structured data. Topics covered include how computer hardware functions, how software operates, and how digital media including images and videos, are stored and processed. You'll also learn how the internet works, covering basics like IP addresses, Wi-Fi, and even online security. The curriculum is designed to demystify the technology we use every day, giving you a clearer understanding of its power and limitations.
Location: Virtual
Program dates: Self-paced
Application deadline: Rolling admissions
Eligibility: Open to all
In the Fundamentals in Cognitive Robotics course, participants dive into how future robots might think, move, and interact with the world around them, much like humans do. This free online course introduces you to concepts like artificial intelligence, smart materials, and the human brain, drawing connections between biology and robotics. You’ll learn what makes a robot “cognitive,” the idea of embodiment in machines, and how robots can be designed to respond to their surroundings using sensors and actuators. The self-paced experience also covers smart materials that mimic muscles and explores how nerve cells and neural networks in the human brain can inspire robotic intelligence. Along the way, you’ll examine the roles of neurons and glial cells, and gain insight into the nervous system’s role in processing information.
Location: Virtual via Coursera
Program dates: Self-paced
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to everyone, but knowing basic code, arithmetic, and algebra is recommended.
For those curious about how computers learn to make decisions or recognize patterns, the Machine Learning Specialization by Stanford University and DeepLearning.AI is a self-paced online program that introduces you to the core ideas of artificial intelligence. Designed for beginners, this three-course series teaches you how to build and train machine learning models using tools like Python, NumPy, scikit-learn, and TensorFlow. You'll start with supervised learning–covering topics such as linear and logistic regression–then move on to advanced algorithms including neural networks and decision trees. Later, you’ll explore unsupervised methods like clustering and anomaly detection, and even learn how to build recommender systems and reinforcement learning models. The content includes hands-on coding exercises and projects that help you understand how to apply these methods to real-world data.
Location: Virtual
Program dates and application deadline: Varies
Eligibility: K-12 students
MIT RAISE Workshops introduce you to the world of artificial intelligence through activities designed to help you understand how AI works and how it affects people and communities. These workshops build your skills in coding, computational thinking, and creative problem-solving using accessible platforms like Scratch, App Inventor, and Jupyter Notebooks. Participants dive into key AI concepts such as machine learning, decision-making systems, and human-AI interaction, while also examining real-world issues like fairness, transparency, and bias in technology. Throughout the sessions, you’ll work on team-based projects that challenge you to design AI-powered tools that address meaningful problems, emphasizing both innovation and social responsibility. The curriculum is tied to the “5 Big Ideas of AI” and helps you think critically about how machines learn and how to create technology that benefits others.
Location: Virtual
Program dates: Self-paced
Application deadline: None
Eligibility: Open to all
The Understanding Robotics Architecture certification is a solid introduction to the systems that power robotic motion and control. In this course, you’ll dive into key mechanical concepts like kinematics, which explains how robots move, and degrees of freedom, which determine how flexible a robot can be. You'll study the structure of robots, specifically how joints and links form the “anatomy” of manipulators, and learn how different robot designs, like SCARA and Cartesian robots, are used in industrial applications. The program also explores forward kinematics and the Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) algorithm, tools that help determine a robot's position based on its configuration. By working through examples and exercises, you’ll gain insight into how to assign coordinate frames to joints and differentiate between link and joint parameters.
Location: University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Program dates: July 28–August 8
Application deadline: May 1
Eligibility: Students in grades 5–12 who are enrolled in the Manchester School district
At the UNH Manchester Tech Camp, you can dive into a wide range of STEAM topics through hands-on projects designed for students in grades 5 through 12. If you're in grades 5–8, the TechSplorers track gives you the chance to explore subjects like forensic science, sound waves, circuitry, kitchen chemistry, and freshwater ecology through daily, interactive experiments. For students in grades 7–10, the Perceptive Plushies program combines robotics and creative design by letting you bring stuffed animals to life with biosensors and hobbyist microcomputers, introducing key concepts in animatronics and sensor-driven responses. All activities take place in university labs with access to real tools and expert guidance, making it a valuable experience regardless of your prior knowledge. The free summer science program for middle school students emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity while supporting a diverse learning environment. Sponsored programs are free, and scholarships are available for others.
14. GirlsWhoCode
Location: Remote and in-person options available across various locations
Program dates: Ongoing throughout the school year; clubs typically meet 1-2 hours per week after school or on weekends.
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment
Eligibility: Open to all middle school students
Girls Who Code Clubs give you the chance to learn programming in a collaborative, supportive space, whether you're just starting out or already have some experience. As a motivated student in grades 6–12, you’ll work on team-based coding projects that address real-world issues, learning key concepts like loops, variables, conditionals, and functions. The curriculum is flexible, so sessions can take place after school, on weekends, or during the summer, either in person or online. You’ll be part of a community that includes peers and role models who help you explore how computer science can make an impact. All resources, including tutorials and meeting guides, are provided at no cost.
Location: Your school
Program dates and application deadline: Varies
Eligibility: Students in grades 5-12
If you're interested in how data and coding intersect with real-world subjects like math or science, Bootstrap’s Data Science course might be worth exploring. This free summer science program for middle school students builds on topics you're already learning in school, such as statistics and algebra, and uses them to teach core concepts in computer science and data science. You’ll get to analyze real datasets, develop research questions, and use coding tools to find patterns and draw conclusions, all within a structured curriculum designed for grades 5–12. The course is typically taught by your regular math or science teacher, many of whom have received special training to guide you through the content. You might work on projects like comparing crime data across cities or exploring trends in sports stats, depending on what your teacher integrates into the class.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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