NIH Biomedical Summer
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers an intensive and competitive eight-week internship program in which rising high school seniors spend a summer working in a research lab alongside some of the world’s leading scientists. Admissions criteria are rigorous, and candidates must be able to pass a federal background check. Participants receive stipends for their world.
Program Description: Summer programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide an opportunity to spend a summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research (At the NIH "biomedical research" includes everything from behavioral and social sciences, through biology and chemistry, to physics, mathematical modeling, computational biology, and biostatistics). The NIH consists of the 240-bed Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center and more than 1150 laboratories/research groups located on the main campus in Bethesda, MD, and the surrounding area as well as in Baltimore and Frederick, MD; Research Triangle Park, NC; Hamilton, MT; Framingham, MA; Phoenix, AZ; and Detroit, MI. NOTE: the number of positions in Hamilton, Framingham, Phoenix, and Detroit is limited.
Internships cover a minimum of eight weeks, with students generally arriving at the NIH in May or June. The NIH Institutes/Centers and the Office of Intramural Training & Education (OITE) sponsor a wide range of summer activities including an orientation to help interns get off to a good start, lectures featuring distinguished NIH investigators, career/professional development workshops, and Summer Poster Day.
How do I get started? Check out the NIH website for more information about admissions and the internship itself.
How do I expand this narrative arc? Are you fired up about the work that you did at NIH but worried about how to deepen and broaden this interest (and set yourself apart from all the other STEM geniuses)? Consider one of the following opportunities:
Write a journalistic account of your experience (being careful not to reveal anything that is confidential, scientifically unproven or embarrassing to the NIH or its employees) and then publish it in your school newspaper (or, even better, submit it to one of the many writing competitions sponsored by The New York Times.
Continue the work you started by enlisting a supportive teacher or professional in your field of research so that you can continue with related research.
Consider how the work that you’ve done (or your area of interest) has practical applications in your community. Then launch a local community impact project. For example, did you spend your summer doing neuroscience research? Help your school create a concussion protocol and then establish baseline testing for all of your inter-scholastic sports teams.
HOT TIP: This is an amazing summer opportunity for a teen with great academic credentials and demonstrated interest in lab research. It’s a great way to work closely with a scientist and to test-drive what it’s like to work in a research lab. This type of internship is especially appealing for teens who are looking to participate in one of the large national science competitions. See below for more information about summer programs in general.