Neuroscience Research Programs for High School Students
Updated: Sep 20
Updated September 2, 2026
If you want to work on real neuroscience research as a high schooler, your options split into three groups: free programs that pay you, paid programs that teach you, and one remote option that pairs you with a PhD mentor no matter where you live.
TL;DR
Eleven programs made this list, and the one that works for the widest range of students is the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It's fully remote, open to any high schooler worldwide, pairs you 1-on-1 with a PhD mentor, and offers full financial aid. That flexibility matters if you’re an international student, or want to avoid spending a lot of money on housing and travel!
If you're curious about why people forget names but never how to ride a bike, or why a concussion in eighth grade can still affect focus years later, that curiosity has a name: neuroscience. It's one of the more accessible entry points into pre-college research, since a lot of it runs on close observation rather than lab equipment. If you want a broader list before narrowing to neuroscience specifically, our guide to science research opportunities for high school students covers the wider field. If psychology interests you as much as neuroscience, our psychology research programs guide is worth reading alongside this one. If you already have a program lined up and need a project idea, start with 15 neuroscience research topics for high school students. If none of these fit your calendar or budget, our virtual and free research opportunities guide has more remote, no-cost options across every subject.
How is neuroscience different from traditional biology or medical research?
They overlap, but they're not the same field, and it's worth knowing the difference before you pick a program.
Neuroscience research | Traditional biology or medical research | |
What you study | The nervous system: neurons, circuits, brain regions, behavior | Broader life systems: cells, genetics, physiology, disease pathways |
Common methods | EEG, brain imaging, behavioral testing, electrophysiology | PCR, cell culture, dissection, clinical data review |
Typical output | Data tied to a specific brain function, disorder, or behavior | Data tied to a specific organism, gene, or disease mechanism |
Where it's housed | Neuroscience institutes, psychiatry departments, brain science centers | Biology, molecular biology, or medical school departments |
Good fit if you're drawn to | How the brain drives behavior, learning, memory, or mental health | Genetics, immunology, oncology, or general medicine |
Does research help with college applications?
Yes, but there’s a catch! Colleges care less about the name on the program and more about what you actually produced.
A finished research paper, poster, or presentation shows you can carry a project from question to conclusion, which is different from just attending a summer course
Working with a PhD mentor or lab gives you someone who can write a specific, detailed recommendation letter instead of a generic one
Programs with real selection processes (some of these accept fewer than 15 students) signal that outside reviewers already vetted your work
University-based neuroscience research programs
1. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR) — Neurobiology track
Application deadline: Late February (the 2026 cycle closed February 21)
Duration: 8 weeks, early June through late July
Location: Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors, 16 or older by the program start, U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Selection strongly favors students who live within about an hour of campus, since housing isn't provided
Cost: Free to attend aside from a $50 application fee (waivable for financial need). All students get a minimum $500 stipend, with need-based stipends of $1,500 and up available through special grants
SIMR places you in a real biomedical research lab with Stanford faculty, postdocs, and graduate students. You rank eight research areas on your application; the neurobiology track puts you at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute working on projects in neuro-discovery, neuro-health, or neuro-engineering. You spend two months as a mentee in one assigned lab and close the program with a poster session.
Who it's best for: Strong juniors and seniors in or near the Bay Area, or anyone with a firm local housing plan, who wants the single most widely recognized credential on this list. Take the housing gap seriously. It's why many admitted students end up unable to attend.
Application deadline: Applications open in the fall and have filled to capacity before the stated deadline in recent cycles, so apply as early as you can
Duration: 3 weeks in July
Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (residential)
Eligibility: Grades 9 through 11, open nationally, with one year each of high school biology and chemistry required
Cost: $10,050 for tuition, housing, and meals. Students attending a School District of Philadelphia public or charter high school may qualify for a Penn Summer Scholarship
This academy covers the biological foundations of the brain, from the cellular function of neurons up through higher-order cognition like memory and emotion. The format is lectures, faculty discussions, journal clubs, and lab activities rather than an independent project you design yourself, so don't expect the "Research Academy" name to mean mentored original research. There's also a neuroethics club where students debate live ethical questions in the field.
Who it's best for: Freshmen and sophomores who want a residential college-style experience and can afford it, or Philadelphia-area students eligible for the scholarship. Apply as soon as the fall application window opens, since seats fill quickly.
Application deadline: Applications open in January and typically close by early March
Duration: 6 weeks, mid-June through late July
Location: Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, FL
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors, 16 or older, residing in and attending high school in Palm Beach or Martin County, with U.S. work authorization. No exceptions to any of these requirements
Cost: Free; interns are paid $14 an hour
MPFI is the most technique-heavy program on this list. You work in a real wet lab learning genetic engineering, histological staining, and microscopy, focused on brain structure and advanced imaging. You also have the option of a Scientific Programming track (Python, C/C++, MATLAB, or Java) or a Mechanical Engineering track building custom lab parts. You close the internship by writing a scientific abstract and presenting to peers, researchers, and the wider community.
Who it's best for: Palm Beach and Martin County students who want hands-on bench skills over classroom coursework or clinical shadowing. If your goal is a lab-skills résumé, this beats the broader survey programs.
Application deadline: December 15 through March 1
Duration: 2 weeks (10 days); virtual sessions run in June, in-person sessions run in July
Location: Stanford, CA, or virtual (the virtual track is sometimes called CNV-X)
Eligibility: Current sophomores, juniors, or seniors, 16 or older by the program start
Cost: $3,325 in person, $1,725 virtual, plus a $50 application fee. Scholarships are available for qualified applicants
CNI-X introduces you to psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience through the research of Stanford's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The core of it is a capstone project where you work in a group of 8 to 10 to build a solution to a real clinical problem, then present at a final event. Past topics have covered eating disorders, neuroimaging, mindfulness, and sports psychiatry.
Who it's best for: Sophomores who can't yet apply to most research internships, and students drawn to the clinical and psychiatric side of neuroscience rather than the bench side. This is a paid immersion program, not a mentored research placement. You'll leave with a group capstone, not an independent paper.
Neuroscience opportunities at hospitals and research institutes
Application deadline: Late January
Duration: 6 to 8 weeks, late June through early August
Location: Massachusetts General Hospital and affiliated labs in Boston, Cambridge, or Somerville, MA
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors or recent graduates who live or study in Massachusetts. The program currently does not accept juniors
Cost: Free; a paid position (exact stipend not published)
The program opens with a boot camp covering research skills, lab technique, and networking, then moves into a one-on-one mentorship where you're paired with an MGH neurology faculty member to complete a lab project. The program was built specifically to reach students from communities underrepresented in neurology, including female, Black, Latinx, American Indian, and first-generation students, alongside lectures, field trips, and a closing presentation to faculty, peers, and family.
Who it's best for: Massachusetts students, especially those from backgrounds underrepresented in the field, who want hospital-based research with real presentation and publication support built in. Note that the eligibility window has narrowed to rising seniors and recent grads, so juniors should plan on applying the following year.
Application deadline: No direct application. Partner programs distribute nominations each fall for a January start
Duration: Part-time spring training sessions, followed by a 7-week full-time placement from late June through mid-August
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Eligibility: NYC students in grades 10 or 11, nominated through one of five partner programs: S-PREP, Lang Youth Medical Program, Double Discovery Center, Columbia Secondary School, or BioBus. Preference goes to students in upper Manhattan and the South Bronx
Cost: Free; a paid position
BRAINYAC places you in a Columbia lab with a neuroscience mentor, where you run experiments, collect data, and assist on active projects, plus workshops on lab technique and research ethics. One past participant studied how specific neurons transmit sensory information from the environment.
Who it's best for: Only NYC students already connected to one of the five partner organizations, since there's no direct application path. If you're a 9th grader in Upper Manhattan or the Bronx, the move is to join a partner program now so you're eligible for nomination next year.
Application deadline: Typically March. Information for the following cycle is usually released in January
Duration: 7 to 8 weeks over the summer
Location: Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors who are U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals, or permanent residents
Cost: Free; paid stipend (NIH-funded, roughly $2,300 and up)
This NIH-funded program focuses on neurological injury and neurodegeneration. You work in an active lab with a trained mentor while learning alongside graduate students and technicians, with access to university research facilities for the full internship. Ohio State publishes its list of potential faculty mentors in advance, which is genuinely useful for writing a targeted application. It's also more competitive than its open eligibility might suggest: the most recent cohort selected 12 students out of 272 applicants.
Who it's best for: Rising juniors and seniors who want a paid, open-application program without a nomination requirement. Just don't mistake "open application" for "easy to get into."
Application deadline: December 15 through February 8
Duration: 8 weeks, mid-June through early August
Location: Duke University, Durham, NC
Eligibility: Sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are at least 15, U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or legal residents, with reliable daily transportation to campus. Eligibility is limited to students attending a specific list of Durham-area public and charter high schools, not all of North Carolina
Cost: Free; a stipend plus daily lunch. No housing is provided, so you'll need to commute
DUNE matches you with a Duke neuroscience lab and a professional mentor, and you work on a project of your own choosing rather than one assigned to you. Alongside the lab work, professional development sessions cover neuroscience, college applications, and career paths, and the program closes with a poster session.
Who it's best for: Students at an eligible Durham-area school within commuting distance, especially sophomores. DUNE's 15-and-up age floor makes it one of the very few paid lab programs on this list that will take you that early. Double-check the current partner school list before you plan around this one, since eligibility has narrowed from a statewide pool to specific schools.
Program status: Paused for 2026. CHOP has confirmed the program will resume in July 2027
Duration when running: 5 weeks, typically July through August
Location: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA
Eligibility: Sophomores, juniors, and seniors, 16 or older, able to commute five days a week
Cost: Free; a $1,000 stipend
When it's running, you work with a neurologist or neuroscientist on either a basic science or clinical research project, shadow physicians in clinic, attend weekly education sessions, and present a poster at a final conference. Budget extra time for clearances beyond the application itself: immunizations, FBI fingerprinting, and background checks are all required, and they routinely take longer than students expect.
Who it's best for: Philadelphia-area students weighing clinical neurology against research neuroscience, once the program reopens for summer 2027. If your timeline is this year, consider JHIBS in-person or MGH Youth Neurology for similar clinical exposure.
Online and remote neuroscience programs for high school students
10. Lumiere Research Scholar Program — Neuroscience track
Application deadline: Rolling, with spring, summer, fall, and winter cohorts
Duration: 12 weeks for the standard track, up to 6 to 12 months for the Research Fellowship track
Location: Fully remote, open to students worldwide
Eligibility: Currently enrolled in high school with a strong academic record
Cost: From $2,990 for the 12-week Individual Research Program up to $8,900 for the 6-to-12-month Research Fellowship. Full financial aid is available
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program pairs you 1-on-1 with a PhD mentor to design and carry out an independent neuroscience research project, ending in a university-level paper. Because the mentorship is individual instead of group-based, you pick your own angle. Past students have worked on topics ranging from adolescent decision-making and prefrontal cortex development to sleep and memory consolidation. Longer tracks add a publication-support component for students aiming at high school research journals.
Who it's best for: Students outside the U.S., students in rural areas without a nearby research university, freshmen and sophomores who don't yet qualify for campus programs, and anyone who wants a finished paper rather than a poster session.
Application deadline: December 1 through March 1
Duration: 8 weeks in person, 5 weeks for the virtual track
Location: Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology, Baltimore, MD, or virtual
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors. In-person applicants must attend a Baltimore-area high school; the virtual track is open to students across the U.S.
Cost: Free. In-person interns receive hourly wages plus transportation support. Virtual interns receive a $500 stipend
JHIBS runs two distinct tracks, and the difference matters for your odds. The in-person track takes about eight students and pairs lab work with clinical rotations alongside practicing neurologists, seminars, and a final oral or poster presentation. The virtual track takes a much larger group and focuses on lab-technique walkthroughs, mentorship training, and educational presentations rather than hands-on bench work.
Who it's best for: Baltimore-area students who want clinical exposure should aim for the in-person track. Everyone else should treat the virtual track as one of the few genuinely free, nationally accessible neuroscience programs on this list.
How to choose
If you... | Recommended program(s) |
Live outside the U.S. or far from a research university | Lumiere Research Scholar Program |
Are a freshman or sophomore | |
Want to get paid instead of paying tuition | |
Want the most recognized name on a résumé | |
Want hands-on wet-lab technique | |
Want hospital or clinical exposure | |
Want a finished research paper instead of a poster |
Frequently asked questions
Are there free or paid neuroscience research programs for high school students?
Most programs on this list are free to attend, and eight of the eleven pay you. JHIBS, SIMR, MGH Youth Neurology, BRAINYAC, Ohio State's Explorations program, Duke DUNE, MPFI, and CHOP (once it reopens) all provide a stipend or hourly wage. Only three charge tuition: Stanford CNI-X, UPenn's Neuroscience Research Academy, and Lumiere, and Lumiere offers full financial aid.
Can sophomores or freshmen apply to neuroscience research programs?
Three campus programs will take you: Stanford CNI-X (sophomores and up), UPenn's Neuroscience Research Academy (grade 9 and up), and Duke DUNE (sophomores who are at least 15, and only at eligible Durham-area schools). Beyond those, remote mentorship programs like Lumiere accept any enrolled high schooler, which is why they're often a student's first research experience before junior year.
What happened to CHOP's Neurology High School Scholars Program?
It's paused for 2026. CHOP has confirmed it will resume in July 2027. If you were counting on it for this summer, JHIBS in person and MGH Youth Neurology offer similar hospital-based, clinical-adjacent experiences in the meantime.
Are any of these programs open to international students?
Only one. The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is fully remote and open to students worldwide, with financial aid available. Every other program on this list requires U.S. citizenship, permanent residency, or local residency near the host institution.
How competitive are these programs?
It varies more than the "open application" label suggests. Ohio State's program looks accessible since there's no nomination requirement, but its most recent cohort took 12 students from 272 applicants. SIMR's acceptance rate runs under 3%. JHIBS in person takes about 8 students total. BRAINYAC and UPenn's Academy don't publish numbers, but BRAINYAC has no open application path at all, and UPenn's Academy has been filling before its stated deadline.
What's the real difference between a "research academy" and a research internship?
It's whether you design the project or attend one that's already built. UPenn's Neuroscience Research Academy is lectures, journal clubs, and structured lab activities led by faculty, closer to a college course than independent research. Programs like JHIBS, SIMR, BRAINYAC, Duke DUNE, and Lumiere put you on an actual research question, whether that's one assigned by a lab or one you develop yourself with a mentor.
How do I apply to a neuroscience research program?
Most campus programs want an application form with short essays, a transcript, and one or two letters of recommendation. Deadlines cluster from December through March for summer programs, with a few (BRAINYAC) running on nomination only instead of open application. Rolling-admission programs like Lumiere run cohorts year-round instead of a single summer cycle.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.