Summer High School Intern Program; SHIP

Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP) The 2026 SHIP vacancy announcement is closed.

• Thank you to everyone who applied.
• Offers for SHIP 2026 will be emailed March 30 - April 21.
• Applications for SHIP 2027 are expected to open in mid-October.
• Students interested in science can spend their summers in our labs at the Boulder, CO, or the Gaithersburg, MD, campuses through NIST’s Summer High School Intern Program (SHIP). Students learn from top scientists at NIST and work on your own research project.
• SHIP is a seven-week, unpaid educational internship.
• The program runs annually from mid-June to early August. Actual dates vary each year.
• be a high school junior or senior at time of application
• have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
• demonstrate a strong interest in participating in scientific research
• be able to commit to the full seven-week program
• have a permanent residence within a 50-mile radius of their host campus (NIST Boulder or NIST Gaithersburg)
• Students and their parent(s)/guardian(s) must provide their own housing and transportation
• No exceptions will be made

This competitive volunteer program will give you the chance to participate in cutting‑edge research at NIST and work with our staff scientists and engineers on a research problem. Learn about previous SHIP students’ research projects for more information.

Applications generally open on November 1 and close in last week of January of the following year. Learn more about the application process.