Neuroscience Summer Programs for High School Students
EC Finder currently lists 48 neuroscience summer programs for high school students. Of these, 22 are free to participate in and 7 offer virtual participation. Examples include Boston University RISE Internship/Practicum, Brain Camp @ UCSF), and Brown Pre-College: Brain Basics – From Biology to Behavior.
- 48
- listed
- 22
- free
- 7
- virtual
- 47
- with a listed deadline
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are neuroscience summer programs for high school students?
- Neuroscience Summer Programs for High School Students are curated extracurricular listings for high school students interested in neuroscience. Each listing includes eligibility, cost, and deadline details where known, so you can compare options and find the right fit for your college application profile.
- When are the application deadlines?
- 47 of the 48 summer programs listed here have a specific deadline month noted. Deadlines vary by program, so check each listing for exact dates.
- Are any of these summer programs free?
- Yes — 22 of the 48 summer programs listed here are free to participate in.
- Can I participate virtually?
- Yes — 7 of the 48 summer programs listed here offer virtual or online participation.
- Are neuroscience summer programs good for a college application?
- Yes — neuroscience summer programs are a common way for high schoolers to show sustained interest and initiative in neuroscience on college applications.
Related Categories
48 activities found·Browse by category
Boston University RISE Internship/Practicum
A six-week residential BU summer program where rising seniors either intern full-time in a university research lab or take an intensive practicum in a field such as computational neurobiology, culminating in hands-on research experience and possible science-fair-quality projects.
Brain Camp @ UCSF)
A 1-week immersive camp run by UCSF medical students. Curriculum is 100% neuro: sheep brain dissection, cranial nerve exams, and neuropathology.
Brown Pre-College: Brain Basics – From Biology to Behavior
A Brown University pre-college course where students dissect preserved human brains and study topics like visual perception, mental illness, and addiction while building research and presentation skills.
Case Western Reserve Pre-College: Neuroscience and Medicine
A fully online CWRU pre-college course on brain structure, neurotransmitters, and neurological disorders, with flexible 2- or 4-week sessions, mentor support, and a CWRU certificate on completion.
CHOP Neurology High School Scholars Program
A paid five-week internship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia pairing sophomores through seniors with a neurologist or neuroscientist mentor for a research project, clinical shadowing, and a final poster presentation. Program is paused for 2026, set to resume July 2027.
Columbia Zuckerman Institute BRAINYAC
Places NYC high schoolers in Columbia neuroscience labs to work one-on-one with scientist mentors on ongoing research, entered via partner-organization nomination.
COSMOS - Neuro Clusters
You must apply to a specific "Cluster." At UC Davis, look for "Biophysics/Robotics" (Neuro-engineering) or "Math Bio." At UCSC, look for "Bioinformatics" (often Neuro-genetics).
CU Boulder Science Discovery – STEM Research Experience
Seven-week summer program at the University of Colorado Boulder where high school students work 15-20 hours per week alongside graduate students and faculty on real research projects in biology, engineering, neuroscience, and other STEM fields, plus a research methods class on finding and evaluating scientific articles. Concludes with a STEM Research EXPO where students present their poster.
Drexel University College of Medicine Neuroscience Camp for High School Students
A two-week in-person summer camp at Drexel's Queen Lane campus in Philadelphia for rising high school juniors and seniors with a background in biology, chemistry, or research, covering brain anatomy, electrophysiology, cellular neuroscience, and neuropharmacology through lectures and hands-on lab work.
Duke Pre-College Neuroscience
A residential Duke summer course exploring the nervous system from individual neurons to brain networks, covering memory, emotion, and neurological disorders through labs, case studies, and a capstone experiment.
Duke University Neuroscience Experience (DUNE)
A full-time paid summer neuroscience research internship at Duke University for Durham-area sophomores and juniors, pairing students with faculty mentors in active Duke neuroscience labs plus professional-development workshops.
Emory Pre-College Neuroscience Program
A two-week program on the science of the brain, memory/cognition techniques, neurological disease, prosthetics, and brain-machine topics.
Explorations in Neuroscience Summer Camp – Ohio State University
A week-long day camp at Ohio State University College of Medicine for high school juniors and seniors interested in the brain and spinal cord, featuring hands-on lab sessions, clinical presentations, and faculty research discussions.
Humanities and Cognitive Sciences Summer Institute (HumCog) – Ohio State University
A one-week in-person summer institute at Ohio State University in which high school students entering grades 10-12 explore questions at the intersection of cognitive science, neuroscience, and the humanities, with need- and merit-based financial aid available.
International Youth Neuroscience Association (IYNA) Ideaathon
Virtual competition where teams propose a solution to a neurological problem (e.g., "Design a better treatment for epilepsy").
Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Science (JHIBS)
An eight-week Johns Hopkins summer internship placing high schoolers in neuroscience labs to work on projects related to brain imaging and neurological disease under faculty and postdoc mentorship.
Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences (JHIBS)
An eight-week paid summer research internship for Baltimore high school juniors/seniors in neuroscience and mental health medicine.
Max Planck Florida Institute (MPFI) Summer Research Internship
A six-week full-time paid internship in neuroscience (also scientific-programming and mechanical-engineering tracks) with hands-on wet-lab work including genetic engineering, histology, and microscopy.
MGH Youth Neurology Education and Research Program (YNERP)
A paid summer research internship at Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Neurology, pairing high schoolers with neurologist mentors on projects in brain imaging, cognitive neuroscience, and neurological disorders. Open only to students living or studying in Massachusetts.
National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC): Psychology & Neuroscience
A nine-day residential summer program held on college campuses (Duke, UC Berkeley/San Francisco, University of Michigan) where high school students explore the biological systems that shape thought and behavior through clinical simulations, anatomy workshops, and brain imaging studies.
NEURO-RocHS
A paid six-week neuroscience research program pairing Rochester high schoolers with University of Rochester Del Monte Institute lab mentors for hands-on research and career-pathway exposure. Currently limited to Rochester City School District partner schools.
Neuromatch Academy (NMA) - Computational Neuroscience
An advanced, 3-week online deep learning course. Originally for grad students but accepts top HS coders. Extremely prestigious.
Neuroscience Institute – Wake Forest Pre-College Summer Program
A week-long, overnight pre-college program at Wake Forest University for current 9th-12th graders featuring brain dissection, lab visits, electrophysiology demonstrations, and poster presentations covering neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, and behavioral neuroscience.
Neuroscience Pre-College Summer Program – University of Delaware
A week-long, in-person program at the University of Delaware for rising high school sophomores through seniors interested in neuroscience, psychology, biology, or medicine, combining lab experiments, facility tours, and a team-based capstone project presented to faculty experts.
NIH / NINDS High School Summer Internship Program (HS-SIP)
A highly competitive 8-10 week paid internship placing students in NIH labs, with NINDS focusing on the nervous system, neurodegeneration, stroke, and brain cancer, culminating in a Summer Poster Day.
Rockefeller University Summer Neuroscience Program (SNP)
A free, two-week intensive neuroscience course for New York City public high school students, led by Rockefeller University graduate students, featuring interactive lectures, scientific paper analysis, original experiment design, brain dissection, and lab tours.
Rosetta Institute Molecular Neuroscience Workshop
Held at UC Berkeley. A dedicated lab workshop on molecular mechanisms of the brain (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, drug effects).
Salk Institute Heithoff-Brody High School Summer Scholars
A prestigious, paid eight-week internship at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies where high schoolers work one-on-one with Salk scientists, including in neuroscience labs, on original research. Open to San Diego County residents.
Scripps Research Alcohol Research Center – HS Mentorship Program
A neuroscience-focused mentorship program offering both a virtual Summer Journal Club and an in-person lab research track exploring how alcohol and drugs affect the brain.
Simply Neuroscience Synaptic Hacks
Annual hackathon focused on neurotechnology and computational neuroscience.
SPICE – Summer Program in Computational Psychiatry Education
A free eight-week NYC program at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai introducing high schoolers, especially from underrepresented STEM backgrounds, to computational psychiatry and neuroscience research.
Stanford Clinical Neuroscience Immersion Experience (CNI-X)
A 10-day intensive summer session run by Stanford Psychiatry. Students attend seminars with Stanford faculty and complete a capstone project on a neuro/psych topic.
Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP)
5-week residential for low-income/first-gen students. Includes Neuroanatomy labs and hospital internships.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate - Neuroscience Course
Online synchronous course. Covers action potentials, synaptic transmission, and sensory systems.
Stanford SIMR - Neurobiology Track
You must select the "Neurobiology" institute on your application. This matches you with a faculty mentor for 8 weeks of hands-on research. Extremely competitive (<5% acceptance).
Summer Springboard Berkeley - Psych & Neuro Track
Pre-college residential program. The "Psych & Neuro" track includes brain dissection and seminars on mental health.
UC Berkeley ATDP - Cognitive Neuroscience
Accelerated summer course. You must select the "Cognitive Neuroscience" or "Biological Psychology" course code.
UC Davis Young Scholars Program (UCD-YSP)
6-week residential research. You can request placement in the Center for Neuroscience or Mind Institute.
UCI Brain Camp
A two-week, full-day neuroscience program at UC Irvine's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory for high school students, covering brain anatomy, sensation, memory, and brain-machine interfaces through lectures, dissections, and hands-on lab techniques like electrophysiology and optogenetics.
UCLA BrainSPORT Summer High School Internship
An in-person clinical research internship with pediatric neurologist Dr. Christopher Giza's team, where students assist with concussion and traumatic brain injury research through neuroimaging, cognitive testing, and patient recruitment.
UCLA NeuroCamp
A free, eight-day neuroscience program at UCLA's Brain Research Institute for Los Angeles County high school students in grades 9-12, teaching fundamentals of molecular neurobiology, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy through hands-on lab techniques.
UCLA Neuroscience High School Scholars Program
A free UCLA program (Easton Center for Alzheimer's Research and Care) with virtual "Grand Rounds" seminars, an Alzheimer's-awareness peer club, and a selective Virtual Summer Program pairing students with mentored research.
UCSC Science Internship Program (SIP) - Neuroscience Projects
10-week research internship. In the application, you select specific research areas; usually 15+ projects are in Neuroscience (e.g., "Neural Circuitry," "Cognitive Modeling").
UCSF SEP High School Intern Program
A highly competitive 8-week paid internship. You are placed in a UCSF research lab. Approximately 30-40% of placements are in Neuroscience or Neurology departments.
UCSF Summer Research Experiences in Neuroscience (SREN)
Specifically for students underrepresented in the sciences to gain authentic research experience in UCSF neuroscience labs.
USC Pre-College: The Brain – Introduction to Neuroscience
A four-week residential USC summer course covering neurons, memory, and brain disorders through lectures, labs, and field trips, culminating in a mock-trial "mystery case" project and USC course credit.
Vanderbilt Summer Institute – Neuroscience: Your Six Senses
A two-week, on-campus course for rising 11th and 12th graders at Vanderbilt University exploring how the brain processes sensory information — light, sound, touch, taste, smell, and gravity — through interactive labs, demonstrations, and analysis of research data.
Yale Neuroscience Summer Scholars (YNSS)
An eight-week summer program covering neuroscience, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation, with didactic education, lab-technique training, and a supervised research project for New Haven Public Schools students.
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