Student Internship Program

The NIF and Photon Science Directorate has opportunities for undergraduate and graduate-level students to engage in cutting-edge scientific research to further their education and research goals. The Student Internship Program will provide undergraduate and graduate students research opportunities in a large array of fields such as lasers, plasma physics, electro-optics, software development, and optical, x-ray, and nuclear instrument development and testing.

To apply, go to the LLNL Careers page and search NIF.

For more information about Livermore and the Bay Area, please see the Visiting LLNL page.

Contact NIF for more information on our Summer Intership Opportunities.

For examples of previous projects visit Student Spotlight.

Assignments

Summer Student Working in the Laboratory

Students will work alongside scientists, doing work and research at on-site laser and nuclear facilities in the areas of advanced laser development, laser–plasma interactions, hydrodynamics, material science, radiation physics, and various diagnostic systems.

Assignments can be part time or full time, during the summer or during the academic year or both. The three basic assignment types are:

Summer: Full time during the summer academic break
Co-op: Full time during an academic semester/quarter
Year-round: Part time during the academic year and full time during the academic breaks

Basic duties include:

Conducting research (experimental, theoretical, or modeling) in an assigned area
Communicating research results, documenting work, and presenting and discussing findings

Internships provide a hands-on research experience on a focused project, as well as an introduction to the broad spectrum of ongoing research at LLNL through a series of specially arranged summer lectures. The Student Internship Program is tailored to tap a wide range of scientific talents, encouraging and fostering excellence and attracting quality students to conduct research in the NIF & Photon Science Directorate.

Previous Summer Internship lecture topics have included:

NIF (with a special tour of the NIF laser facility)
Destination Space Station (lecture by former NASA astronaut and current NIF Principal Deputy Principal Associate Director)
How to Make and Use "Nuclear" Photons with Lasers
Inertial Fusion Energy
The Mercury Laser
Uncovering Secrets of Stellar Generation
Antimatter, Fission, Fusion—Which Is Best to Power Spacecraft?
Laser Peening and its Applications
Laser Guide Star
KDP Rapid Crystal Growth