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Summer Internship Program FAQs

General Info

Eligibility

Application Procedure

After Applying

Other Training Opportunities

General Info

What is the purpose of this program?
The Summer Internship Program is designed to provide young people an opportunity to spend a summer working side-by-side with some of the most talented scientists in the world in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research.

Where are these training opportunities located?
These traineeships are available only in the intramural laboratories of the NIH. Most of the laboratories are located on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. Several Institutes or their laboratories that focus on particular research areas are found at other sites around the country. These include facilities of:

  • The National Cancer Institute in Frederick, MD
  • The National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, MD
  • The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Detroit, MI
  • The National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore, MD
  • The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, NC
  • The Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Phoenix, AZ, which focuses on diabetes among the Pima Indians
  • The Rocky Mountain Laboratories of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Hamilton, MT

Is this a paid internship?
Yes, students who are selected receive a monthly stipend that is based on education level and experience. Stipends are provided by the laboratory or Institute that offers an applicant a position. If a lab does not have the funds to cover the stipend, they may invite you to join the lab as an unpaid volunteer.

Is summer housing provided by the NIH?
The NIH is unable to provide housing for summer interns. We can, however, offer some suggestions that may help you in finding a place to live:

  • The Moving Guide prepared by the NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education provides housing suggestions along with information on virtually everything you will need to know about moving to Bethesda, Baltimore, or Frederick, MD.
  • The NIH Recreation & Welfare Association housing list contains information on numerous rentals convenient to the main NIH campus in Bethesda.

It might help you to know as well that the NIH is on the Red Line of the D.C. Metro at the Medical Center stop. Getting around via Metro is generally a good choice.

Please note that the NIH is also unable to provide after-hours supervision for summer interns.

What are the start and end dates for the program?
Start and end dates are negotiated individually by the applicant and the NIH investigator who has selected him/her as an intern. Students selected for the program usually begin work between mid-May and the end of June. The minimum time commitment is eight weeks, 40 hours a week.

Can this award be used for research training outside of the NIH?
No, this award is intended to provide support for training in the intramural research program at the NIH. It cannot be used for any other purpose.

Is there a separate program for students currently enrolled in medical or dental school?
No. All individuals interested in coming to the NIH for the summer should apply to the Summer Internship Program. If you are enrolled in medical or dental school, please state that fact in your cover letter.

Are there separate summer internship programs for high school, college, and graduate students?
No, there is a single Summer Internship Program at the NIH. The applications from high school, college, and graduate students are stored in a single database. Each year about 30% of summer interns are in high school, 60% in college, and 10% in graduate, medical, or dental school.

Eligibility

Can I apply if I am not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States?
No. Only citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. are eligible to apply to this program.

Are there any eligibility criteria in addition to citizenship?
Yes, you must be sixteen years of age or older when you begin the program. If you are a U.S. citizen you must either be enrolled at least half-time in high school or an accredited or university or plan to be enrolled in the fall.  If you are a permanent resident, in addition, your institution must be in the U.S.

Is the summer program limited to specific majors?
No. However, most summer positions are in research laboratories. You should have successfully completed courses in biology and chemistry.

Is there a minimum GPA to participate in this program?
No. However, NIH investigators will clearly want to select applicants who appear likely to make the greatest research contributions to their laboratories.

Are students who are U.S. citizens attending foreign institutions eligible to apply?
If you are a U.S. citizen attending a foreign institution, you are eligible to apply.  If you are a permanent resident, you must be attending an accredited institution in the U.S.

Application procedure

Is there a deadline for submission of applications?
Yes, the application deadline is March 1 for all participating NIH Institutes and Centers. Note: Partial applications that are not completed by the March 1 deadline will not receive further consideration. The SIP application is available online from mid-November through March 1.

When should I apply?
We recommend that you apply as soon as possible after the application site becomes available, as acceptances are made on a rolling basis.

Can I update my application from last year?
No. You will need to reapply and request new letters from your references.

Can you provide any advice on how to write a good application?
You might wish to read "Writing Successful Applications for Biomedical Research Training Programs: Advice from the NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education." [PDF, 119 KB]

Who should write my letters of recommendation?
You should select references who are able to explain why you would be a good addition to a research group. Anyone who could comment on your skills in the laboratory, creativity, problem solving abilities, motivation, ability to handle complex scientific literature and concepts, etc. would be a good choice. Recommendations from individuals with a science research background are likely to carry more weight than recommendations from those with less understanding of biomedical research. Recommendations from family members are never appropriate. Also, note that letters from "services" and letters assembled for medical/dental school applicants by the pre-professional offices of their colleges and universities will not be accepted. You may wish to provide your references some information on the program, your resume or c.v., and a description of what you hope to accomplish during the program, so that they can write a highly relevant letter.

Is there a deadline for receipt of my reference letters?
We ask references to submit their letters within two weeks of our request. All letters must be received by March 15.

What should I do if my references have not received a request for a letter of recommendation on my behalf?
The system-generated e-mail request for a letter of recommendation may have failed to reach your reference for any one of several reasons:

  • You may have provided an incorrect e-mail address.
  • The message may have been blocked from reaching your reference by a Spam filter.
  • Our e-mail server or your reference's may have malfunctioned at the time the message was being sent.
  • The message was undeliverable due to other circumstances beyond our control (e.g., your reference's mailbox being full).

If your reference did not receive the original message, you should:

  • Check the e-mail address that you provided for your reference and correct it if necessary, then resend the request for a letter via the Modify Application tool. This tool will remain open until March 15, the deadline for receipt of letters of recommendation.
  • Ask your reference to check the folder to which his/her Spam filter diverts suspicious messages. This folder might be called "Junk mail," "Bulk mail," or "Spam."

If your reference still cannot find the message and you suspect there is a technical problem on our end, please contact us, and we will investigate.

Who ensures that letters of reference are received?
You are responsible for making certain that we receive your letters of reference. You should check to make sure your references have received our e-mail requesting a letter. After two weeks you should log in to our system and check your application using the Modify Application tool to make certain that the letters have arrived. If not, you can either resend the request or contact your reference directly to encourage her/him to submit the letter.

Can I submit more than the required two letters of reference?
No, the online application system will only accept two reference letters.

Can I change my reference(s) after I have submitted my application?
You can change a reference IF the original reference has not yet submitted a letter on your behalf.  After a letter has been submitted, you cannot make such a change.  If you replace an existing reference, please notify that individual that you will no longer require his/her assistance.

If I change a reference, will my original reference be notified? It is your responsibility to let yor original reference know that his/her assistance will no longer be required.

To whom should I address my cover letter?
Since your cover letter can be read by any investigator in the NIH intramural program, you may wish to use the salutation "Dear Sir/Madam."

I am a high school student. What should I enter for "Total Credit Hours" and "Major"?
Please enter "0" (zero) and "NA" (not applicable), respectively.

Should I list all the courses and grades that I have completed or only my science courses?
Please list all of your completed courses with grades, as well as the courses that you plan to complete by the end of the academic year.

Should I apply to a specific Institute or Center?
You may select ONE IC from the "Preferred IC" drop-down list.  Specifying the IC in which you would like to work makes sense in some circumstances, for example, if you are returning to a lab for a second or third summer or if you are an advanced or focused student seeking to add specific expertise to your resume.  If you are not in either of these situations, picking an IC may limit your options.  In any case, it would behoove you to search the IC Web site and the NIH Annual Reports to make certain that the kind of research you would like to do is actually happening in the IC you plan to select.  Note that you can also use your cover letter to define your interests.  Citing multiple specific interests will make your application pop up more often when investigators do keyword searches.

If I do not have access to the Internet, how can I apply?
Visit your local library to access the Web.

How will I know if my application is complete?
You may, if you choose, submit a partial application initially and complete the application at a later time. Note, however, that NIH investigators have access to complete applications only. If you submit a partial application, you will receive an e-mail message containing instructions for completing the application. Once you have done so, you will receive an e-mail confirming that your application is complete. This message will contain instructions for checking to see whether your letters of reference have been received. NOTE: You must complete your application by March 1 (11:59 p.m., EST). Applications that are incomplete after the March 1 deadline will not receive further consideration.

After applying

After I apply, can I make changes to my application? 
Yes, until March 15th you can use the login credentials sent to you at the time of application to make any changes/updates to the parts of the application that you submitted. This includes, but is not limited to, updates to your coursework and grades section, your cover letter, or your resume.  After, March 15th you will not be able to make further changes.

How are applications reviewed?
Investigators in the NIH intramural program have access to the database containing the electronic applications to this program. They can search for applicants with particular interests or specific GPAs or who are enrolled at selected universities. Each investigator decides to whom he/she will offer summer positions. Investigators (or their Institutes) also provide the stipends for summer interns. The OITE is not involved in the selection process, nor does it provide funding for the program.

How will I be notified if I am selected?
The investigator who has selected you or an administrative officer in his/her Institute or Center will contact you by phone, e-mail, or letter.

How soon can I expect to hear that I am selected?
There is no definite answer to this question. You will be selected only if/when an investigator who has a position available visits the database and is impressed with your credentials. On or about May 15, those who have not been selected will be informed via e-mail. Remember, there is no central selection committee for this program.

What are my chances of receiving a position in the Summer Internship Program?
Like many of the research training programs at the NIH, the Summer Internship Program is highly selective. Over the past several years, about 20% of applicants were selected for the program.  In 2011 we received more than 7000 completed applications; about 1100 applicants were offered positions.

How can I improve my chances of being selected for the Summer Internship Program?
After you submit your application you may want to contact investigators with whom you would like to work.  This does not mean that you should send a general e-mail to fifty investigators.  Such an e-mail is likely to be ignored.  Instead, identify four or five investigators whose work interests you.  Learn enough about what they are working on so that you can write focused specific e-mails describing why you would like to work with them.

Is there a list of investigators who are taking students for the summer?
The NIH does not keep a list of investigators who are planning to have summer interns.  You can, however, go to the 2010 Summer Poster Day Program to find out which investigators (Preceptors) had interns in summer 2010. 

How can I get information about specific NIH investigators whom I might contact about the research that they are conducting?
You can find information regarding NIH intramural research programs in the Intramural Research Sourcebook. If you have a particular research interest, you can access abstracts by going to the NIH Annual Reports and conducting text searches on the subjects that interest you. Once you identify investigators whose projects interest you, you can e-mail them to refer them to your SIP application. You can find contact information for NIH investigators in the NIH Enterprise Directory.

Do I need to submit an official transcript even though I entered my grades into the electronic application system?
Only those who are accepted into the program need to submit an official transcript. In the event that you are accepted into the program, you will be informed where to send this documentation. Otherwise, it is not necessary for you to send a transcript.

Other training opportunities

Are there other research training opportunities at the NIH that I might find of interest?
If you are a recent college graduate, you may be eligible for the Postbaccalaureate IRTA program, or the Technical IRTA program.

Where else might I find information on research opportunities? The SIP Information page contains links to Summer Programs Outside the NIH and Other Summer Programs at the NIH.  Please check these for opportunities that might suit your interests.