11 Robotics Internships for High School Students
The world of mechanics, electronics, artificial intelligence, and technology in general is continuously evolving. If you’re keen to explore modern technology, science, and machines, then robotics might be a career option you can consider. As the world becomes increasingly tech-savvy, the demand for devices that solve problems and enhance quality of life is also increasing. Whether you want to automate redundant tasks, improve medical systems, explore outer space, or simply build something new, robotics plays a pivotal role.
A robotics internship can help you build practical skills such as coding, mechanical design, and data analysis while honing your communication and professional skills.
Additionally, participation in such internships can be a useful addition to your resume, and boost your college applications. Not to mention, an internship experience can impress future employers too!
We’ve curated a list of 11 best robotics internships that you can consider applying to as a high school student!
Location: Virtual.
Application deadline: Summer cohort (regular admission 1): April 14, 2024 | Summer cohort (regular admission 2): May 12, 2024
Dates: 8-week programs with multiple cohorts throughout the year. The summer cohort begins June 3.
Eligibility: High school students who can dedicate 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. These internships are open to undergraduates and gap-year students as well.
Cost: Starting at $1,990. Financial aid is available.
Ladder Internships is a fairly selective program founded by Harvard alumni that pairs high school students with startups and nonprofits globally for remote internships. The program offers options in a broad spectrum of industries, including technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer science, sustainability, business, medicine, and more. As a Ladder intern, you will work on real-world projects and present your work at the end of the program. This program incorporates one-on-one communication and time management training, among other activities, and group discussions with fellow interns. You will be paired with a manager at your organization and also a Ladder coach, who will be your second mentor.
Location: New Haven, CT
Application deadline: Applications typically close in March.
Dates: 6 weeks between June - August 2024 (Dates TBD).
Eligibility: High school students entering their junior and senior years who are at least 16 years of age at the start of the internship.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; unpaid.
If you are curious about robotics and/or human social behavior, this internship is perfect for you. Yale Social Robotics Lab offers high school students an opportunity to participate in special projects for six weeks in the summer. This is a highly competitive program that selects students based on their interests and skills, as well as the current workload in the lab.
The internship is an educational opportunity that comprises training, and emphasizes learning and developing new skills and gaining a deeper understanding of concepts through hands-on application. In this program, you will work alongside a lead scientist, students, and staff at Yale Social Robotics Lab and gain real-world skills and in-depth knowledge.
Location: The programs are offered across NASA facilities. Depending on the project, interns will work either remotely or on-site at any of NASA’s 10 field centers across the country.
Application deadline: July (Fall session) | November (Spring session) | April (Summer session)
Dates: These internships are offered in 3 sessions.
Spring (16 weeks, from mid-January to early May)
Summer (10 weeks, from late May/early June to August)
Fall (16 weeks, from late August/early September to mid-December)
Eligibility: Applicants must:
Be a U.S. citizen.
Have a cumulative 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale).
Be a full-time student (high school through graduate level) or a part-time college-level student enrolled in a minimum of 6 semester hours.
Be a minimum of 16 years of age at the time of application (no exceptions).
Cost/Stipend: No cost, majority of interns receive a stipend based on academic level and session duration.
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) offers paid internships to high school and college-level students to contribute to its mission to advance science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration. These internships are based in the various NASA facilities across the country, with a few virtual options.
The program allows students an opportunity to gain practical work experience while working side-by-side with mentors who are research scientists, engineers, and individuals from several other professions. Internships may be full-time or part-time and are usually paid and cover a wide range of fields such as space science, engineering, aeronautics, technology, robotics, ecology, and so on. As a NASA OSTEM intern, you will get to design experiments, analyze data, and develop cutting-edge technologies.
Location: Lexington, MA
Application deadline: March 22, 2024
Dates: July 10, 2024 - August 15, 2024
Eligibility: Applicants must:
- Have U.S. citizenship.
- Be a local high school rising senior.
- Be sixteen (16) years of age before the start date.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; stipend is provided
The Summer High School Internship Program at MIT Lincoln Laboratory provides a unique opportunity for rising seniors in the New England area to experience and explore STEM careers before committing to an area of study in college.
During the summer, high school interns are paired with Laboratory staff mentors to complete projects, solve problems, and learn and apply crucial technical and interpersonal skills in a hands-on, professional environment. As an intern, you will have access to many of the Laboratory’s technical and professional resources. At the end of your project, you will be encouraged to present your work at the Laboratory.
Location: Multiple locations, varies from lab to lab.
Application deadline: Applications typically close in February.
Dates: June 17, 2024 - August 9, 2024
Eligibility: Applicants must:
- Be a U.S. citizen.
- Be a high school junior or senior during the application period.
- Have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Cost/Stipend: No cost (but students must cover accommodation and transportation costs); unpaid.
The Summer High School Intern Program (SHIP) offers students the chance to work on NIST research projects. The program is divided into six organizational laboratories that conduct research in a wide variety of physical and engineering sciences. The labs respond to industry needs for measurement methods, tools, data, and technology. The following six laboratories participate in the SHIP program:
Communications Technology Lab
Engineering Lab
Information Technology Lab
Material Measurement Lab
NIST Center for Neutron Research
Physical Measurement Lab
If you’re interested in robotics, we recommend choosing the Engineering or Information Technology Laboratories. Here, your primary focus will be networking and communications, computer security, artificial intelligence, software engineering, and human interaction with computers. As an intern, you will participate in research activities on a large range of topics such as computer network modeling, biometrics for computer access and security, cryptography, bioinformatics, data mining, machine learning, etc.
Location: There are several lab locations to choose from across the country.
Application deadline: Applications typically open in August and close in November.
Dates: The internship is typically eight weeks long (with a possible extension of up to two additional weeks).
Eligibility: Applicants must:
Be a U.S. citizen.
Have completed at least Grade 9
Be currently enrolled in high school (but maybe taking college-level classes for college credit)
Graduating seniors are eligible to apply
Be 16 years of age or older by the internship start date
(Students are recommended to check whether their preferred lab choice has any other prerequisites or exceptions.)
Cost/Stipend: No cost; stipend is provided (New participant: $4,000 | Returning participant: $4,500).
The Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) places academically talented high school students with interest and aptitude in science and engineering as interns in Department of Navy (DoN) laboratories for eight weeks during the summer. SEAP interns learn about and engage with Naval research and technology, while receiving mentorship from the country’s top scientists and engineers. Additionally, interns receive expert technical guidance in several areas such as physics, robotics, mathematics, electronics, aerodynamics, material science engineering, and others.
SEAP is a highly competitive program with only around 300 placements in over 38 laboratories around the country, where several participants go on to careers within the DoN. If you’re looking to learn about robotics, we recommend you choose a lab accordingly! Every lab has a number of different research areas.
Location: There are AEOP locations in almost every state. Students may select their preferred location. The program is intended for commuters and transportation, meals, and housing are not provided.
Application deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Summer 2024 applications are open.
Dates: The program runs in summer, exact dates vary from location to location.
Eligibility: Applicants must be a current high school student and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Check other specific criteria here.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; stipend amount varies by internship location and program duration.
In this program, you will spend your summer in a university research lab or one of the U.S. Army Research Laboratories and Centers. As an intern, you will get to work one-on-one with a university researcher or Department of Defense (DoD) scientist mentor on research projects using high-tech equipment and cutting-edge techniques in state-of-the-art laboratory facilities.
Additionally, you will have access to professional scientists and engineers as you learn from other STEM practitioners. The Army-sponsored research you will be a part of addresses the USA’s biggest challenges and helps you hone critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. If you’re interested in robotics, you can choose research options that apply principles of coding like the ones offered by the University of Pennsylvania.
Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA (Virtual options are available).
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in March.
Dates: July 8, 2024 - August 4, 2024
Eligibility: High school juniors (11th grade) attending school in the U.S.
Cost/Stipend: None
The 4-week Beaver Works Summer Institute is a project-based STEM program featuring workshop-style courses on various subjects. Some of the courses offered in the field of robotics include Remote Sensing for Disaster Response, Serious Games Development with Artificial Intelligence (SGAI), and Unmanned Air System–Synthetic Aperture Radar.
Remote Sensing for Disaster Response covers GIS, remote sensing, image processing, network science, and deep learning for emergency management applications using Python to process geospatial data, satellite and aerial imagery, and analyzing networks to prepare, monitor, and respond to disaster situations. In SGAI, you are taught the basics of game design, teamwork, and coding, and you will work in groups to develop a mod for a game to investigate a research question of your choosing. Artificial intelligence is used to investigate how a computer will handle the moral dilemmas it is put into and see just how well computers can compare to humans in the complex environments in the real world that these serious games are meant to reflect. In the Unmanned Air System–Synthetic Aperture Radar course you will get to work with complex systems engineering with programming. You will get to build a fully functioning radar imaging system including everything from drones and RF hardware to data processing.
The BWSI has generally received solid reviews from alumni, owing to the diversity of its cohorts, opportunities for networking and collaboration, as well as the uniqueness of the courses it offers. You can check the current course listing here.
Location: The program runs at Evodyne Robotics Academy, Mountain View, CA. Some components may be conducted virtually.
Application deadline: Applications are currently open for summer 2024
Dates: Dates are yet to be announced.
Eligibility: Students must be:
Ideally currently in junior year.
Have completed the Genesis Track previously.
At least 16 years old.
Responsible and punctual.
Be able to come on Saturday afternoons.
Be available for several weeks during the summer.
Cost/Stipend: Neither is disclosed.
This program, conducted by the Evodyne Robotics Academy, focuses on hands-on learning and technical skills through collaborative projects. As a participant, you will work at Evodyne's Research Lab to help them enhance their existing robots, and design and create new robots, both for educational programs and for research-oriented advanced robotics. During the summer break, you will also act as teaching assistants since you already know how the robots work, and what problems younger students face.
If you’re passionate about building something unique, consider this internship as it provides in-depth lessons regarding 3D printing, 3D design, AI, computer vision, and mechatronics among other things!
Location: Danville, VA
Application deadline: Applications are closed for summer 2024. Information on dates for next year are yet to be announced.
Dates: June 3 or June 10 - July 25, 2024
Eligibility: Applicants must be high school graduates with plans to attend college in the fall of 2024
Cost/Stipend: No cost; stipend is provided
The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) offers an annual summer internship program that provides students with meaningful on-the-job training. The internship program provides real-world leadership development experiences in diverse career fields such as research and data analysis, public relations, human resources, AgTech research, coding and robotics, information technology, and more.
Each internship requires 224 hours with a weekly time commitment of 28 hours, representing an eight (8) week internship term. To know more, please visit the official website.
Location: University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Application deadline: 2nd Monday of the Fall, Spring, or Summer I Terms.
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, dates not specified.
Eligibility: High school students as well as undergraduates are eligible.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; stipend is provided.
The Maryland Robotics Center offers high school students the opportunity to participate in the MRC Pathways program through research internships. This is a paid opportunity that allows students to get an immersive experience under the guidance of MRC faculty. Interns at MRC learn several skills - from technical ones like coding and prototyping to interpersonal ones like teamwork, communication, and collaboration.
As a participant, you will learn about algorithms, sensors and perceptions, and programming languages used to build and control robots. Additionally, you will be a part of field trips to robotics labs, industry sites, and research facilities. These trips provide exposure to the larger robotics community and insights into emerging trends in the robotics industry.
Bonus - AI Internship Program by Veritas AI
The AI Internship Program by Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students. Through the 8-week internship, students have the opportunity to work with VC-backed startups on real-world AI/ML projects. Students work directly with mentors from Harvard, Wharton, Google, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and more. This program is a great opportunity for students who have prior experience with AI/ML and are looking to gain real-world exposure to a career in the field. Students get a chance to network with industry professionals, work closely with company leadership, and receive a letter of completion from the company at the end of the internship. You can learn more about the program here and apply here.
Cost: $2,490
Application Deadline: October 20, 2024
Internship Date: The start date for the cohort is November 11, 2024
Eligibility: Open to high school students who have prior experience with AI/ML or have completed a Veritas AI program
One other option - The Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you are looking to start your research journey with 1–1 mentorship from a top Ph.D. scholar in robotics or related fields, check out the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students founded by researchers at Harvard and Oxford. You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD 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.
Image Source: NASA logo