How to Get a STEM Research Internship at a Local Lab

Want to do science research at a local lab? Here’s the exact blueprint I used to land a spot with a mentor. And if cold-emailing professors feels hopeless, or you’re short on time, I’ve got a backup method at the end.

Identify Your STEM Field of Interest to Conduct Research at a Local Lab

Before getting into the internship search, take some time to reflect on your interests within the STEM field. Are you passionate about biology, chemistry, physics, or perhaps computer science? Identifying your interests will narrow down your search and allow you to focus on labs that align with your aspirations. During high school, I did multiple research projects in topics such as Nature Scientific Data, Oncology, and Bioinformatics.

Cold Emailing – A Proven Technique to Secure an Internship at a Local Lab

Cold Emailing is the most effective way to get research internships and opportunities at local labs and I am sure most of you have already tried cold emailing but it never seems to work. This is how you know that you probably aren’t doing it right.

Here’s the step-by-step guide on how I actually managed to get responses back:

1. Read the Professor’s papers or papers on their lab website
   1. This will allow you to reduce the number of emails you send out drastically because if their research paper is not of your interest then simply just discard the lab from your list
2. Convey your passion & interest
   1. Mentors actually want to work with students who have an innate curiosity for their research
   2. Always make sure to show your passion and my cold email template will definitely help you guys with this
   3. Trust me these professors actually want to help students, and if you reach out with genuine passion you will secure a spot!
3. Email Professors at your local lab
   1. Many people who I have asked on who they are contacting for research I see a list of labs at Harvard, Stanford or MIT
   2. This is very wrong! They will want undergrads from the university to do research in their labs who can get research fellowships or paid opportunities rather than a high schooler working remotely
4. To further catch their interest, send a resume or CV with your email
5. Specific questions you have –
   1. Request for meeting with a professor on Zoom or other platforms to discuss further on the opportunity
6. Meet with potential mentors
   1. Please read their papers beforehand
   2. Ask genuine questions
      1. If they are able to help, then ask to be a mentor
      2. Meet every week or two
7. At the end of the meeting….
   1. If they can actually answer all your questions and are happy to do so then this might be the best case scenario!

Do not fall into the perceived notion that you will have to do the professor’s research, you can ask him to be your mentor on your own research project! For more information on how to do this, make sure to watch this video

Alternative Method of Conducting Research at a Local Lab

Summer Research Programs….

Summer research programs might be the best way to conduct research with multiple professors if you want to collaborate with other peers or don’t find luck in cold emailing. I myself have curated a 50+ summer research programs for high schoolers all around the world which are actually very prestigious!

Finally, join our discord server where we have tons of like-minded students who help each other and for additional summer research projects!