Milwaukee hosts four separate research programs for high school students, spread across the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University’s biomedical engineering department.
Add in Madison’s flagship research university, a statewide freshwater science network based in Green Bay, and a virtual oncology program open to any Wisconsin resident, and the state turns out to have many high quality options for research programs for high school students in Wisconsin.
This guide covers 13 summer programs and research programs for high school students in Wisconsin, along with a couple of year-round options ranging from fully virtual, university-backed research institutes to paid summer internships based in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and La Crosse.
Some of these research programs for high school students in Wisconsin are free. Some pay a stipend, and a few charge tuition. All of them give Wisconsin high school students interested in research a way to explore careers and work alongside a mentor on something more substantial than a classroom project.
The highest quality research programs for high school students fall into two categories:
The strongest programs in any category tend to share two qualities: a high degree of student agency in shaping the research direction, and meaningful institutional oversight that ensures academic rigor. Programs run with oversight from universities, government bodies and established non-profits typically possess these qualities, giving students the closest approximation to what college-level research actually looks like, making the experience valuable college preparation.
To read more about the different types of research programs available, and how they differ from popular “independent mentor-matching” services, read our comprehensive guide on choosing the best research opportunities.
The programs below were selected based on:
The Pioneer Research Institute is a fully online research program where high school students complete original, college-level research one-on-one with a university professor and produce a formal research paper, rather than following a fixed course curriculum.
Because it is entirely virtual, geography is not a barrier — a Wisconsin high schooler in Eau Claire has the same access to a faculty mentor as any other Pioneer student, regardless of ZIP code. Students design their own research question with a faculty mentor guiding the process, working across fields from the physical sciences to the humanities.
For a full breakdown of admission requirements, cost and what a term of Pioneer research actually involves, see our comprehensive guide to Pioneer Academics.
MIT PRIMES-USA is the distance-mentoring track of MIT’s PRIMES math research program, built specifically for students who live outside commuting range of Cambridge — which makes it one of the few MIT-affiliated research options genuinely open to a Wisconsin student.
Students work with an MIT-affiliated mentor over a full academic year, conceiving and pursuing a scientific research question in mathematics that culminates in a paper and a presentation at PRIMES’ annual conference.
For families weighing whether the program’s rigor and remote-mentoring model are the right fit, Pioneer Academics has published a participation guide to MIT PRIMES-USA.
The UW-Madison High School Science Research Internship places Madison Metropolitan School District juniors directly into UW-Madison faculty research groups for a nine-week summer of hands-on lab work, culminating in a scientific poster presentation. The program is designed to give students experience not only in authentic scientific research, but also in scientific communication, leadership and professional relationship-building, with group seminars complementing their time in the lab.
Unlike most other entries on this list, this program’s eligibility is capped at Madison’s own school district, so it functions more as a district-specific pipeline into university research. Participating students also receive one full college credit through UW-Madison.
The SUPREMES Program, which stands for Students Understanding Principles of Research Education through Medicine, Engineering, and Science, is a joint biomedical engineering research program run by Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Students begin with formal instruction in research methods and lab safety, then move into a semester-long independent investigation in a Milwaukee-area biomedical lab, guided by a faculty mentor.
UW-Milwaukee’s ACS Project SEED site was the first Wisconsin host of this national American Chemical Society program, which pairs low-income high school students with UWM chemistry faculty and graduate students for a summer of authentic research in areas such as computational chemistry, biochemistry and environmental water chemistry.
It is one of the only programs on this list built specifically around financial need, which makes it a notable option for Wisconsin families for whom cost is the primary barrier to a research summer.
The Medical College of Wisconsin’s Apprenticeship in Medicine program gives Milwaukee-area students a six-week immersive introduction to health sciences, combining mentorship from medical students with clinical shadowing, hands-on activities involving medical simulations and exploration of medicine, biomedical research and allied health careers.
Students also learn about potential career paths and common health challenges affecting their communities, hear from healthcare professionals and specialists, and develop an abstract and oral presentation on a disease or condition of their choice.
It is regionally restricted to Milwaukee-area schools, making it best suited for students who already live within that catchment.
Run through the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin at the Medical College of Wisconsin, the 500 Stars internship places high school students interested in health science careers in research labs, clinical care settings, program sites and community health sites around southeast Wisconsin, supplemented by hands on workshops and seminars on clinical and translational science.
The Freshwater Scholars Program is part of the statewide Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin and pairs high schoolers with UW-Green Bay faculty mentors on hands-on fieldwork and freshwater research, from watershed monitoring to aquatic biology. The program offers a stipend for the work.
It is a strong fit for young people drawn to environmental or water science specifically, rather than a general lab placement.
The ARISE Summer Research Internship places students in a UW Carbone Cancer Center faculty mentor’s lab for hands-on cancer research, paired with career-development programming that spans nursing, pharmacy and medical ethics.
Its open grade range — 6th through 12th grade — makes it one of the more accessible entry points on this list for a younger Wisconsin student who wants lab activities and hands on experience.
HERO is a fully virtual, two-week oncology research program run by the MCW Cancer Center, in which Wisconsin students explore and collaborate remotely on a genetics-based research project and a patient case study, alongside faculty lectures and panel discussions on cancer science.
Its virtual format and Wisconsin-residency requirement make it one of the more accessible entries here for students who cannot travel to Milwaukee.
Unlike most other programs on this list, the Summer Academy of Medicine is a short, tuition-based residential experience rather than a paid internship. Over a long weekend at St. Norbert College’s science center, students get hands-on exposure to the skills needed for biomedical science and medical careers, taught jointly by St. Norbert and MCW-Green Bay faculty and health professionals.
It gives students a concentrated, hands-on introduction to medical careers over a single weekend of instructional sessions, rather than the multi-week commitment most other programs on this list require.
The Health Science Academy is structurally different from every other program on this list: it is a two-year, in-school career pathway built with Gundersen Health System, not a discrete summer research placement. Students complete health-science coursework, shadow healthcare professionals and work toward clinical certifications over their junior and senior years.
For a La Crosse-area student weighing a sustained, school-embedded path into healthcare against a single-summer research program, it is a meaningfully different — and worthwhile — kind of commitment.
Upward Bound Math & Science is a federally funded TRIO program hosted at UW-Milwaukee, built for first-generation, low-income students from a defined set of Milwaukee-area high schools. Its summer component includes STEM enrichment and research exposure, but the program itself is a multi-year college-access pipeline rather than a single-summer research placement.
Once you have the list of research programs for high school students narrowed down, the deciding factors usually come down to three questions: how much independence do you want over the research itself, how far are you willing to travel, and what can your family realistically pay.
Programs like MIT PRIMES-USA and the Pioneer Research Institute hand a student the most control — you help define the research question and drive the work over months, not weeks, with a faculty mentor guiding rather than directing. Programs like the SUPREMES Program, ACS Project SEED or the ARISE internship give a more structured lab-placement experience, where a Wisconsin high schooler contributes to research a faculty mentor has already designed.
Neither approach is inferior — a structured lab placement can be exactly the right first exposure to research for a student who has never worked in a research lab before, while a fully independent research track suits a student who already has a specific question they want to pursue.
Geography narrows the list quickly. Milwaukee alone hosts four programs on this list through the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette, while Madison, Green Bay and La Crosse each host one. A student outside those metro areas, or one who wants to avoid a summer commute altogether, is better served by a fully virtual option — which is where MIT PRIMES-USA, the Pioneer Research Institute and MCW’s HERO program (Wisconsin residency required, but delivered remotely) come in.
Pioneer in particular is worth a close look for a Wisconsin student who wants sustained, one-on-one research mentorship without needing a car, a host family or a Milwaukee address: the institute is fully online, accredited through Oberlin College, and open to students of every high school grade level, not just juniors and seniors.
The strongest options combine real institutional oversight with genuine student input into the research itself. In Wisconsin, that includes university-driven programs like the SUPREMES Program at Marquette and MCW, UW-Green Bay’s Freshwater Scholars Program and UW-Milwaukee’s ACS Project SEED, alongside fully virtual options like the Pioneer Research Institute and MIT PRIMES-USA that are open to any Wisconsin student regardless of home address.
The right one depends on a student’s subject interest, how much independence they want over the research question, and whether they can travel to a Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay or La Crosse campus for the summer.
Yes. MIT PRIMES-USA, the UW-Madison High School Science Research Internship, MCW’s HERO program, the Health Science Academy in La Crosse and UW-Milwaukee’s Upward Bound Math & Science are all free to eligible students, and several — including ACS Project SEED, HERO and the Freshwater Scholars Program — pay a stipend on top of covering costs. Several others, like the Pioneer Research Institute and the SUPREMES Program, also offer need-based financial aid for students who qualify.
Most of the programs on this list are based in Wisconsin itself, at UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Green Bay, Marquette University, the Medical College of Wisconsin, St. Norbert College or the School District of La Crosse.
For a student who wants a research experience without any travel at all, fully virtual programs — the Pioneer Research Institute, MIT PRIMES-USA (for non-Boston-area students) and MCW’s HERO program, which requires Wisconsin residency but runs entirely online — remove the geography question altogether.
Look for institutional oversight: a program run by, or formally affiliated with, a university, government agency or an established non-profit will generally hold a student’s work to that institution’s academic standards.
Ask whether the student designs their own research question or simply assists with a project someone else has already defined, whether a named faculty mentor is involved, and whether the credit or credential offered is issued by an accredited institution rather than a certificate mill. Pioneer Academics, for instance, is accredited through Oberlin College, meaning the research institute itself — not just the credit — carries academic oversight and a transcript.
A research program asks a student to work toward an original question or contribute to real, ongoing research under a mentor’s guidance, typically over weeks or months, and usually produces a paper, poster or presentation of findings.
A STEM summer camp, by contrast, is generally built around a fixed curriculum — workshops, demonstrations or short projects designed to introduce a subject rather than advance it. Both have real value, but a student aiming to demonstrate sustained, independent academic work should look specifically for programs, like the ones on this list, built around mentor-guided original research rather than a set course of lectures.
Wisconsin has more research infrastructure for high school students than it usually gets credit for — a flagship research university, three medical schools and a network of regional campuses all run programs built for exactly this purpose.
The best choice is rarely the most famous name on a list; it is the program that matches how much independence a high school student wants, how far they are willing to travel and what they can realistically commit to for a summer or a school year.
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.
Based on a recent survey, 71 percent of Pioneer Research scholars’ acceptances were to the top 20 US colleges and universities. Additionally, our alumni report acceptances to highly-selective institutions at a rate five times higher than the school’s published acceptance rate.
If you are a 9th or 10th grader, we encourage you to also check out the Global Problem-Solving Institute. You’ll have the rare opportunity to take an interdisciplinary approach to complex world programs, while earning college credits from UNC-Chapel Hill.
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