Stanford AIMI Summer Internship: What It Takes to Get In

TL;DR

The Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging (AIMI) runs a summer research internship for high school students who are interested in AI and medicine. This blog covers [eligibility], [research projects], [costs and stipends], [deadlines], [application requirements], and [other options]. Details were checked against Stanford AIMI’s official pages in October 2026. Applications for summer 2027 open November 10, 2026, and close February 1, 2027. Not eligible this cycle, new to research, or looking for a mentor to guide your research from question to paper? Apply to Horizon to build your research skills.

What is the Stanford AIMI summer research internship?

The Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging (AIMI) studies how artificial intelligence (AI) can help doctors and researchers use medical information more effectively. Its summer research internship gives eligible students a chance to learn how researchers use AI to study medical problems.

You’ll learn how machine learning (a type of AI that finds patterns in data) helps researchers study health problems. You’ll get to learn about medical imaging, which uses images like X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs to examine the body. You’ll also work with clinical data, like patient records and medical test results. Researchers use these sources to study patterns in medical images and solve questions about patient care.

The program is virtual and runs for two weeks. You’ll learn from mentors, take part in research activities, and work with other students on topics related to AI and healthcare. It aims to help you understand how health AI research works, but it won’t train you to diagnose patients or make you a medical expert in two weeks. You can check Stanford AIMI’s official program page for current details.

Who is eligible?

The Stanford AIMI Summer Research Internship is open to high school students for summer 2027. The application opens on November 10, 2026, and closes on February 1, 2027. As the eligibility rules can vary for different AIMI programs and application cycles, you should check the current requirements before applying.

Stanford AIMI’s official page confirms that high school students can apply for summer 2027, but it doesn’t list every eligibility requirement. The table below includes the confirmed details for the 2026 program; you will have to check the program page when AIMI releases the 2027 information.

Source: Stanford AIMI’s official Summer Research Internship, High School Student Programs, and YouTube pages, checked October, 2026.

Your high school status is just the starting point, but you should confirm the age, citizenship, and residency rules before applying. If you aren’t eligible for the internship, you can consider Stanford AIMI’s Summer Health AI Bootcamp, a separate two-week virtual program that introduces you to AI in healthcare. Its 2027 application window is also November 10, 2026, to February 1, 2027.

What do you do as an AIMI intern?

During Stanford AIMI’s Summer Research Internship, you’ll explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can help researchers study medical problems. The two-week virtual program includes research activities, mentor guidance, and teamwork with other students. Your exact project can vary, and you should not assume that you’ll get to build a complete AI tool or work directly with patients.

Your research might involve questions such as how AI can spot signs of disease in medical scans, how well a model performs on different types of data, or how researchers can make AI tools more accurate and fair. Past student research at Stanford AIMI has explored skin cancer detection across different skin tones, chest X-ray analysis, and ways to check AI-generated medical reports. These are examples of the kinds of problems studied at AIMI, not confirmed projects for summer 2027.

The 2026 curriculum included:

• AI and healthcare: An introduction to artificial intelligence, machine learning, healthcare in the United States, and AI applications in medicine.
• Medical imaging and language: Computer vision, which helps computers analyze images; natural language processing (NLP), which helps computers work with human language; medical reports; and language models and foundation models used in healthcare.
• Testing AI: Model evaluation, which means checking how well a model works, and responsible AI, which focuses on using AI carefully.
• Research and teamwork: An advanced technical lecture with Stanford researchers, social breakout sessions, small-group project time led by a Stanford student lead, and Meet the Experts sessions with AI leaders from academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations.

The interns also worked on a team project. One past topic involved training an AI model to detect, classify, and locate pneumonia using a mix of data. Students prepared a final submission of model predictions and gave a presentation at the closing event, which included an awards ceremony to which parents were invited.

Skills you might use:

• Depending on your project and assigned activities, you might learn to read scientific papers, get to work with medical data, understand how AI models identify patterns, evaluate accuracy and fairness, and explain your findings to others.
• You don’t need to produce a major discovery in two weeks to learn from research. You’ll investigate a question, test ideas, review evidence, and learn from results that might not match your expectations. Some research questions take months or years to answer, so a short internship gives you an introduction to the process.

The program might work for you if you’re interested in both technology and healthcare and want to understand how researchers investigate unanswered questions. If you would prefer structured lessons on AI in medicine first, you can consider AIMI’s Summer Health AI Bootcamp.

Is Stanford AIMI paid, and what does it cost?

Stanford AIMI’s Summer Research Internship does not list a stipend for high school students. A stipend is money paid to you for participating in a program or conducting research. You should not expect to earn money from this internship.

AIMI’s official pages don’t confirm its 2027 fees or financial arrangements. The 2026 program cost was $2,400 plus a $45 application fee; there was no stipend. Need-based financial aid was available.

The internship is virtual and runs for two weeks, so you won’t need to travel to Stanford or pay for housing near campus. You’ll still need a suitable device and reliable internet. Since the 2027 costs haven’t been publicly confirmed, don’t assume the program will have the same fees or financial aid as in 2026.

Before applying, you can email Stanford AIMI at aimi-hs-programs@stanford.edu to confirm the 2027 program fee, application fee, financial aid, and whether any other costs apply.

Key dates and deadlines

For the 2027 Stanford AIMI Summer Research Internship, applications open on November 10, 2026, and close on February 1, 2027. You need to start preparing early so that you have enough time to review the requirements and submit your application before the deadline.

Source: Stanford AIMI’s official Summer Research Internship page and program information video, checked October 2026.

You should attend the information session to learn more about the application process and also when you can expect a decision. You can join the session with a parent or guardian, and you don’t need to wait for applications to open before reviewing the program details.

Dates can change each year, so you should check Stanford AIMI’s official page for the latest updates before applying.

What does the application ask for?

Stanford AIMI’s official Summer 2027 page lists the application dates but doesn’t publish the full list of questions and required documents. Check the official internship page and its application instructions for the latest requirements. You can also email aimi-hs-programs@stanford.edu to confirm what you need to submit.

The available application information includes these components:

• Personal and demographic details: Your contact information, parent or guardian contact details, and other demographic information.
• Academic history: Your courses, GPA, and transcript.
• Technical skills and achievements: Your coding experience, projects, competitions, publications, awards, and other relevant accomplishments.
• Short essay: Your response to the application’s essay prompt.

You should check the current application to confirm the exact questions and any additional materials that are required for 2027. Do not assume that older requirements still apply.

Parts to prepare carefully:

• Use your short essay to explain what interests you about AI in medicine. Instead of only saying you enjoy science or want to learn about AI, name a healthcare problem you’d like to understand. For example, you could be interested in whether an AI model can identify disease in medical scans accurately across different groups of patients. You should explain why the question matters and how it relates to your interests. You don’t need to propose a major discovery or claim to have advanced research experience.
• If the application asks for a recommendation, you should contact your teacher or other eligible recommender early. You need to choose someone who knows how you learn, handle challenges, and approach academic work. Ask them early so that they have enough time to write your recommendation.

Before submitting your application, check the official 2027 application instructions to make sure you’ve included every required item.

For more advice, you can read How to Get Into a Top High School Research Program.

How competitive is Stanford AIMI?

Stanford AIMI doesn’t publish an official acceptance rate or cohort size for its 2027 Summer Research Internship. However, its 2026 application figures can give you an idea of the demand for its summer programs.

In a LinkedIn post, AIMI reported receiving more than 1,600 applications for its summer programs in 2026. More than 200 high school students took part online across the Summer Research Internship and Summer Health AI Bootcamp. AIMI also announced a new group of 60 students for its Academic Year Research Internship.

These figures show interest in AIMI’s programs, but they don’t tell you your individual chances of admission. The 1,600-plus applications and the 200-plus participants covered both summer programs. AIMI hasn’t published a separate applicant count, available places, or acceptance rate for the 2027 Summer Research Internship.

Any acceptance rate you find elsewhere without verified Stanford data is an estimate, not an official figure.

What can you do to prepare?

• Explain your interest: Describe what you want to learn and why the question matters to you.
• Choose a specific research question: Focus on a healthcare problem that interests you, like using AI to analyze medical scans.
• Follow the current instructions: Check the Summer 2027 requirements and submit your application by February 1, 2027.
• Be honest about your experience: You can mention relevant classes, coding skills, and projects without exaggerating what you know or can do.

You should focus on submitting a thoughtful application, but remember that admission isn’t guaranteed. The published figures don’t provide enough information to calculate your chances.

For more options, you can check out Most Prestigious Summer Research Programs for High School Students.

What if AI and medicine are your thing but AIMI isn’t a fit?

You can explore AI and healthcare without joining Stanford AIMI’s summer internship. You can build relevant skills through other university programs, independent projects, competitions, or research mentorship. You should choose an option that matches your experience, schedule, and budget.

• Explore other university programs: Look for summer courses or research opportunities in health AI, computer science, biomedical engineering, or medical imaging. You can start with Horizon’s guides to 15 Stanford Summer Research Programs for High School Students and The Most Competitive Research Programs for High School Students. Check each program’s official website for current eligibility requirements, costs, and deadlines.
• Try a medical imaging project: You can use public datasets such as MedMNIST to explore how AI models classify medical images. You can also test how a model sorts images into categories, measure its errors, and explain its limitations. Use these datasets for learning, not for diagnosing anyone.
• Enter a competition: You can look for student research fairs, science competitions, or machine learning challenges open to high school students. You need to check the rules on outside help, data use, and AI tools before you begin.
• Find a research mentor: A mentor can help you narrow your interests into a research question, choose suitable methods, and understand what your results do and don’t show.

If you want to work on a longer research project with individual guidance, Horizon’s Academic Research Program offers year-round cohorts in subjects such as machine learning and data science.

In the 1:1 Labs track, you’ll work with a PhD or postdoctoral scholar and develop a written research paper as your final project. Horizon also offers group-based Professor Seminars, so you can compare both formats to see which suits your goals.

Horizon is a paid program, with financial aid available for eligible students. It provides academic mentorship and guidance on your research paper, but it is not a Stanford program or a medical internship. It also doesn’t guarantee publication, university admission, or any particular research results.

 If the format and cost suit you, you can apply to Horizon to review the available tracks and requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Start with the research

Not eligible this year, or don’t have research experience yet? You can use the time to explore a question that interests you, such as how AI can analyze medical images. A completed research paper also gives you something specific to discuss in future applications, including your research question, methods, findings, and limitations. Horizon offers year-round research mentorship with a PhD or postdoctoral scholar. You can apply to Horizon or join an information session to learn about the available tracks and requirements.

Resources

External sources

• Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging, Stanford University
• AIMI Summer Research Internship, Stanford AIMI
• Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies, Stanford University

More from Horizon

• 15 Stanford Summer Research Programs for High School Students
• 15 Selective Research Programs for High School Students
• The Most Competitive Research Programs for High School Students
• How to Get Into a Top High School Research Program

Image source: Horizon Academic Research Program