Summer STEM Research Programs for High School Students (2027)
Updated: 6 days ago
Updated: 11 September, 2026
TL;DR
This guide covers 20 summer STEM research programs, grouped by cost and eligibility. For other subjects, see our full research opportunities guide. Eight are free and pay a stipend, and most offer real need-based aid. The catch almost nobody warns you about is eligibility: Princeton takes New Jersey students only, Northeastern takes Massachusetts students, NYU ARISE takes New York City students, and NIST wants you living within 50 miles of its campus. MIT's Research Science Institute is the hardest to get into at under 2.5%. If you live outside the U.S., or you are a freshman or sophomore, most of this list is closed to you. If you want a rigorous, mentor-led research project rather than a fixed-curriculum program, the Lumiere Research Scholar Program pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor.
How to get into a summer STEM research program?
Most students lose these applications on the boring parts, not the essays. Programs read for one thing: will this person show up every day for seven weeks and still be useful in week six? Here is what actually moves the needle.
Take the coursework the program asks for. SSP requires physics and precalculus for astrophysics, and biology and chemistry for biochemistry. Rutgers wants a year of biology. If the prerequisite is listed, check it off.
Show you have already done something unsupervised. A science fair project, a research competition entry, a paper you wrote because you wanted to. It does not have to be impressive. It has to be yours.
Get your recommenders early. Most programs want two teacher letters, and several set the recommendation deadline after the student deadline, which fools people into asking late. Ask in November.
Apply in December, not March. The best programs close earliest. RSI closes in early December. Rockefeller closes January 2. Jackson Laboratory closes January 25. By the spring, the top of the list is gone — though our roundup of summer programs still open can help if you are starting late.
If you are not sure where to start, our guides on getting research experience in high school and landing a research position cover routes that don't involve a formal program, including a cold-email template for contacting professors.
Do summer STEM research programs help with your college applications?
Yes, but not for the reason students assume. Admissions readers are not counting program names on a list. They are reading for evidence that you can hold a question in your head for months and come out the other side with something to say about it.
They differentiate you from students with the same grades. Thousands of applicants have a 4.0 and AP Chemistry. Far fewer have spent a summer finding out that their hypothesis was wrong and writing about why.
They give your application a direction. A student who did genomics at Jackson Laboratory and then wrote about gene editing reads as someone with a field, not a list of activities.
They give you recommenders who have seen you work. A letter from a mentor who watched you troubleshoot a failed experiment is worth more than one from a teacher who watched you get an A.
They give you something to enter. A finished summer project is what you take into Regeneron ISEF or the Regeneron Science Talent Search, which is where research turns into a national credential.
An analysis of 492 Lumiere alumni found that scholars were roughly 4x more likely to be admitted to Ivy League schools than the global average, at 20% versus 5%. That is not a controlled study, and students who seek out research are already motivated students. But the direction is consistent with what admissions officers say about depth over breadth. Our guide on how summer research programs benefit high school students goes further into the evidence.
This list is STEM-specific. For the wider picture, our 45+ best summer research programs cover every subject; we sort the best research opportunities by competitiveness, and 15 science research programs go deeper into the life sciences. Pathways to Science is the standard free database for searching university-run STEM programs yourself.
Section | Programs | Cost | Best for |
Tuition, with aid | International students, freshmen and sophomores, anyone not near a university | ||
Free + $750 to $7,500 | Students who need the summer to pay for itself | ||
Free | Students near the campus who want the strongest name | ||
Tuition-based programs | $5,500 to $15,200 | International students and sophomores, who have few free options |
Online STEM research programs open worldwide
These are the only two on this list with no residency rule and no campus to get to.
Location: Fully online, open worldwide
Cost/Stipend: Tuition-based, with need-based financial aid
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective, two-stage application. Over 7,200 students mentored since 2020
Dates: 12 weeks, with longer tracks up to a year. Cohorts start in summer, fall, winter, and spring
Application deadline: Rolling by cohort
Eligibility: Currently enrolled in high school with a strong academic record. No age floor
You are matched one-on-one with a PhD mentor and work on your own research project in a STEM field you pick, from biology and computer science to physics and engineering. The end product is a written research paper, not a group poster. Longer tracks add support for three rounds of journal submissions, and student work has been published in more than 50 academic journals. Finishing makes you eligible for three post-baccalaureate credits and a transcript from UC San Diego Extended Studies.
Who it's best for: A student outside the U.S., or a freshman or sophomore who is too young for almost everything else on this list, who wants a paper with their name on it rather than lab exposure. See our roundup of the best research mentorship programs for how 1:1 models compare.
Location: Fully online, open worldwide
Cost/Stipend: $6,950, including publication support and a showcase
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published
Dates: 12–15 weeks, including 12 one-on-one mentor sessions
Application deadline: Rolling, across several cohorts a year
Eligibility: Grades 9–12. You need basic Python, or you must finish AI Scholars first
The Fellowship is built around one thing. You build a new AI model in a field you care about. The first four weeks are exploration and learning. The next four are data analysis and testing whether your idea is workable. The rest is building the project and presenting it. Your mentor is a working AI researcher, and you finish with a written evaluation from them.
Who it's best for: A student who already codes a little and wants to apply machine learning to a real problem instead of taking another intro course. If you have never coded, start with Veritas AI Scholars at $2,690, which has no prerequisites. For other options in this space, see our list of AI research programs for high school students.
Free STEM research programs that pay a stipend
Location: Bar Harbor, Maine or Farmington, Connecticut. Residential
Cost/Stipend: Free, with a $7,500 stipend plus housing, meals, and round-trip travel
Acceptance rate/cohort size: About 6%. The 2025 cohort was 32 students from more than 500 applicants
Dates: 10 weeks, 40 hours a week. Exact 2027 dates not posted yet
Application deadline: January 25, 2027 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Applications open November 2026
Eligibility: High school seniors and undergraduates
You run your own mentored project in genetics and genomics inside a working lab. Recent projects covered genetic resistance to triple-negative breast cancer and how Alzheimer's is inherited. Others looked at how the brain repairs itself after a stroke, and at aging in chronic kidney disease. The program includes a weekly journal club, plus sessions on genetic testing, data visualization, and science communication.
Who it's best for: A high school senior who wants the best-funded research summer in the country and is realistic about the odds — only two of the 32 students in the 2025 cohort came from high schools. Our Jackson Laboratory review covers whether it is worth the application. If genetics is your field, our biology research opportunities list has more.
Location: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. Residential
Cost/Stipend: Free, including room and board, plus a $750 stipend on completion. $25 application fee
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 12 students. Acceptance rate not published
Dates: 7 weeks. Last run: June 21 to August 6
Application deadline: Last posted as February 16, 2026 — the 2027 date is not out yet
Eligibility: Rising seniors and recent graduates, at least 17 by the start date, with no exceptions. U.S. citizens or permanent residents only
Every scholar gets a Texas Tech faculty mentor and a hands-on project for the full seven weeks. There are weekly seminars and organized weekend activities. You must complete a written research report to receive the stipend. The subject range is wide, covering chemistry, biology, engineering, and mathematics.
Who it's best for: An older rising senior with a specific research interest who wants a very small, very intense, fully funded summer. Our Clark Scholars deep dive walks through the application, and our Texas STEM research programs roundup covers the rest of the state.
Location: Stony Brook University, NY. Commuter or residential
Cost/Stipend: No tuition or fees, plus a stipend. Housing and meals are not free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Under 5%. Cohort size not published
Dates: About 6 weeks. Last run June 29 to August 7
Application deadline: Last posted as February 5, 2026, with school nominations due January 30 — the 2027 date is not out yet
Eligibility: Currently in 11th grade, at least 16 by the start date, U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Requires a school nomination
You join a Stony Brook faculty member's research group and take on your own project inside it. Alongside the lab work there are weekly faculty talks, workshops, and lab tours. You finish by writing a research abstract and presenting a poster at the closing symposium.
Who it's best for: A New York junior who can get a school nomination and wants a real faculty lab placement without paying tuition. Our Simons program guide covers what nominators look for, and our New York research opportunities list has 17 more.
Location: Washington University in St. Louis, MO
Cost/Stipend: Free, with a $4,800 pre-tax stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 15–18 students a year. Acceptance rate not published
Dates: 8 weeks. Last run June 1 to July 24
Application deadline: Historically late January, with letters in early February — the 2027 date is not out yet
Eligibility: In 11th grade when you apply, attending a high school in the Greater St. Louis area and a permanent resident of the metro area (Missouri or Illinois)
Each scholar runs an independent biomedical research project in a WashU lab with a scientist mentor. You also meet weekly with assigned tutors. Two courses are required. One covers how to explain science, and one covers college prep. The summer ends with a symposium where you present your findings.
Who it's best for: A St. Louis junior — the residency rule is strict and there is no way around it. The program has run since 1991, so the mentor network is unusually deep. If you are elsewhere in the Midwest, our Illinois research programs list covers 16 more within driving distance.
Location: NYU Tandon, Brooklyn, NY. Remote first, then in person
Cost/Stipend: Free, with a $2,000 stipend on completion
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published. Students are placed across 80+ NYU labs
Dates: About 10 weeks. Remote evening workshops in June, lab work from early July
Application deadline: Late February, last posted as February 27, 2026 — the 2027 date is not out yet
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors who live in New York City and attend a New York City school
The first month is remote evening workshops on research methods, public speaking, and leadership. Then you are placed in an NYU lab and work Monday to Friday, 9 to 4, under a faculty member and a graduate student mentor. You build up around 150 hours of lab time. You present twice at the end: once at the ARISE Colloquium, and once at a poster symposium at the American Museum of Natural History.
Who it's best for: A New York City student who wants a long, serious lab placement and is willing to give up most of the summer — the two-part structure runs June through mid-August. Our 10 tips for getting into NYU ARISE cover the application in detail.
Location: Duke Department of Biomedical Engineering, Durham, NC
Cost/Stipend: Free, with a stipend, daily lunch, and a transit pass. Amount not published
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published
Dates: 7 weeks, eight hours a day on weekdays. Last run June 15 to July 31
Application deadline: Last posted as February 15, 2026, with recommendations due February 20. The 2027 application usually goes live in November
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors, at least 16, attending a North Carolina high school. Durham Public School students get priority
You are placed in a Duke biomedical engineering lab and work on a real project for seven weeks running. Past students have built a mobile spectroscopy device, worked on stem cells for progeria research, and helped develop organ-chip models. Weekly seminars on college advising and professional skills are required, and there are talks from engineering professors and working engineers.
Who it's best for: A North Carolina student who can commute to Durham daily, especially a first-generation student — Duke states plainly that it cannot house out-of-state students. If engineering is the draw, our paid engineering internships list has options without the residency rule.
Location: Host research labs across New Jersey, and sometimes New York City
Cost/Stipend: Free, with a $1,200 stipend paid on completion
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published. Historically around 40 students
Dates: About 7 to 8 weeks at 35–40 hours a week. Last run July 6 to August 22
Application deadline: Last posted as January 18, 2026, with recommendations due February 1. LSC says the 2027 application opens in fall 2026
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors. No state residency rule, but you arrange your own transport
You are matched with a mentor scientist at a university or hospital lab. You then work full time on that lab's active project all summer. Liberty Science Center also trains you in written and spoken science communication. The summer closes with a public symposium where every student presents.
Who it's best for: A New Jersey or New York metro student who is comfortable interviewing — selection runs through a group interview, an individual interview, and a mentor matching interview. Our New Jersey summer research programs list covers 10 more in the state.
Location: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Cost/Stipend: Free, and the internship is paid. Cedars-Sinai does not publish the amount
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 25 research interns across the whole INSPIRE program
Dates: 6 to 10 weeks. Last starting June 29, with no flexibility on the start date
Application deadline: Last cycle had a one-week window, February 1–8, 2026, with no late submissions — the 2027 window is not out yet
Eligibility: High school students aged 16 or older. The age rule is not flexible
You work with a Cedars-Sinai faculty mentor on a lab or clinical research project. The training is unusually clear about the mechanics of research. You cover study design, data collection and analysis, literature review, abstract writing, safety rules, patient data privacy, and presentation skills. Workshops on networking and careers run alongside the lab work.
Who it's best for: A Los Angeles student who wants hospital research rather than a university lab, and wants to see how clinical studies are actually built. Our California STEM research programs list covers the rest of the state.
Free STEM research programs with no stipend
These cost nothing to attend, but you cover your own housing, food, and travel.
Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA. From summer 2027, a second site opens at Stanford
Cost/Stipend: Free. Housing, meals, and educational costs are covered. No stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Under 2.5%, from more than 2,500 U.S. and 600 international applications. 100 students at MIT, plus 50 at Stanford from 2027
Dates: 6 weeks. Last run June 28 to August 8
Application deadline: Early to mid-December. The 2026 deadline was December 10, 2025 — the 2027 date is not out yet
Eligibility: Rising seniors only — seniors are not eligible. Open to U.S. students and to international students from participating countries
The first week is fast coursework in math, physics, chemistry, and biology. The next five weeks are a research internship with a mentor scientist in a Boston-area lab. You read the current literature, build a research plan, and run your experiments. The last stretch is writing it up and presenting, conference style. Some students end up as co-authors on published papers.
Who it's best for: One of the strongest juniors in the country — and only a junior, since there is no second chance senior year. Our RSI acceptance guide covers the essays and test score expectations. If RSI is out of reach, MITES is MIT's other fully funded summer route.
Location: Stanford School of Medicine, CA. No housing, and Stanford cannot help you find any
Cost/Stipend: Free to attend. $50 application fee with waivers. A limited number of need-based stipends for families earning under $80,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published
Dates: 8 weeks. Stanford lists tentative 2027 dates of June 7 to July 29
Application deadline: Late February 2027. The application opens December 18, 2026 at 5 p.m. PST
Eligibility: Current juniors or seniors, at least 16, living in and attending high school in the U.S., and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. International students are not eligible
You pick from eight research areas. They are immunology, cancer biology, stem cell biology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, genetics, bioinformatics, and bioengineering. You then work about 40 hours a week on a medical project with your own mentor. Institute lectures and career seminars run throughout, and the last day is a poster session.
Who it's best for: A Bay Area junior or senior — Stanford says openly that it gives strong preference to students living within about an hour's drive. Our SIMR guide explains how the research area ranking works.
Location: Rockefeller University, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: Free, with no application fee. Travel around NYC is covered with an OMNY card, and need-based stipends may be awarded
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 32 scholars, in four teams of 8 to 10. Acceptance rate not published
Dates: 7 weeks, about 35 hours a week. Last run June 22 to August 6
Application deadline: Last posted as January 2, 2026, with recommendations due January 5. The 2027 application usually appears in October
Eligibility: Current juniors or seniors, at least 16. No citizenship or residency requirement, and no prior research experience needed
You join a team led by Rockefeller graduate students and postdocs. You choose your own research question and work on it for several weeks. Then you analyze your data and build a poster. Teams sit in on lab meetings and lectures and get to use Rockefeller's core facilities. Alumni can return for a second summer through SSRP in situ, which places you directly in a Rockefeller lab.
Who it's best for: A student who wants a real research question of their own rather than a task list — the team structure makes it more forgiving than a solo placement. Our SSRP breakdown has more.
Location: Northeastern's Boston campus. Commuter only
Cost/Stipend: Free. Northeastern does not state that a stipend is included
Acceptance rate/cohort size: About 9% — the 2025 cohort was 32 students from more than 350 applications
Dates: 6 weeks. The 2027 dates are still to be confirmed; 2026 ran June 22 to July 30, Monday to Thursday
Application deadline: Applications open December 14, 2026 and close February 28, 2027
Eligibility: Rising seniors who are permanent Massachusetts residents within commuting distance, and U.S. citizens or permanent residents
You are placed in a faculty lab in engineering, science, or health sciences. Real 2025 projects included testing carbon cathodes made from used espresso grounds for water filtration. Another student designed printed circuit boards to test prototypes. The program ends with final presentations and a poster session, and includes career seminars, college counseling, and visits to corporate and government labs.
Who it's best for: A Massachusetts rising senior who is undecided between academic and industry research — the lab visits are a genuine perk. Our Boston research programs list covers Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber, and others nearby.
Location: Princeton, NJ. Non-residential, with no housing or transport provided
Cost/Stipend: Free. Princeton does not mention a stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published. Princeton receives over 3,000 applications a year
Dates: 5 to 6 weeks, with the schedule set around your project
Application deadline: The 2027 application opens February 15, 2027 and closes in mid-March. Decisions are rolling
Eligibility: At least 16 by June 15, enrolled in a New Jersey high school, and a U.S. citizen. Green cards and work authorization documents are not accepted
You join an ongoing faculty research project in the sciences or engineering. You work under close supervision from Princeton faculty and research staff. Everyone turns in a two-page research summary at the end of the summer.
Who it's best for: A New Jersey student who is a U.S. citizen and can get to campus daily. Our Princeton LLP write-up covers what the application asks for.
Location: Gaithersburg, MD or Boulder, CO
Cost/Stipend: Free, but unpaid. This is a student volunteer position with no stipend, housing, or travel support
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published
Dates: 7 weeks. Last run June 22 to August 7
Application deadline: Expected to open mid-October 2026 and close in late January. The 2026 deadline was January 26. You apply through USAJobs
Eligibility: U.S. citizens only, junior or senior when applying, minimum 3.0 unweighted GPA, and a permanent address within 50 miles of the campus
You are matched with a NIST scientist or engineer. You work on their active research problem for the full seven weeks and finish with a poster session. NIST works on measurement science across physics, chemistry, materials, engineering, and cybersecurity. The range of possible projects is unusually wide for one place.
Who it's best for: A student near Gaithersburg or Boulder who wants a federal lab on their résumé and can afford an unpaid summer. Two other federal routes worth checking are the NIH Summer Internship Program, open to seniors within 40 miles of an NIH campus, and the Department of Energy's programs across its 17 national labs. Our prestigious STEM internships list has more.
Tuition-based STEM research programs
These charge real money, but three of the four have serious financial aid.
Location: 13 host campuses, including Colby, Lehigh, Purdue, Indiana, Knox, and the University of Guelph in Canada. Residential
Cost/Stipend: $11,800, covering room, board, tuition, and supplies. No application fee. SSP meets 100% of demonstrated need, including airfare, plus $3,000 stipends for students who would otherwise have to work
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Around 700 participants across all campuses. Acceptance rate not published
Dates: 5 weeks, starting mid to late June depending on campus
Application deadline: Last cycle had two — January 29, 2026 for international students and February 19, 2026 for domestic. The 2027 dates are not out yet
Eligibility: Current juniors only, at least 15 and not yet 19 during the program. International students welcome. Each track has coursework prerequisites, and no test scores are collected
You work in a team of three on a real research project for about 60 hours a week. Your mentors are graduate students and college seniors. Astrophysics teams write an observing proposal and take their own telescope images of a near-Earth asteroid. They measure its position against background stars, then write Python code to compute its orbit. Other tracks cover bacterial genomics, biochemistry, and cell biology, including gene editing in yeast.
Who it's best for: A junior who wants hard quantitative research and is not put off by the sticker price — families under about $100,000 usually attend free plus travel. Our Summer Science Program review covers what the five weeks are actually like.
Location: University of Iowa, Iowa City. Residential
Cost/Stipend: $7,500, covering room, board, materials, and three semester hours of college credit. $95 application fee. Scholarships may cover up to 95% of the cost
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published. Described as highly selective
Dates: About 5.5 weeks. Confirmed 2027 dates: June 16 to July 23
Application deadline: Opens December 15, 2026 and closes February 16, 2027. Decisions April 1
Eligibility: Currently in grade 10 or 11. International students eligible with a student visa and proof of English proficiency
You join a faculty member's research group and work 9 to 4, Monday to Friday, on that lab's ongoing project. You produce a written research brief and an academic poster. Evening seminars and activities are required.
Who it's best for: A sophomore or junior who wants a residential program with real college credit, or an international student — this is one of very few U.S. campus programs open to them. Our Iowa SSTP guide covers the application.
Location: University of Florida, Gainesville. Residential
Cost/Stipend: $5,500, plus a $50 application fee and a $500 deposit. Covers housing, field trips, and insurance — but not daily meals. Need-based scholarships are limited to Florida students
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published
Dates: 7 weeks. Last run June 7 to July 25
Application deadline: Last cycle opened January 5 and closed March 25, 2026 — the 2027 dates are not out yet
Eligibility: Rising seniors, 16 or older by the start date. Open worldwide, with limited places reserved for non-Florida students. No minimum GPA
You spend about 30 hours a week on faculty-mentored lab research. There is also a daily science lecture series and a UF Honors seminar. There are three required deliverables: a written research paper, two research talks, and a research poster.
Who it's best for: A rising senior who wants a paper and a poster from the same summer, or an international student — but only if you can commit to all seven weeks, which UF requires with no exceptions. If you are in Florida, our Florida research programs roundup has more local options.
Location: University of Chicago. Residential only — there is no commuter option
Cost/Stipend: $15,200, plus a $75 application fee and a $1,000 deposit. Need-based aid is first come, first served for households under $125,000, and awards are partial
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not published
Dates: 4 weeks, Monday to Friday. Last run June 24 to July 19
Application deadline: Last cycle had a priority deadline of February 11 and a regular deadline of March 12, 2026 — the 2027 dates are not out yet
Eligibility: Current 10th or 11th graders, at least 15. All applicants considered regardless of citizenship, and undocumented students are eligible
RIBS starts with basic bench training. It then moves into current molecular techniques in developmental biology and microbiology. You keep a lab notebook, give group presentations, and present at a closing research forum. You earn 200 units of credit, or roughly two undergraduate courses, though these do not count toward graduation if you later enroll at UChicago.
Who it's best for: A sophomore or junior who wants serious technique training and can afford it — but be clear that this is a lab course, not an independent research placement. The real draw is the return pathway: on a space-available basis, students are invited back the following year to work in an actual UChicago lab. Our roundup of 8 summer opportunities at UChicago covers the fully funded alternatives on the same campus.
How to choose between these programs
If you live outside the U.S.: your realistic options are online programs, SSP, Iowa SSTP, UF SSTP, UChicago RIBS, and RSI if your country participates. Everything else requires U.S. citizenship, a green card, or local residency. Our list of virtual and free research opportunities includes more options open worldwide.
If you are a freshman or sophomore: online programs will take you now. Among campus programs, only Iowa SSTP and UChicago RIBS accept 10th graders. Everything else wants rising juniors at minimum. See our lists for freshmen and sophomores to see what's realistic before junior year.
If cost is the constraint: eight programs here are free and pay you, and six more are free to attend. Start with Liberty Science Center and Cedars-Sinai, which have the widest eligibility, then check whether any of the residency-gated ones match where you live. Our free and paid summer research program lists go beyond STEM alone.
If you want the strongest name: MIT RSI (under 2.5%), then Clark Scholars (12 places), then Simons (under 5%), then Jackson Laboratory (about 6%).
If you want a written paper rather than a poster: mentorship-based programs and UF SSTP are the two routes that end in a written research paper. Most campus programs end in a poster or a group presentation, which matters if you are aiming at journals or competitions.
If you want to be paid well: Jackson Laboratory ($7,500), WashU ($4,800), and NYU ARISE ($2,000) are the highest, and all three cover the full summer.
If you want lab technique specifically: UChicago RIBS and Jackson Laboratory go deepest on bench skills. Cedars-Sinai is the best choice if you want to understand clinical study design instead.
If you want an internship rather than a research placement: the two are not the same thing. Our STEM summer internships list and our explainer on research programs versus internships cover the difference.
How to publish your research as a high schooler
A poster at a closing symposium disappears the day the program ends. A published paper does not. If you want your summer to keep working for you, plan for publication from the start.
Pick a question small enough to finish. Most high school research fails to publish because the scope was too big for one summer. A narrow question with clean data beats an ambitious one with nothing conclusive. Our STEM research topics list is a good place to find one.
Write as you go, not at the end. Keep your methods notes in publishable form from week one. Students who wait until August are rewriting from memory, and it shows. Our guide on how to write a research paper in high school walks through the structure.
Target the right journal. High school journals like the Journal of Emerging Investigators are built for this and give real peer review. Aiming straight at a professional journal usually means a rejection with no feedback. Our list of 16 journals that publish high school research includes acceptance rates and fees, and our guide on how to publish a research paper in high school covers the submission process.
Most campus programs end at the poster and do not support you past that. Programs built around a written output do — the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, for example, includes support for three rounds of journal submissions, and student work has appeared in more than 50 journals.
Frequently asked questions: summer STEM research programs for high school students
Are there free summer STEM research programs for high school students?
Yes, and there are more than most students realize. Eight programs on this list are free and pay a stipend: Jackson Laboratory, Clark Scholars, Simons, WashU, NYU ARISE, Duke REP, Liberty Science Center, and Cedars-Sinai. Six more are free but unpaid: MIT RSI, Stanford SIMR, Rockefeller SSRP, Northeastern, Princeton, and NIST SHIP. The catch is that free programs are usually the most selective, and many limit who can apply by state or citizenship. Our full lists of free summer research programs and paid summer research programs have more options.
Which summer STEM research programs accept international students?
Very few campus programs do. The Summer Science Program, Iowa SSTP, UF SSTP, and UChicago RIBS all accept international applicants, and Rockefeller SSRP has no citizenship or residency rule. MIT RSI takes international students from participating countries. Stanford SIMR, Clark Scholars, Princeton, NIST, and Simons all require U.S. citizenship or a green card. If you are applying from outside the U.S., online programs like the Lumiere Research Scholar Program and the Veritas AI Fellowship are open worldwide with no visa needed.
How much do summer STEM research programs cost?
It splits into three groups. Fourteen of the twenty programs here cost nothing to attend, and eight of those also pay you between $750 and $7,500. The tuition-based ones range from $5,500 at UF to $15,200 at UChicago. SSP sits at $11,800 and Iowa at $7,500. Almost every paid program has need-based aid. SSP meets 100% of demonstrated need including airfare, Iowa covers up to 95% of the fee for some students, and UChicago offers partial aid for households under $125,000. Do not rule out a program on the sticker price before you check the aid page. Our free summer research programs list is the place to start if budget is the deciding factor.
Can sophomores apply to summer STEM research programs?
Only a few. Among campus programs, Iowa SSTP takes students in grade 10, and UChicago RIBS takes 10th and 11th graders who are at least 15. Everything else on this list wants rising juniors or rising seniors, and some are stricter still — Clark Scholars requires you to be 17, and SSP takes juniors only. If you are a freshman or sophomore, an online mentorship program is usually your first option, and having one on your record makes the junior-year applications much stronger.
When are the deadlines for summer 2027 programs?
Most fall between December and March, and the best programs are on the early end. Four are confirmed so far. Jackson Laboratory closes January 25, 2027. Iowa SSTP closes February 16, 2027. Northeastern closes February 28, 2027. Stanford SIMR opens December 18, 2026 and closes in late February. RSI has historically closed in early to mid-December, which catches people out every year. Clark Scholars, Simons, SSP, and Rockefeller had not posted 2027 dates as of September 2026, so check their pages in late fall. If you are reading this in the spring and everything has closed, our list of summer programs still open is the fallback.
What do you actually do in a summer STEM research program?
It varies more than the brochures suggest. At the deepest end, Jackson Laboratory students run their own genomics project for ten weeks. SSP teams write Python code to compute an asteroid's orbit from their own telescope images. In hospital programs like Cedars-Sinai, you are closer to clinical work: study design, data collection, literature review. In lab courses like UChicago RIBS, you learn technique in a set sequence. In online mentorship programs, you define a question, review the literature, analyze data, and write it up. Almost all of them end in a poster, a presentation, or a paper.
How competitive are these programs?
The published numbers are brutal at the top and unclear in the middle. MIT RSI takes under 2.5% of more than 3,000 applicants. Simons is under 5%. Jackson Laboratory took 32 out of more than 500. Northeastern took 32 out of more than 350, about 9%. Most programs do not publish a rate at all. Any percentage you see quoted for them on other sites is usually a guess. A better way to read competitiveness is cohort size: Clark Scholars takes 12 students, WashU takes 15 to 18, and Rockefeller takes 32. Our roundup of the most selective research opportunities sorts options by exactly this.
Are there summer STEM research programs near me?
Geography is the single biggest filter on this list, so it is worth searching by state before you search by subject. We have roundups for New York, California, Texas, New Jersey, Boston and Massachusetts, Illinois, and Florida. If none of those is near you, the Department of Energy's national lab programs run in 17 locations across the country.
What should I do if I do not get in anywhere?
This happens to strong students every year, and it is usually about geography, not merit. Three things work. Email professors at a university near you and ask about volunteering in their lab — our guide on how to get a research position in high school has a cold-email template and realistic response rates. Start an independent project with a research mentor, which is what online programs are built for. Or enter a research competition like Regeneron ISEF with a project you design yourself. That shows the same skills, and you do not need anyone's permission. Our list of STEM research topics is a good place to find a question worth spending a summer on, and Science Buddies has free project guides if you are starting from scratch.
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.