Summer External Research Programs
The following programs provide an enriching opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to conduct research, to meet fellow students in their areas, and to learn more about graduate programs. Summer programs typically run for 6-8 weeks and provide stipends (like a paid internship) and pay for travel and lodging expenses. Many of the following programs have deadlines in early February or early March. Therefore, please study the programs and apply early. Application packets typically consist of the application, an essay, a transcript of grades, a resume, and 2-3 letters of recommendation. We highly encourage you to apply to at least three programs!
Learn more about careers in your discipline
For further information visit the corresponding websites. Sort the listing by clicking on any of the titles and click on the program names to visit their website. To obtain further information on the programs or to seek advice, please speak with your UTRGV STEM Faculty Mentor who can provide guidance.
Read these articles to learn more about the many benefits summer research programs offer, especially if you wish to attend graduate school!
- Five Reasons Why You Should Apply for a Summer Research Program
- From Summer Research Participant to Graduate School Contender
External Programs by Major
| Program | Major | Participants | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) | Science and Engineering | All Undergrads including International; DACA | Early January |
| Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP) - Amgen Scholars Program (Stanford Medicine Dean's Office Funding) | Biology | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; DACA students | Early February |
| Summer Program in Biostatistics & Computational Biology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health | Statistics, Computational Biology, and Quantitative Public Health | U.S Citizen or Permanent Resident; Undergraduate / Graduate | Early March |
| Mathematical Sciences Semesters in Guanajuato, MX (fall/spring/summer) | Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science or Computer Science | Undergraduate | See Website |
| "LGS-SOAR (Summer Opportunity for Academic Research) at Emory University" | biomedical, biological, natural and public health sciences; humanities and social sciences | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; int'l students studying in U.S.; Undergraduate | Mid January |
| University of Michigan Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) | Social Sciences, Physical or Natural Sciences, and Engineering | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; DACA students | Early February |
| University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) | Biological Science, Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Science, Math, or Physics | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; DACA students; Undergraduate | Early February |
| Texas Astronomy Undergraduate Research experience for Underrepresented Students (TAURUS) at UT Austin | Astronomy, Astrophysics | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; DACA students; int'l students studying in U.S. | Mid February |
| Pharmacological Science Summer Diversity Program (PSSDP) at U Washington | Pharmacology, including Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; DACA students | Mid February |
| Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at U Washington | Conservation, Ecology | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; DACA students (Fr/Soph only- two- year program) | Late January |
| Caltech's WAVE Fellows Program | Science and Engineering | U.S. citizens or permanent residents; DACA students | Early January |
| American Physical Society and IBM Internship for Women and Underrepresented Minority groups | Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science or Engineering, Computer Science or Engineering, Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering, or Biology | No Citizenship Requirements | Late January |
| Summer Research Experiences at NIMBioS | Math and Biology | Undergraduate | See Website |
| Oregon Sea Grant Undergraduate Summer Scholars Program | Marine science, Policy, Management, and Outreach | Undergraduate | Mid February |
External Programs for Any STEM Major
| Program | Major | Participants | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Wisconsin-Madison Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) | Engineering and Sciences | U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents | Mid February |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) | All Disciplines | U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents | Mid February |
| NASCENT REU Program | Engineering, Chemistry, Physics | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Early February |
| Texas A&M College of Engineering USRG | Computer Science, Engineering | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Mid February |
| CDCM REU | Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Material Science | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Early February |
| Summer REU in Computing | Computer Science | Undergraduate | Late March |
| Park City Mathematics Institute 2023 Research Program | Mathematics | Undergraduate | Late January |
| REU at CSU | Computer Science | Undergraduates; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Early March |
| Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CEMB) | STEM | Undergraduate | Early February |
| IBM Research Internship Opportunities | STEM | See Website | See Website |
| NASA Pathways Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | See Website |
| NSA Cryptanalysis and Signals Analysis Summer Program | STEM | Undergraduates | Closed |
| NCTR Summer Student Research Participation Program | Computer, Information, and Data Science, Engineering, Environmental and Medical Science, Life Health and Medical Science, Nanotechnology, Physics | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Mid February |
| Michigan State Univ. BEACON REU | STEM | Undergraduate | See Website |
| Higher Education Research Experiences (HERE) | STEM | Undergraduate | Year-Round |
| NSA Careers | STEM | Undergraduate | See Website |
| Summer Program in Quantitative Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health | STEM | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Early March |
| NASA Internships - Student Opportunities and Information | STEM | Undergraduate | See Website |
| Mickey Leland Internship Program | STEM | See Website | See Website |
| Nebraska Summer Research Program | STEM | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | See Website |
| Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics at NCSU | Science or Mathematics | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Mid March |
| MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) | STEM | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident, Non-U.S. Citizen with DACA, International Student | See Website |
| Naval Research Laboratory HBCU/MI Undergraduate Internship Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident or Dual Citizen (See Website) | See Website |
| Summer 2023 AGLS REU program at Texas A&M University | Agricultural or Life Science | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Mid February |
| Summer Undergraduate Research Program | Science | Undergraduate | Early February |
| NIH Medical Research Scholars Program | Medical Science | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Early January |
| Summer Health Professions Education Programs | STEM | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident, DACA | Early February |
| Summer REUs in Applied Mathematics/Pure Math/Math Education/Math Biology/Statistics | Mathematics, Statistics | Undergraduate | See Website |
| Biostatistics Epidemiology Summer Training Diversity Program (BEST) | STEM, Biomedical Sciences | U.S. citizen OR U.S. permanent resident | Early March |
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs
| Program | Major | Participants | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Undergraduate-Level Research in Industrial Projects for Students |
MATH | Undergrad Students; U.S Citizens / Perminant Residents | Mid February |
|
Undergraduate-Level Research in Industrial Projects for Students |
MATH |
Undergrad Students; U.S Citizens / Perminant Residents | Mid February |
| Description of an REU program | STEM | Undergraduate | See Website |
| List of REU programs in various fields in Education, Engineering, Life Sciences, and Mathematical Sciences | STEM | See Website | See Website |
| University of Arizona's Data Driven Discovery Summer REU | STEM | Undergraduate | See Website |
| Summer 2023 DRUMS Directed Research for Undergraduates in Mathematics and Statistics | Mathematics and Statistics | Undergraduate | Mid February |
| Summer Undergraduate Research in Genetics and Genomics (SURGe) at Texas A&M University | Genetics, Genomics, Biology, or Life Science | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Mid February |
| Summer ATOC REU in Data Science | All | U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the United States | Early March |
| SMU-REU Computation-enabled Investigations into Neural Circuits, click here to contact | Math and CS | US Citizens or Permanent Residents | March 26th |
| SMU-REU Dynamics in Complex Systems | Math and CS | US Citizens or Permanent Residents | March 26th |
Research Experiences for Graduates (REG) programs
| Program | Major | Participants | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Graduate-Level Research in Industrial Projects for Students |
MATH | Graduate Students; U.S Citizens / Perminant Residents | Mid February |
|
Graduate-Level Research in Industrial Projects for Students |
MATH |
Graduate Students; U.S Citizens / Perminant Residents | Mid February |
Internships at National/Government Labs
| Program | Major | Participants | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) | STEM | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Early October |
| Brookhaven National Laboratory | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | See Website |
| Nuclear Energy University Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate | Late January |
| Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Late January |
| Workforce Recruitment Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | See Website |
| Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Student Volunteer Internship Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | See Website |
| Professional Internship Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate | Mid February |
| DOE Scholars Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Late January |
| Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | Late January |
| Parallel Computing Research Internship | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate | Late March |
| NASA Internships at Johnson Space Center | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate | See Website |
| Presidential Management Fellows Program | All Disciplines | Graduate/ Recent Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Late September |
| Sandia National Laboratories Internships & Co-ops | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | See Website |
| Diversity in Vision Research and Ophthalmology | STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | See Website |
| Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program | Technology | Undergraduate/ Graduate | Early February |
| National Science Foundation Mathematical Sciences Graduate Internship Program | Math and Science | Graduate; U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident or DACA | Late January |
| DOE Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP)P | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Mid October |
| U.S. Food and Drug Administration, National Center for Toxicological Research Summer Student Research Program | STEM | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Mid February |
| EERE Robotics Internship Program | Robotics, Manufacturing or Engineering | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Early February |
| High Performance Computing for Manufacturing Internship Program | Computer Science | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen | Early February |
| REU Summer Institute in Statistics at Oregon State University | STEM | Undergraduate; U.S. Citizen / Permanent Resident | Mid February |
Company Internships
| Program | Major | Participants | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Academy at Microsoft | Computer Science, Technology, Computation | Undergraduate | Closed |
| U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) | STEM, Health, Education | Undergraduate/ Graduate; U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident | See Website |