Physics & Astronomy Internships

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.

Table of Contents
Physics
Aerospace
Astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary science
International Opportunities
Post Baccalaureate Opportunities

 


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.

The Society of Physics Students offers an internship (open to international students) https://www.spsnational.org/programs/internships/program-details

And the SPS site  https://www.spsnational.org/awards/additional-opportunities lists several other opportunities, including in journalism and in medicine:

American Association of Physicists in Medicine (Medical Physics) internship opportunity https://aapm.secure-platform.com/gaf/page/SFP

DREAM (10 week internship for underrepresented groups in Medical Physics) http://aapm.me/DREAM

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

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/

UMD TREND: Training and Research Experiences in Nonlinear Dynamics https://trend.umd.edu/


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

National Space Council Internships https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/internships/national-space-council-internships/

Astro Scholars program (weeklong winter school in January) https://www.astroscholars.org/apply

GRAD MAP program at UMD (weeklong winter school in January & summer internship) https://www.umdgradmap.org/ 

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!


Post-Baccalaureate Opportunities

Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

University of Maryland CRESST II Post-bac program