Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Internship Programs: A Comprehensive Overview
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) offers a wide array of internship programs designed to engage students and early-career professionals in cutting-edge research and development. These programs aim to cultivate interest in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and provide valuable hands-on experience. Berkeley Lab collaborates with various institutions and organizations to create these opportunities, fostering workforce pathways and contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge. WD&E works with staff across Berkeley Lab to create internship opportunities and workforce pathways. Through Berkeley Lab Opportunities for Careers in STEM (BLOCS), you and your colleagues can work with the WD&E team to design an internship program, which we will facilitate for you.
Diverse Internship Programs at Berkeley Lab
Berkeley Lab hosts a variety of internship programs, each catering to different educational levels and interests:
- Bridge Fellowship: The Berkeley Bridge Graduate Summer Fellowship Program offers internships for graduate students in chemistry, engineering, and physics.
- GREAT-NS: Undergraduate Research Educational Academic Traineeships in Nuclear Science provide internships for undergraduate students interested in nuclear physics.
- MNT-EC: The Micro Nano Technology Education Center offers nano-tech center internships that foster academic and industry mentorship.
- SOAR: Support Opportunities and Rapport for Youth provides internships with a non-profit organization that offers opportunities for foster youth in academics and career development.
- STEM Core: A dual internship and coursework partnership program is available through STEM Core.
- STROBE: A national multi-institutional partnership to support diverse students through research opportunities in imaging sciences.
ASPIRES: A Partnership for STEM Education
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has partnered with the Institute for STEM Education's Career Awareness and Preparation (CAP) Program to offer a ten-week paid summer internship for students in CSU East Bay's College of Science. The CAP Program and Berkeley Lab have worked together to make ASPIRES more accessible to students by removing both the GPA and lab experience requirements to encourage historically excluded students to apply. Throughout their ten-week fellowship from June 2th to August 8th, 2025, Berkeley Lab generously compensated each ASPIRES intern with a stipend and an additional housing support allowance (around $9,000-$10,000).
During the ten-week program, each ASPIRES intern worked alongside a scientist from Berkeley Lab’s Energy Sciences Area (ESA) and were assigned a project focusing on scientific disciplines spread across ESA’s four divisions; two user facilities, the Advanced Light Source and the Molecular Foundry, and two science divisions, the Materials Science Division and the Chemical Sciences Division.
- Advanced Light Source (ALS): This facility is a specialized particle accelerator that generates bright beams of x-ray, extreme ultraviolet, and infrared light for scientific research. The light is directed through about 40 beamlines to numerous experimental endstations, where scientists from around the world (“users”) can conduct research in a wide variety of fields, including materials science, biology, chemistry, physics, and the environmental sciences.
- Chemical Sciences Division (CSD): This division is the home of fundamental research in chemistry and chemical engineering. CSD's work provides a basis for new and improved energy technologies and for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of energy use.
- Materials Sciences Division (MSD): This division advances the fundamental science of materials within the context of global energy-related challenges. MSD scientists develop experimental and theoretical techniques to design, discover, and understand new materials and phenomena at multiple time and length scales.
- Molecular Foundry: This is a nanoscale science research facility that provides users from around the world access to cutting-edge expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. The Foundry’s broad spectrum of capabilities allow users to increase the scope, depth and impact of their research.
Experiences in Research (EinR) Internship Program
Experiences in Research (EinR) is an internship program for high school students to gain hands-on experience with professionals at Berkeley Lab. Students spend six weeks over summer working directly on cutting edge projects alongside experts in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) and STEM adjacent careers. Projects are focused around different aspects of STEM professions such as administration, science communication, data science, experimental research, and more. Students will be able to express their interests and project preferences in the application process to develop skills in their preferred field. Students will NOT be allowed to directly contact mentors during the application submission process.
Read also: Haskell Indian Nations University
The EinR program offers students the chance to:
- Form connections with Berkeley Lab mentors
- Build professional skills pertinent to higher education and careers in STEM
- Gain experience in science communication and collaboration
- Explore various STEM fields such as:
- Administration and Communication
- Coding-dependent Data science (coding and non-coding)
- Experimental research and data collection
2026 internship projects will be hybrid or virtual depending on the office and scope of work. This program is for current 10th, 11th and 12th grade students enrolled in Northern California with experience in independent work. Due to logistics, we recommend that applicants live within a 20 mile radius of Berkeley Lab for hybrid and in person projects. However, we will review ALL applications regardless of location. Interns will be working approximately 30-35 hours a week over the course of six weeks. This is a paid internship program. Students will receive $500 per week. Applicants must be at least 16 years old by June 16, 2025. Students must meet BOTH age and grade requirements to be eligible. For students looking for more of an introduction to STEM fields, we recommend applying to the Berkeley Lab Director's Apprenticeship Program. Internship dates are from June 15 - July 24, 2026.Students attending schools in the Oakland Unified School District should complete the ECCCO common application in addition to the EinR application. Please note: Students are only allowed to complete the program once. Former interns are not eligible to apply. Student applications will open February 2nd, 2026. Apply now!
The EinR program is sponsored by Berkeley Lab Director Dr. Mike Witherell and Deputy Director for Research.
NSSC Summer Internship Programs
The Nuclear Science and Security Consortium (NSSC) collaborates with several national laboratories, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to offer summer internship programs focused on nuclear security and nonproliferation.
- NSSC-LANL Summer Program: The Keepin Nonproliferation Science Summer Program is an eight-week extended research internship hosted by the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This program provides a survey of the national laboratory activities and mission space, focused research projects with a strong connection to nonproliferation science and technology, and a companion enrichment series featuring lectures and tours linking nuclear security science, technology, and policy.
- NSSC-LLNL Summer Internship Experience: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is accepting applications from NSSC Fellows and Affiliates to join active projects in nuclear threat reduction, security, and nonproliferation R&D. During this eight-week internship, scholars will work directly with an LLNL staff member and collaborate within teams of experts to implement research methodologies, perform analytical and laboratory research, and report and present research outcomes. Interns will also join activities that provide insight into national security mission areas, including technical lectures, facility tours, and hands-on training. NSSC-LLNL Summer Internships may be completed on-site, remotely, or in a hybrid format, with the work mode determined individually for each project.
- NSSC-ORNL Technical and Professional Summer Internships: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) offers unique resources and mentorship for undergraduate and graduate students to enhance their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math; encourage careers in science and technology; and improve scientific literacy. These 8-week summer internship will advance your scientific skills and knowledge in areas of critical national need. As an NSSC-ORNL intern, you will engage in rewarding research opportunities, connect with world-class scientists, have opportunities to share and exchange innovative ideas and techniques, and enjoy enrichment activities with other ORNL interns.
- NSSC-SNL Technical and Professional Summer Internships: At Sandia National Laboratories, scholars will have the opportunity to work on real-world, challenging projects to contribute to critical national goals. The Sandia internship program provides students with opportunities to work on NNSA R&D mission-relevant projects, training and practical work experience using state-of-the-art equipment and instruments, and research mentoring from top scientists and engineers.
- NSSC-LBNL Technical and Professional Summer Internships: At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, scholars have the opportunity to perform an 8-week internship on projects focused on degrees in critical science, engineering, technology, mathematics, and other disciplines that complement current and future missions of the NNSA. These internships may be completely on-site, remotely, or in a hybrid format.
Opportunities for Berkeley Lab Staff
Is your department interested in hosting interns? WD&E works with staff across Berkeley Lab to create internship opportunities and workforce pathways. Through Berkeley Lab Opportunities for Careers in STEM (BLOCS), you and your colleagues can work with the WD&E team to design an internship program, which we will facilitate for you.
Read also: Lawrence University Employment
Read also: An Overview of Paul Lawrence's Research at UCF
tags: #lawrence #berkeley #national #laboratory #internship #programs
