Neuroscience is a field brimming with potential, where each new discovery brings us closer to unlocking the mysteries of the human brain and spinal cord. If you’re passionate about understanding how the brain influences human behavior and eager to contribute to groundbreaking advancements, pursuing a career in neuroscience could be your path to making a lasting impact on the world.
An introduction to neuroscience research through hands-on experience can help you understand the complexities of the brain and spinal cord and the opportunity to drive change. To get into a top-tier school and make meaningful contributions to human knowledge, it’s not enough to simply have strong grades.
With roughly 1.17 million U.S. public high-school graduates taking at least one AP exam in 2021, and 68% of AP Biology students scoring 3 or higher, relying solely on AP courses for credentials means you may still be one of many applicants with similar qualifications, making it harder to stand out.
A summer research program helps you gain this advantage, especially in rigorous STEM fields like neuroscience.
By participating in a neuroscience research program from an esteemed institution, you can give an edge to your college applications and SOPs to appear more attractive than other applicants. That’s simply because such activities demonstrate your strong interest, passion and initiative to excel in the field—qualities every admission officer values.
Neuroscience is a research-intensive STEM discipline. It combines various methods, ideas and tools from fields like biology, psychology, chemistry and medicine to study the nervous system. So, foundational skills and hands-on research experience automatically become prerequisites to gain a comprehensive understanding of the subject. This is essentially what a summer research program helps with.
But that’s just one aspect. Enrolment in such courses also allows you to:
Long story short, a summer spent doing research in neuroscience can turn out to be your ticket to bigger, better career prospects in STEM.
As a high schooler exploring learning opportunities in the neuroscience domain, you’ll come across two academic pathways: lab-based research programs and structured neuroscience courses.
Research programs drop you into real labs where you test ideas, analyse data and figure out whether hands-on science is something you want to pursue in the future. Courses, meanwhile, follow a set curriculum and walk you through core topics with clearer timelines and guidance. The former is great if you enjoy open-ended exploration; the latter works better if you like structure.
Eventually, both are solid ways to spend your summer and grow academically.
Various institutions offer neuroscience summer programs for high school students. But here’s how you can sift through to pick the best summer course in neuroscience:
If you’re gearing up to take part in an prestigious neuroscience research program this summer, use these tips to make the most of that opportunity:
Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences (JHIBS) is a summer research internship that runs from June to August. It aims to train students in neurological sciences through a combination of hands-on academic research projects and mentoring sessions.
As a JHIBS intern, you’ll shadow practicing doctors in the Johns Hopkins clinic and develop a research project. Apart from this, you’ll also occasionally engage in seminars, faculty meetings, and so on. This comprehensive structure enables participants to learn and implement scientific methods in research, build critical thinking skills, and ultimately, pursue careers as clinicians/researchers.
However, what stands out the most about JHIBS is its prestige. It’s a highly selective program, with a rigorous application process and just five to six students in a cohort. Additionally, interns are paid a $15/hour stipend for their work.
The Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR) gives you the opportunity to gain first-hand scientific research experience in biological sciences and medicine by practicing with Stanford assistant professors, postdoctoral scholars, researchers and graduate students.
You can choose from eight core research departments, including neurobiology, cancer biology and bioengineering. If selected, you will be assigned a mentor to conduct hands-on research at a state-of-the-art laboratory. You will also be paid a minimum stipend of $500.
The program runs from June to July, and only 50 students are chosen to participate in it. This kind of selectivity, plus the experience of working alongside the esteemed Stanford faculty, makes it a great addition to college applications.
The Pioneer Academics Research Institute is a rigorous, fully accredited online program that offers high school students the opportunity to conduct original, college-level research under close mentorship from university professors. In the neuroscience research area, you will engage deeply with advanced topics, developing skills in independent research, critical reading, hypothesis testing and academic writing. The program closely mimics real undergraduate research, requiring you to formulate your own research questions and produce a comprehensive academic paper.
Successful completion earns you four college credits from Oberlin College, demonstrating your ability to handle demanding academic work. Recognized for its high standards and selectivity, Pioneer provides strong academic oversight and support, making it a valuable credential for students serious about neuroscience and preparing for competitive university programs.
Zuckerman Institute’s Brain Research Apprenticeships in New York at Columbia (BRAINYAC) lets students connect with professional scientists to explore academic research opportunities and core neuroscience principles in depth.
The program is designed to provide an immersive, hands-on research experience to its participants. If accepted, you will be matched with a neuroscientist mentor to create a guided research project in a Columbia laboratory. This will help you develop key research skills such as hypothesis formulation, data collection, statistical analysis, etc.
BRAINYAC is one of the only programs that allows you to work with real scientists in a fun and educational setting. So, it’s ideal for students who want to test the waters before committing to the career.
The MPFI Summer Research Internship aims to provide an enriching, paid research experience to high schoolers, especially those interested in learning about brain structure, function, development or neural mechanisms.
As an intern, you’ll engage in an intensive lab research project with MPFI scientists to prepare an abstract and a presentation. In the neuroscience track, this can help you build experience and skills in different wet lab techniques, like generic engineering, microscopy, etc. Along with that, you can also explore advanced imaging techniques and technologies used in neuroscience. With these skills, you can instantly give a boost to your college applications.
The University of Pennsylvania Neuroscience Research Academy teaches students about the complete biological foundations of the brain. Think cellular foundations of the neuron, understanding of the sensory systems, exploration of higher-order cognitive functions, like memory, emotion and so on.
The program is structured comprehensively, almost like a traditional neuroscience camp. Apart from hands-on research in these topics, you will also engage in daily lectures and discussions, develop presentations, participate in neuroscience journal clubs, field trips and much more. Through these activities, the program aims to provide deeper insights into understanding how the brain functions in both health and disease.
What makes the program truly worthy is that it’s entirely taught by the members of Penn’s undergrad neuroscience program. Additionally, you will receive a certificate of completion — tangible evidence of your hard work that you can flaunt in your college applications.
The Massachusetts General Hospital Youth Neurology Education and Research Program places you directly in an active neurology lab, where you and a partner contribute to ongoing projects under the guidance of an MGH neurology faculty mentor and their team.
Before fully joining your lab, you’ll complete an intensive bootcamp that will orient you to research skills, professional expectations and hospital-based work. During the program, you’ll attend regular didactic sessions and discussions led by professional neuroscientists and neurologists.
Even after the summer ends, the program continues supporting alumni with career advising, networking and application help. This makes it a standout experience to showcase on college applications, especially if you are interested in neuroscience, medicine or advancing equity in healthcare.
Wake Forest University’s Summer Immersion Neuroscience Institute is a fun, hands-on program where high school students learn about the brain and nervous system.
The program covers topics like how the brain works, how drugs affect it and how we sense the world. You will get to dissect a sheep brain, watch experiments, visit labs and go on field trips. You will also do a small research project and present what you learn.
This program is a great way to explore neuroscience, build skills and show colleges that you’re serious about science and learning.
Duke University’s Neuroscience Experience (DUNE) is an eight-week, full-time summer research internship where you get to work on real neuroscience projects with one-on-one mentorship.
You’ll also attend workshops that help you improve your science communication, explore different science and medicine careers and get tips for college applications.
The program offers a supportive community and ends with a research presentation, making it a valuable experience to build skills and strengthen your college profile.
UCSD’s Research Experience for High School Students (REHS) offers a unique chance to work on real computational research projects with one-on-one mentorship. As a participant, you’ll attend lab meetings, group discussions and collaborate in pairs or small groups to gain hands-on experience in formulating hypotheses, running experiments and analyzing data.
The program features a specialized neuroscience track, where you’ll engage in cutting-edge projects that explore brain functions through data-driven methods. This will give you hands-on experience with advanced neurocomputational tools.
This track is ideal for students interested in neuroscience, computer science and data analysis, giving them a unique advantage in both research skills and college applications.
Based on the Pioneer students’ self-reported college admission results, 71% of colleges our students got admitted into are the top 20 U.S. colleges and universities. Six percent of Pioneer’s alumni attended university-affiliated programs in the summer.If you’re interested in conducting the highest level of research for high school students, consider joining a Pioneer information session to learn more about the Pioneer Research Institute.
If you are a ninth or 10th grader, the Global Problem-Solving Institute is worth exploring. It gives you a chance to tackle real-world challenges with an interdisciplinary approach, while earning college credit from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and impressive accomplishment early in your academic journey.
Doing research is commonplace. How do you choose the research opportunity that makes a difference?
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