Internship Opportunities

Students preparing to complete a Capstone Project or a Senior Thesis may want to pursue a summer research assistantship or internship as a means of funding your research experience.  If you are looking for research-intensive summer internships, January and early February are traditionally the time to apply (March may be too late).

There are three main types of summer research programs/internships available outside BYU: government, university, and industry-sponsored programs. 

See http://www.compadre.org/student/research/main.cfm for a database of summer research opportunities, maintained by the national Society of Physics Students. 

Approval for credit

Of course, any research project, inside or outside the university, must be preapproved in order to satisfy a graduation requirement.  If you are accepted into a summer intership program and want to turn the experience into a Capstone or Thesis-qualified project, you must coordinate in advance with either Dr. Campbell (Capstone, 492R) or with Dr. Hintz (Thesis, 498R).

Government Labs Internships

US government-sponsored opportunities are handled through the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA).  While some major research universities have their own programs, most university-sponsored summer research opportunities are actually funded and managed through the NSF program called Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU).  DOD opportunities are also managed through the NSF REU program.  DOE, NIST, and NASA, on the other hand, each have separate systems.

Many of our national laboratories and national user facilities are funded through the Department of Energy (DOE).  They each sponsor summer intership programs as part of their core missions (i.e. their justification for expensive existence).  The national labs are very large facilities (like small cities) and provide opportunities to contribute to teams working at the cutting edge of virtually any area of science and engineering.  A single application through the main DOE website at http://www.scied.science.doe.gov   (follow the SULI link) will allow you to effectively apply to all of these labs.  You must, however, specify the lab that you are most interested in.  If that lab doesn't select you due to a limited number of openings, you may then be selected by one of the other labs in a second-round.  These programs usually provide transportation, housing, and a weekly stipend.

NIST has two main locations, Boulder CO and Gaithersburg MD, and is much like other national labs except that it is operated by the Department of Commerce.  Information on their summer internship program (SURF) can be found at http://www.surf.nist.gov/surf2.htm. 

University research internships

NSF REU programs are sponsored by many universities across the nation.  See http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/index.jsp for more information.  As you browse the list, you will see that BYU Physics & Astronomy is an REU site.  Our REU program is managed by Prof. Steve Turley.  Some of our own students are funded through this program each summer in addition to those who apply from other places.  You can apply to more than one location, but should only apply to sites that you are serious about.  While the details are site specific, sites that don't provide transportation or housing usually have higher stipends to compensate.  One of our students did an international REU at a university in China.

NASA internships seem to be a little harder to search for.  A good place to start is http://education.nasa.gov.  Another helpful page is https://neeis.gsfc.nasa.gov/JDbGenie/vol1/htdocs/edcats/multi_year/nasa_guide/index.html.   There, you can search center-specific internship opportunities.

Industrial research internships

Industry-sponsored internships are too numerous and diverse to catalog here.  If interested, you might simply approach the company or program of interest for more information.  Industry internships allow companies to attract new talent and to screen candidates for post-graduation openings.  Many companies preferentially hire former interns.  It takes some research to locate these opportunities because there is no central place to advertise them.  But the pay is generally quite good (on a student scale).  Get on the internet and see what you can find.

Links to other internship opportunities

• Fermilab (http://sist.fnal.gov)
• U. Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (http://www.msi.umn.edu/general/Programs/uip/)
• U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science (http://www.house.gov/science/intern.htm)
• Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory (http://hea-www.harvard.edu/REU/REU.html)
• National Institute of Health (http://www.training.nih.gov/student/sip/index.asp)