Summer research internships give invaluable experience for future employment and graduate education.
Application deadlines are usually January through March.
These internships can be competitive, so apply to many (10-20!) of them to increase your chances.
Don’t fall for any of the common reasons that hold students back from applying:
- Unless stated otherwise (i.e. that you must be a junior or senior), if you have completed some physics and math courses by next summer, you are qualified.
- You may not already have the computer or technical skills you think you’ll need, but you will learn them!
- You can ask the instructor for any class or lab you’ve done well in for a letter of recommendation.
- If you’ve applied to opportunities previously and were not successful, try again!
This is not an exhaustive list of the internships available in physics & astronomy. Talk to your adviser about applying for internships in other areas of physics or your field of study.
Physics
National Science Foundation funded summer physics programs (Research Experience for Undergraduates) all over the U.S.: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=69
There are many (>50) opportunities listed here, including projects in gravitational physics research that past TU physics students have participated in at the University of Florida
Department of Energy internships available through Oak Ridge National Lab: https://orise.orau.gov/internships-fellowships/index.html
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (Laurel, MD): https://www.jhuapl.edu/Careers/Internships
NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) https://www.nist.gov/surf
American Physical Society internship list https://www.aps.org/careers/employment/internships.cfm#undergrad
Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) at National Labs https://science.osti.gov/wdts/suli
Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) open to international students http://sfp.caltech.edu/programs/surf
Caltech LIGO Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships open to international students https://labcit.ligo.caltech.edu/LIGO_web/students/SURF/
CERN open to international students https://careers.cern/students
SPS open to international students https://www.spsnational.org/programs/internships/program-details
Caltech WAVE Fellowships for underrepresented minority students who intend to pursue a Ph.D. in STEM https://sfp.caltech.edu/programs/wavefellows
The program is extended, but not limited, to racially minoritized communities, women (in certain fields), first-generation college students, geographically underrepresented students, educationally or financially disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.
APS/IBM Research Internships for Women and Underrepresented minorities https://www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/ibm/
Aerospace
National Space Internship Program https://swf2030.org/national-space-interns/
Zed Factor Fellowship https://zedfactorfellowship.org FAQ: https://zedfactorfellowship.org/faqs
Ball Aerospace (Boulder, CO) http://www.ball.com/aerospace/about-ball-aerospace/careers/college-internships
Northrup Grumman (multiple locations, including local) https://www.northropgrumman.com/careers/internships-at-northrop-grumman/
Lockheed Martin (multiple locations, including local) https://www.lockheedmartinjobs.com Enter internship under Search Jobs
Astronomy, astrophysics & planetary science
Astro Scholars program (weeklong winter school in January) https://www.astroscholars.org/apply
NASA internships: http://intern.nasa.gov Over 150 opportunities listed here!
If you do apply for one or more of the NASA summer internships, please let me know. We may be able to support one or two students to work at NASA through the NASA Maryland Space Grant.
National Science Foundation funded summer astronomy programs (Research Experience for Undergraduates) all over the U.S.: http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.cfm?unitid=5045 Over 25 opportunities listed here!
Note that some of the options on the full list of over 50 physics NSF REU programs: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=69 may also have astrophysics or space physics options.
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Socorro, NM, Charlottesville, VA)/ Green Bank Observatory (Green Bank, WV) https://science.nrao.edu/opportunities/student-programs/summerstudents
NAC program is open to international students: https://science.nrao.edu/opportunities/student-programs/nac/2020-nac-application
Rowland Fellows at Johns Hopkins University
https://physics-astronomy.jhu.edu/undergraduate/summer-research-fellowship/
Space Telescope Science Institute (Baltimore) open to international students: http://www.stsci.edu/opportunities/space-astronomy-summer-program
Lunar and Planetary Institute (Houston, TX) http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpiintern/
Berkeley SETI Research Center (Berkeley, CA) open to international students: http://seti.berkeley.edu/Internship.html
Two great programs at top-notch astronomy institutions (U. Texas Austin and Harvard) have programs geared towards underrepresented minorities in astronomy:
Taurus Program https://sites.cns.utexas.edu/taurus/ (open to non-US citizens)
Banneker Institute http://bannekerinstitute.fas.harvard.edu (on hiatus for summer 2021)
For additional opportunities in astronomy, see this list of internships compiled by the American Astronomical Society https://aas.org/careers/internships-summer-jobs
International Opportunities
Research Internships in Germany https://www.daad.de/rise/en/
LEAPS/ESA Astrophysics Program for Summer Interns at Leiden Observatory (The Netherlands) http://leaps.strw.leidenuniv.nl/
ASTRON Summer Research Programme (The Netherlands) https://www.astron.nl/education/summer-research-programme/
Note: Some U.S. programs are open to non-US citizens. Here’s list of programs available for international students, some of which are listed above, but not all!