10 STEM Research Programs for High School Students in California
Signing up for research programs during high school is more than just gaining hands-on experience. They also provide unique opportunities for personal growth and exposure to potential career paths. More importantly, research programs also allow you to develop tangible work that can enhance your resume and give you a leg up during college applications - college admissions officers love students who take the extra step to work on gaining skills and experience in a specific subject!
Most research programs involve work on a research paper or project. Having a project on your academic profile shows your dedication to your field and is further proof of your skills for your resume.
For students living in and around California, here are 10 STEM research programs that you can consider:
Subject: Biomedicine
Application deadline: March 13, 2024
Eligibility: Students who are at least 16 years of age and have completed high school courses in chemistry and biology
Program dates: June 3, 2024 – August 9, 2024
Location: City of Hope
Stipend: $4,000
This prestigious internship takes place at City of Hope, a cancer treatment and research center. It offers a unique opportunity to engage in hands-on biomedical research under the mentorship of the leading scientists at the center. A highlight of this program is that you get to design your own research project in an area of your interest. The internship consists of laboratory work, seminars, field trips, and lectures on topics like neural stem cells, plant signaling pathways, DNA repair, and more. The program culminates in a poster session where you will present the findings of your research. Keep in mind that this program is highly competitive, with an acceptance rate of less than 5%.
Application deadline: February 24, 2024
Eligibility: Current juniors or seniors who are at least 16 years of age
Program dates: June 10, 2024 – August 1, 2024
Location: Stanford University
Stipend: $500 - $1,500
The SIMR is another highly prestigious program for high school students, that gives interns the opportunity of one-on-one mentorship from a Stanford graduate student or post-doctoral fellow. As an intern, you must choose from one of eight research areas — immunology, neurobiology, cancer biology, genetics, bioengineering, regenerative medicine, cardiovascular biology, and bioinformatics. You can expect to spend most of your time in the lab, working closely with your mentor. Aside from this, you will also attend lectures and present your work at a poster session at the end of the program.
With only 50 students per cohort and an acceptance rate of less than 3%, this program is also highly selective and difficult to enter.
Application deadline: Four cohorts throughout the year, applications due in February, May, September, and December. You can apply here.
Eligibility: All high school students
Program dates: There are four cohorts throughout the year in spring, summer, fall, and winter
Location: Online
Financial assistance: You can check out the Lumiere Foundation, a non-profit research program, which offers assistance to low-income students
Founded by researchers at Harvard and Oxford, this program pairs you with a top-tier PhD mentor from a prestigious university, providing personalized guidance as you work on an original research project. The program also offers support for getting your final paper published. It is a fully virtual program with different program formats of varying duration depending on your project — longer programs for a deeper dive into the research. You can choose from various STEM and humanities fields, including data science, medicine, astrophysics, architecture, engineering, sociology, AI, and more.
Application deadline: Programs run in cohorts throughout the year, with different deadlines for each.
Eligibility: High school students (some programs require prior experience)
Program dates: Rolling. Applications for the summer are between February and May.
Location: Online
Financial assistance: Need-based financial aid is available.
Veritas AI offers research programs specifically in the field of AI, allowing you to learn about the field while working on real-world projects. There are a variety of program formats, ranging from collaborative learning programs with group projects to one-on-one mentorship opportunities where you work on an individual project. Mentors are generally PhD students from top universities and you can expect to learn Python fundamentals, machine learning, how to create AI models, and more through the program’s curriculum. You can go through past student’s projects here.
5. Horizon Academic Research Program
Application deadline: May 21, 2024 for the summer cohort, and September 25, 2024 for the fall cohort
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders! Only a couple of tracks require formal prerequisites, more details of which can be found here.
Program dates:
Summer seminar - June 24, 2024 - September 2, 2024
Fall seminar - October 23, 2024 - February 19, 2025
Lab dates are flexible, but you must apply 4 weeks in advance.
Location: Virtual
Horizon is a research program where high school students are paired with a professor or PhD scholar from a reputed university and then work on a research project under their mentorship. You can choose from a number of different subject areas across STEM and the social sciences, including cybersecurity, machine learning, economics, neuroscience, and more. This is one of the few programs out there that allows you to choose between quantitative and qualitative research. By the end of the program, you will have developed a 20-page research paper which can be sent to journals for publication!
Application deadline: April 1, 2024
Eligibility: Current 9th and 10th grade students from SFUSD schools who have a minimum GPA of 2.5 and a grade C or above in science and math
Program dates: Multi-year with attendance required after school, on Saturdays, and on weekdays during the summer
Location: California Academy of Sciences
Stipend: Above minimum wage
The California Academy of Science is a scientific institution including a museum, aquarium, and planetarium. The CiS program is the academy’s internship and youth development program which is aimed at students from communities underrepresented in STEM fields. The internship spans multiple years, until you graduate high school, and involves a combination of gaining STEM knowledge, enhancing personal skills like leadership, and receiving guidance on college applications.
You will spend your time attending training sessions, conducting fieldwork, networking with professionals, helping with the Academy’s experiences for the public, and working on a group research project led by an Academy researcher. While this requires a significant time investment, the CiS internship is a prestigious program (the 2021-2022 batch only had 44 students) and would be a highlight on your profile.
Application deadline: June 14, 2024
Eligibility: All high school students (individual courses may have prerequisites and international students are welcome to apply)
Program dates: July 1, 2024 - July 26, 2024
Location: In-person, online, and hybrid options are available (varies with each course)
Fee: $1,500 - $3,000 (depending on course)
Financial assistance: A few scholarships are available
The UC San Diego Academic Connections Research Scholars program offers high school students a unique opportunity to engage in university-level research under the mentorship of distinguished UC San Diego faculty. Through this immersive summer program, you will gain hands-on research experience and develop critical skills in scientific inquiry, data analysis, and academic writing. You can choose from one of several course options, including bioengineering, design, marine science, medicine, business, and life sciences. As an intern, you will take on the role of a researcher and work on a real-world project in the field. You can even enroll in more than one course.
Application deadline: April 15, 2024
Eligibility: High school students from the Bay Area
Program dates: June 1, 2024 – August 24, 2024 for the summer research program, the school year research has cohorts during the fall term and spring term
Location: ASDRP research and development campus, Fremont
Fee: $1,070 for the summer research program, $995 for the school year research program
Financial assistance: Several scholarships are available for students from underrepresented backgrounds
The ASDRP is a non-profit research and development institution consisting of expert scientists, engineers and researchers. The research program will pair you with an experienced mentor and together you will work on a research project that focuses on expanding current scientific knowledge. There are a number of different departments you can choose from including biology, chemistry, computer science, astrophysics and more. Through the program, you will improve your critical thinking and analytical skills while learning about scientific inquiry and academic writing. A highlight of the ASDRP is that you not only present your work at a poster session but also your paper gets published in the online ASDRP journal! You will also receive support in submitting your paper to external publications.
Application deadline: February 9, 2024
Eligibility: All high school students (and a few 8th graders) who are residents of California
Program dates: July 7, 2024 – August 3, 2024
Location: University of California (options available in five of the university’s campuses — Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Cruz)
Fee: $5,007
Financial assistance: Need-based financial aid is available
COSMOS is a renowned summer program for high-achieving high school students interested in STEM. The program takes place over in five University of California campuses, each offering a different set of courses for you to choose from. The topics included range from quantum mechanics and machine learning to microbiology and nanochemistry. During the residential program, you will attend lectures, lab sessions, networking opportunities, and group work sessions. You will also work on a research project (in pairs or groups), engage in fieldwork, and present your findings during a poster session at the end of the program.
Application deadline: April 5, 2024
Eligibility: San Diego County residents who are at least 16 years of age, have a minimum GPA of 2.75 and have completed at least one year each of high school level chemistry and biology (exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis)
Program dates: June 17, 2024 - August 9, 2024 (30-40 hours per week)
Location: Salk Institute, La Jolla
Stipend: $17 per hour
Financial assistance: is available
The Salk Institute is a non-profit, research organization and the Heithoff-Brody program offers high school students the chance to work on a research project while being mentored by one of the organization’s scientists. You will spend most of your time conducting research in the institute’s labs and learning about wet lab techniques, bioinformatics, data analysis, and more. The program also includes seminars, workshops and biotech site visits. At the end of the program, you will present your research at a symposium, either as an oral or poster presentation.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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