Physics Summer Programs for High School Students (2027)

TL;DR

You’ll find 25 physics summer programs below. The programs are grouped by what you actually do all summer: work inside a national lab, run your own project with a mentor, or take a university physics course. Ruled out by your passport, your zip code, or your grade? Apply to Horizon instead. You’ll work 1-on-1 with a professor or PhD mentor and write a full research paper. New cohorts start three times a year, so you won’t have to wait until next summer.

Physics is the subject where the gap between the classroom and the real thing is widest. In class you solve problems someone already solved. In a lab you point a detector at something nobody has measured yet and find out what it does.

Some days that means a week of calibrating equipment that refuses to behave. Some days it means a plot that finally makes sense at 6 pm on a Friday. Either way, you come out with something real: a poster, an asteroid orbit logged with the Minor Planet Center, or a paper with your name on it.

Most students do it to find out whether they want four years of this. That’s worth knowing before you declare a major. The hard part is finding a program that will actually take you, so here’s the list.

What would you actually research?

Physics is too broad of an answer, so here are five physics research areas you can consider:

• Particle and nuclear physics: Fermilab PRISM, FRIB’s Physics of Atomic Nuclei, or Northeastern’s cosmic ray lab.
• Astrophysics and cosmology. Summer Science Program, Yale’s YSPA, COSMOS at UC Davis, or NASA’s SEES internship.
• Quantum physics and materials. NIST’s SHIP program, COSMOS, or RSI.
• Applied and experimental physics. ASPIRE at Johns Hopkins APL, UPenn’s Experimental Physics Academy, or Horizon’s Fluid Dynamics and Physics course.
• Computational physics. Python4Physics at Berkeley, ASSIP, or Illinois Young Scholars.

Not sure how to turn an interest into a question? Start with our guide to summer research programs. 

What skills do high school students learn in physics summer programs?

The skills you learn matter more than the program you do. These skills are beneficial for future growth in the field. 

• Real instruments. Cloud chambers, muon counters, telescopes researchers actually book time on. Northeastern has you counting cosmic rays inside two weeks; FRIB runs nuclear experiments in a working isotope facility.
• Coding. Physics runs on Python now, and you don’t get to skip it. Python4Physics starts from zero; SSP has you write the software that turns your telescope images into an asteroid orbit.
• Knowing what your number means. Every measurement has an error bar, and sizing it is most of the job. High school skips it; labs assume it. NIST does measurement for a living.
• Explaining it. Half of research, and students always underrate it. Most programs end with you next to a poster; Horizon adds four sessions with a writing coach.

Does this help your college application?

Yes, but not because the program is famous. What matters is a project you can explain without being asked twice. What did you want to find out? What broke? What would you do differently? 

The most selective programs here take between 2 and 10 percent of applicants, and a large share of qualified students are ruled out before they apply at all by citizenship or by where they live. Apply widely, and make sure at least one option is something you control rather than something you wait on. To better understand, check out our blogs: do research programs actually help with admissions? and how to get into a top research program.

Which one should you choose?

Three groups. Find the row that sounds like you and jump straight there.

Choose this group if…	Group
You want professional lab experience (location-centric)	Internships at national labs and research centers
You want to work on a research paper (more widely accessible)	Research programs with a mentor
You are exploring physics	University courses and intensives

Different subject calling you? You can check out our guide on summer research programs.

Physics internships at national labs and research centers

1. Fermilab Program for Research, Innovation and STEM Mentorship (PRISM)

Location: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois. On-site and off-site schedule; no housing provided

Cost: Free. Interns are paid a salary of $500 per week

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 4 weeks, July 12 to August 6, 2027

Application Deadline: January 12 to March 1, 2027

Eligibility: High school senior for the 2027–2028 school year or a 2027 graduate, enrolled at an Illinois high school. US citizenship required. Proof of medical insurance required

PRISM places interns with Fermilab scientists and engineers on particle physics instrumentation, accelerator technology, computing, and detector systems. It is one of very few high school physics placements in the country that pays a real salary, and the work sits directly alongside frontier particle physics experiments. One point is consistently misreported: PRISM is the laboratory’s current program, and the TARGET program that most lists still name no longer appears anywhere on Fermilab’s internships site. The eligibility is also different, since TARGET took Illinois sophomores and juniors while PRISM takes only rising seniors and recent graduates and requires US citizenship.

Who is it right for? Illinois students finishing junior year who want paid, professional-grade particle physics experience and can get themselves to Batavia daily.

2. Summer High School Intern Program (SHIP), National Institute of Standards and Technology

Location: NIST Gaithersburg, Maryland or NIST Boulder, Colorado. On-site; students arrange their own housing and transportation

Cost: Free. This is an unpaid volunteer internship, not a paid one

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 7 weeks, mid-June to early August. 2027 dates are listed as to be confirmed

Application Deadline: End of January 2027. The vacancy announcement is expected to open on USAJobs in mid-October 2026

Eligibility: High school junior or senior at time of application. US citizenship required. Minimum 3.0 unweighted GPA. Permanent residence within a 50-mile radius of the host campus. Must commit to the full seven weeks

SHIP places students with research scientists at NIST on projects spanning precision measurement, materials science, quantum information and physical metrology, closing with a presentation of results. NIST is among the most research-intensive federal laboratories open to high school students, and its measurement science work has few equivalents at university programs. Two details are routinely omitted elsewhere and disqualify most applicants. The program is explicitly unpaid, described by NIST as a competitive volunteer program, and the 50-mile residence radius is a hard requirement rather than a preference.

Who is it right for? Students in the Washington–Baltimore corridor or the Colorado Front Range who can afford an unpaid summer.

3. STEM Enhancement in Earth Sciences (SEES), NASA and UT Austin

Location: Center for Space Research, UT Austin, Texas. Hybrid, with a virtual component before the on-site portion. Some projects run fully virtually

Cost: Three tracks. Scholarship places cover tuition, meals, housing and local travel; the fee-based place costs $2,000; virtual participation is free. Interns are not paid

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 2 weeks on site, preceded by a virtual component from June. The 2026 cycle ran July 5 to 18; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: February, with 2027 details expected December 2026 to January 2027. The 2026 deadline was February 22

Eligibility: Current sophomores or juniors only. Must be 16 by the program start date. US citizenship required. No prior SEES participation

SEES pairs students with NASA-affiliated researchers on projects built around real satellite and remote-sensing data, with astronomy and space science strands alongside earth observation. The program closes with a science symposium where interns present findings. The cost is widely misreported: SEES is free only if you receive a scholarship or take a virtual place, and the fee-based track costs $2,000, covering meals, housing and local travel but not travel to Austin. Scholarship applications are assessed separately and do not affect admission.

Who is it right for? Sophomores and juniors drawn to astronomy and space data who want NASA-affiliated work on their record.

4. Physics of Atomic Nuclei (PAN), Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. Residential

Cost: Free, including room and board on campus. No stipend

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 1 week, July 18 to 23, 2027

Application Deadline: Early March. The application posts each December, so the 2027 form is expected in December 2026

Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12 at a US high school. International students are not eligible. Two teacher recommendations required

PAN runs a week of nuclear physics fundamentals, detector experiments and accelerator tours inside one of the world’s leading nuclear science facilities. It is the only program on this list open to freshmen and sophomores that puts students inside a major national research facility, and it costs nothing including accommodation. The short format is the point rather than a limitation: PAN functions as an entry route for students too young for the seven-week internships, and as a first credential before applying to more selective programs the following year.

Who is it right for? Freshmen and sophomores who want serious exposure to nuclear physics before they’re old enough for the major internships.

5. Laboratory Learning Program (LLP), Princeton University

Location: Princeton, New Jersey. Fully in-person with no remote option. Non-residential

Cost: Free. No stipend

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 5 to 6 weeks, with exact dates set by the individual laboratory. 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Mid-March. The 2026 window ran February 15 to March 15, so the 2027 application is expected to open in February 2027

Eligibility: At least 16 by mid-June. US citizens only, with green cards and permanent residency cards explicitly not accepted. Must be enrolled at a New Jersey high school in a district near the university

LLP places students directly into Princeton research groups on the laboratory’s own active projects under faculty and graduate student supervision, with physics, astrophysics, plasma science and applied physics placements available depending on which groups are hosting that year. The research is genuine laboratory work rather than a structured curriculum. The eligibility has narrowed sharply and most lists have not caught up: the program is now restricted to US citizens at high schools in New Jersey districts close to Princeton, and the program page states these restrictions admit no exceptions.

Who is it right for? Central New Jersey students who are US citizens and want an unstructured, genuinely research-grade summer.

6. Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP), George Mason University

Location: Fairfax, Virginia. Remote, hybrid and in-person options all available

Cost: $25 application fee plus $1,299 tuition on acceptance, covering three George Mason undergraduate credits. Both may be waived for students eligible for free or reduced lunch or Pell Grant aid. Interns are not paid

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 8 weeks, full-time. The 2026 cycle ran June 18 to August 12; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Mid-February, with applications opening in December. The 2026 window ran December 8 to February 15

Eligibility: Age 15 and above for remote internships, 16 and above for in-person laboratory work. No minimum GPA. International students are eligible, though George Mason does not sponsor visas and some labs are closed to non-citizens

ASSIP places each intern with a single faculty researcher for eight weeks of full-time work, with physics, computational physics and astronomy among the available placements, and awards three undergraduate credits on completion. It is one of the few substantial university research internships that accepts international students and sets no GPA floor, which makes it unusually accessible for its depth. The cost is frequently misstated: ASSIP is neither free nor paid, since accepted interns pay tuition unless a waiver is approved, so waiver applications should be submitted early.

Who is it right for? Students without a strong GPA record, international students, and anyone who needs a remote option but wants real university research.

7. ASPIRE, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Location: Laurel, Maryland. Fully on-site, 30 to 40 hours per week

Cost: Free. Explicitly an unpaid internship

Cohort size: Not publicly available. Acceptance rate under 10% for new students

Dates: June to August, minimum 190 hours, with an optional academic-year continuation from September to May. The 2026 cycle ran June 23 to August 21

Application Deadline: February 15, with the window opening January 1 and final notifications by May 15

Eligibility: High school junior or senior during participation, at least 15 by June 1. US citizenship required, green card holders not eligible. Minimum 2.8 GPA. No criminal record. Reliable transportation required, as APL is not served by public transit. Residence required in Anne Arundel, Baltimore County or City, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery or Prince George’s County in Maryland; Alexandria, Arlington or Fairfax in Virginia; or the District of Columbia

ASPIRE places students with mentors at the largest university-affiliated research center in the United States, on projects spanning space physics, applied physics, engineering and national security research. The optional academic-year extension lets strong interns continue the same project into senior year, which produces unusually substantial work. The geographic gate is specific and strictly applied, and is dropped by most other lists. The 2.8 GPA minimum is lower than comparable programs, which makes ASPIRE a realistic target for students in that catchment whose grades are good rather than exceptional.

Who is it right for? Students in the DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia corridor who can commit a full unpaid summer.

Physics research programs with a mentor

8. Research Science Institute (RSI), MIT

Location: MIT campus, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Residential

Cost: Free. All educational, housing and dining expenses covered. No stipend

Cohort size: Roughly 100 students from more than 3,100 applications, an acceptance rate under 2.5%

Dates: 6 weeks. The 2026 cycle ran June 28 to August 8; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Mid-December, typically the Wednesday of the second full week. The 2027 application is expected in November or December 2026

Eligibility: Apply during junior year; seniors are not eligible. At least 16 by July 1 of the program year. US citizens, permanent residents, and international students from participating countries. Test scores required, with stated benchmarks of PSAT Math 740+ and EBRW 700+, or ACT Math 33+ and Verbal 34+

Run by the Center for Excellence in Education and hosted at MIT, RSI is generally regarded as the most selective high school research program in the world. Students spend the first week in intensive coursework, then five weeks on original research with mentors drawn from MIT, Harvard and the surrounding institutions, closing with written and oral presentations. Physics and astrophysics are consistently among the best-represented fields. The test benchmarks are guidance rather than cutoffs, and the Center notes that lower scores may be acceptable alongside strong evidence of scientific potential.

Who is it right for? Juniors with exceptional test scores and a research record already behind them.

9. Simons Summer Research Program, Stony Brook University

Location: Stony Brook, New York. In-person only, with commuter and residential options. Remote placements are not accommodated

Cost: No tuition or fees. Residential students pay their own housing, estimated at roughly $2,450. No stipend figure is published

Cohort size: Not publicly available. Acceptance rate under 5%

Dates: 6 weeks, closing with a poster symposium. The 2026 cycle ran June 29 to August 7; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Early February, with the 2027 application posting in late November 2026. The 2026 deadline was February 5, with nominations due January 30

Eligibility: Must be in 11th grade at time of application, at least 16 by the program start, and a US citizen or permanent resident. Minimum four hours a day committed to research. No prior research experience required

Simons places students in Stony Brook faculty research groups, with physics and astronomy among the strongest departments represented. Students take ownership of a project inside the group’s research programme, attend faculty talks, and present a poster at the closing symposium. The program’s alumni record in national science competitions is unusually strong. Two points are worth flagging: no stipend figure appears anywhere on Stony Brook’s official pages despite widespread claims of a $1,000 award, and the housing cost means the program is not free for students who cannot commute.

Who is it right for? Juniors in the New York metropolitan area, particularly those who can commute.

10. Summer Science Program in Astrophysics (SSP)

Location: Rotating university campuses. The 2026 sites were Albion, Georgia College, Linfield, Wisconsin–River Falls, Colby, Lehigh and Knox. Residential

Cost: $11,800 all-inclusive of room, board, tuition and local transport. Admissions are need-blind and SSP covers 100% of demonstrated need; families below roughly $100,000 attend free, and stipends up to $3,000 are available to replace lost summer wages

Cohort size: 35 students per session

Dates: 5 weeks. The 2026 sessions ran between June 8 and August 1 depending on campus; 2027 dates and campuses are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Late January for international applicants and mid-February for domestic. An interest form for 2027 is already live

Eligibility: Current juniors only. At least 15 and not yet 19 during the program. High school physics and precalculus completed by June for a grade, with calculus able to substitute for physics; self-study does not count. International students eligible

SSP’s astrophysics track has student teams determine the orbit of a near-Earth asteroid from their own telescope observations, writing the software and doing the analysis themselves. It is one of the very few programs where high school students produce a genuine astronomical measurement that is submitted to the Minor Planet Center. The financial aid commitment is unusually strong: admissions are need-blind, full demonstrated need is covered, and a lost-wages stipend is available for students who would otherwise have to work.

Who is it right for? Juniors set on astrophysics who have precalculus behind them and want an observational project rather than a lab placement.

11. Horizon Academic Research Program

Location: Fully online. Open to students anywhere in the world

Cost: $6,950 per course, with need-based financial aid for families earning under $75,000. Merit scholarships of $695 and $3,000 are awarded within each cohort

Cohort size: 3 to 6 students per seminar; Labs are one-on-one. 26% acceptance rate from 6,539 applications

Dates: Seminars run 10 weeks; Labs run 12 to 16 weeks. Fall and spring trimesters are 15 weeks, summer is compressed to 10. Expect 8 to 10 hours per week. The winter cohort begins December 14, 2026

Application Deadline: Winter cohort closes November 22, 2026, with further cohort deadlines published on a rolling basis

Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12 with an unweighted GPA of 3.67 or equivalent. The physics track requires one year of calculus and one year of physics. No citizenship or location requirements.

Horizon matches each student with a professor or PhD mentor and structures the term around a single research question, ending in a paper of roughly 5,000 words. Physical science options include Fluid Dynamics and Physics and Protein Biophysics, both run as one-on-one Labs courses. The Labs track includes 15 one-on-one mentor sessions plus four sessions with a dedicated writing coach. The completed paper belongs to the student, who may submit it to journals or competitions independently.

Who is it right for? Students who want a research paper under their own name, and who are either ruled out of the US-citizen-only lab programs or cannot commit an entire summer.

12. Yale Summer Program in Astrophysics (YSPA)

Location: Hybrid. Two weeks of online directed study, then four weeks residential at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut

Cost: $7,800 covering room, board, field trips and materials, but not travel. A $2,000 deposit is required. Need-based aid typically covers 50% of tuition, with discounts up to 80%

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 6 weeks total. The 2026 cycle ran June 22 to August 2; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: First weekend in March, with applications opening around the end of the preceding year. The 2026 deadline was March 6

Eligibility: Rising seniors, applying during junior year. At least 15.5 by the program start. English proficiency required. No mathematics, physics or programming prerequisites, though prior programming exposure is recommended. International students are considered in the same pool as domestic applicants for both admission and aid

YSPA teams students in small groups on an original astronomical research project using Yale’s observing facilities, combining observation, programming and analysis, and closing with a formal written and spoken presentation. The absence of mathematics or physics prerequisites makes it unusually open for a program of this depth, and international applicants compete on equal terms for both places and financial aid. The aid is partial rather than complete, so most families should expect a contribution.

Who is it right for? Rising seniors interested in astronomy who don’t yet have advanced coursework behind them, including international students.

13. Anson L. Clark Scholars Program, Texas Tech University

Location: Lubbock, Texas. Residential

Cost: Free, including on-campus room and board. $25 application fee. Scholars receive a $750 tax-free stipend on completion of a successful research report

Cohort size: 12 students per year across all disciplines

Dates: 7 weeks. The 2026 cycle ran June 21 to August 6; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Mid-February. The 2026 deadline was February 16

Eligibility: Rising seniors and recent graduates. At least 17 by the program start date. US citizen or permanent resident. SAT, ACT or at minimum PSAT scores required. Three recommendations, at least two from teachers

Clark Scholars places each of its twelve students with a Texas Tech faculty mentor for seven weeks of intensive research, with physics and astronomy regularly among the fields represented. Scholars live on campus, attend weekly seminars and field trips, and submit a formal research report. The combination is rare: the program is free, provides room and board, pays a stipend, and remains open to students from anywhere in the United States rather than a defined catchment. The trade-off is scale, since twelve places makes it among the smallest programs here.

Who is it right for? Rising seniors aged 17 or older who want a fully funded, paid research summer and are willing to apply to something very small.

14. Young Scholars Summer STEMM Research Program, University of Illinois

Location: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. Online orientation followed by a residential on-campus program

Cost: Free apart from transportation to campus. Housing and meals provided, plus a fellowship payment; the amount is not published

Cohort size: Roughly 30 laboratory places against more than 600 applications

Dates: 6 weeks. The 2026 cycle ran mid-June to July 31; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Late March or early April. The 2026 priority deadline was March 31

Eligibility: Rising 10th to 12th graders. Residents of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin only. US residents only

Run through the Grainger College of Engineering, Young Scholars places students in university research laboratories for six weeks with housing, meals and a fellowship payment covered, and physics, engineering physics and materials placements all available. The program is explicitly designed to broaden participation in STEMM fields. The seven-state residency requirement is real and is frequently dropped by other lists; students outside those states are not eligible regardless of qualifications, and there is no remote option.

Who is it right for? Midwestern students, including sophomores, who want a funded residential research placement without needing to be a senior.

15. Lumiere Research Scholar Program

Location: Fully remote. Open to students worldwide

Cost: Tuition is not published on Lumiere’s site. Financial aid and scholarships are available and indicated within the application form

Cohort size: One-on-one with a PhD mentor

Dates: Cohorts run year-round. The Individual Research Program runs 12 weeks; Premium Research and Publication runs three to four months of research plus one to four months of publication support; the Research Fellowship runs six to twelve months

Application Deadline: Rolling by cohort. Fall II 2026 closes September 27, 2026, Winter 2026 closes November 15, 2026, and Winter II 2026 closes December 27, 2026

Eligibility: High school students. Middle school students are directed to a separate program

Lumiere pairs students one-to-one with PhD mentors from research universities for an independent project, with physics available alongside the full range of academic subjects. The standard twelve-week track includes dedicated writing-coach sessions alongside the mentor meetings, and higher tiers extend into publication support. The programme is fully remote with no citizenship or geographic restrictions, and the year-round cohort structure means students can start at several points in the year rather than waiting for a summer cycle.

Who is it right for? Students who want one-to-one mentored research on a flexible schedule and are choosing between remote providers.

University physics courses and intensives

16. Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences (PGSS), Carnegie Mellon University

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Residential in CMU dormitories

Cost: Free. Housing, meals and tuition fully covered for all accepted students

Cohort size: Not publicly available. At least one qualified student accepted from each Intermediate Unit in the state

Dates: 5 weeks, June 27 to July 31, 2027

Application Deadline: January 31, 2027 at 11:59pm EST. Applications open October 1, 2026 at 5:00pm EDT

Eligibility: Rising seniors who completed junior year immediately before the program. Must be a Pennsylvania resident, with at least one parent or guardian holding a primary full-time residence in the state. Two teacher recommendations from core PGSS subjects plus a counselor letter

PGSS combines intensive coursework in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and computer science with a team research project across five weeks at Carnegie Mellon, and admission is merit-based. It is entirely free including housing and meals, and it is one of only two programs on this list with confirmed 2027 dates and a live application window. The Pennsylvania residency requirement is absolute, but for students who meet it, a five-week residential science program at Carnegie Mellon at zero cost has essentially no equivalent.

Who is it right for? Pennsylvania juniors who want a rigorous fully funded science summer, and who should be applying in the next few months.

17. Yale Young Global Scholars, Innovations in Science & Technology

Location: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Residential

Cost: $7,500 per session, covering housing, meals and materials but not travel. Application fee $85 for Early Action or $100 for Regular Decision. Need-based aid covers up to full tuition for domestic and international students, and four named scholarships offer full tuition, two of them including travel

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 2 weeks. Session I runs June 20 to July 2, 2027; Session II July 4 to 16, 2027; Session III July 18 to 30, 2027

Application Deadline: Early Action October 15, 2026; Regular Decision January 6, 2027, both at 11:59pm ET

Eligibility: Current sophomores or juniors, aged 16 to 18 by July 18, 2027, graduating in 2028 or 2029 for Northern Hemisphere students. Must not have attended YYGS previously. Instruction in English. Open to applicants from all countries

The Innovations in Science & Technology session covers physics, astronomy, engineering, chemistry, biochemistry and neuroscience through seminars, lectures and group projects led by Yale faculty and instructors, with a deliberately international cohort and a format built around breadth rather than a single sustained project. One correction is worth noting: the Applied Science & Engineering session that appears on many lists has not existed for roughly a decade, and Innovations in Science & Technology is the current science track. The Early Action deadline is the nearest of any program here.

Who is it right for? Sophomores and juniors, especially international students, who can apply within the next few weeks.

18. MITES Summer, MIT

Location: MIT campus, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Residential, with dormitory accommodation required for the full program

Cost: Free. All program costs funded; students pay only transportation to and from MIT

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 6 weeks, late June to early August. The 2026 cycle ran June 20 to July 31; 2027 dates are listed as to be confirmed

Application Deadline: February 1 at 11:59pm PST, with recommender materials due February 15 and decisions in mid to late April. The application typically opens in November

Eligibility: Must be in 11th grade at time of application. Public, private and homeschooled students all eligible. US citizens or permanent residents with a current green card. No minimum GPA

MITES Summer combines university-level coursework in physics, mathematics, life sciences and engineering with a hands-on project and extensive college admissions support. It is entirely free and sets no GPA minimum, selecting instead on demonstrated interest and academic record in the round. The six-week length means it goes considerably deeper than the two-week pre-college programs, and the college guidance component is substantial rather than incidental.

Who is it right for? Juniors who want a free intensive six-week MIT experience and would benefit from structured admissions support alongside the physics.

19. Frontiers in Physics, Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes

Location: Online only. Live classes with no residential option

Cost: $3,200 tuition plus a $60 application fee, with fee waivers available. Course materials are bought separately and will not exceed $100. Need-based aid is open to domestic and international applicants and does not affect admission

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 2 weeks per session. The 2026 sessions ran June 15 to 26 and July 6 to 17; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Mid-March, with financial aid applications due a week later. The 2026 deadline was March 13

Eligibility: Grades 10 to 11 at time of application for this course. Program-wide, grades 8 to 11 and aged 13 to 18 during the program. Prerequisites are algebra and physical science plus basic exposure to trigonometry

Frontiers in Physics covers contemporary topics in physics through live online seminars led by Stanford-affiliated instructors, running either late afternoon or morning Pacific time, in an intensive discussion-led format rather than a laboratory one. One correction: the program is delivered entirely online despite being routinely listed as a residential Stanford campus program. The modest prerequisites make it accessible to students who have not yet reached calculus.

Who is it right for? Sophomores and juniors who want a Stanford-taught physics course without travel, housing costs or advanced prerequisites.

20. COSMOS at UC Davis

Location: UC Davis campus, Davis, California. Residential

Cost: $5,518 for the four-week residential program plus a $46 application fee. Need-based financial aid is applied for alongside the admission materials

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 4 weeks. The 2026 cycle ran July 5 to August 1; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Early February, with the application opening in early January. The 2026 window ran January 7 to February 6

Eligibility: California residents only, verified by the statewide COSMOS office. Rising 9th through rising 12th graders. Personal statement, at least one teacher recommendation, transcripts and a parent signature required. No physics or mathematics prerequisites

The California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science runs subject clusters at UC Davis, several of them physics-focused: Quantum Mechanics and Application to Nanotechnology; Physics & Engineering, from the scientific method to technological applications; and Introduction to Astrophysics, covering stellar evolution, cosmology and star and planet formation with basic Python included. Four weeks is substantially longer than the typical pre-college course, and the cluster structure means students go deep in one area rather than sampling broadly. Its openness to rising 9th graders makes it one of the few substantive options at the start of high school.

Who is it right for? California students at any grade level who want four weeks of focused physics or astrophysics on a UC campus.

21. Exploring Modern Physics, Northeastern University

Location: Boston, Massachusetts. Residential

Cost: $6,995 for 2027, covering tuition, materials, housing, meals and activities, with a non-refundable 20% deposit. Need-based scholarships are assessed automatically for all admitted students, and priority-deadline applicants receive a $500 discount

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 2 weeks. The 2026 session ran July 26 to August 7; 2027 session dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Priority January 15 at 11:59pm ET, Regular February 28, Late March 15 subject to space. Applications for summer 2027 open in December 2026

Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors. Prerequisites are an understanding of linear momentum and its conservation and of energy conservation in collisions, plus basic trigonometry. Calculus is not required

Exploring Modern Physics uses cosmic rays as the entry point into special relativity, quantum mechanics, particle physics and cosmology, with laboratory work including cloud chambers and muon counters. Hands-on detector work is unusual in a two-week pre-college course, which is typically lecture-driven. Northeastern is the only taught program on this list to have published 2027 pricing, and the priority deadline carries a $500 discount, so applying early is materially cheaper.

Who is it right for? Rising juniors and seniors who want genuine particle physics laboratory work without needing calculus first.

22. Experimental Physics Research Academy, University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fully residential

Cost: Not yet published for the upcoming cycle, as Penn releases tuition after course registration opens in March. A $1,500 non-refundable deposit applies. Philadelphia residents attending a School District of Philadelphia public or charter high school may be eligible to attend free through a Penn Summer Scholarship, which also waives the application fee

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 3 weeks. The 2026 session ran July 11 to August 1; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: No fixed deadline. Admission is rolling until full and programs typically fill by March, with the 2027 application expected to open December 1, 2026

Eligibility: Current 10th and 11th graders for the residential academy. Minimum 3.5 high school GPA. Minimum age 13. International students welcome with an appropriate visa

The Experimental Physics Research Academy runs three weeks of laboratory-based physics at Penn, taking students through experimental technique, data acquisition and analysis alongside faculty and graduate instructors, and its three-week length sits between the two-week pre-college courses and the longer research programs. The Penn Summer Scholarship is the standout feature, since students at Philadelphia public and charter schools can attend at no cost. Because admission is rolling rather than deadline-based, applying early in December materially improves the odds.

Who is it right for? Sophomores and juniors with strong grades who want laboratory-heavy physics, and Philadelphia public and charter school students in particular.

23. Harvard Pre-College Program

Location: Harvard campus, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Residential only, with no commuter or online option

Cost: $6,100 program fee plus a $75 non-refundable application fee, covering tuition, room, meal plan, activities and insurance. Limited need-based scholarships are available, with priority to early-deadline applicants

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 2 weeks. The 2026 sessions began June 22, July 6 and July 20; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: Early January for the Early round, mid-February Regular and April 1 Late, with applications opening December 1

Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors, at least 16 by the program start and not turning 19 before it ends. Non-credit, with written evaluations in place of letter grades. International students welcome; no residency requirement

The Harvard Pre-College Program runs two-week residential sessions across a wide catalogue, with physics available as a subject area alongside astronomy, mathematics, computer science and statistics. Students live in Harvard houses, take a single course intensively, and receive a written evaluation rather than a grade. Applicants should check the live catalogue directly, since the specific physics courses change between cycles and the two-week Pre-College catalogue is distinct from Harvard’s separate seven-week credit-bearing Secondary School Program.

Who is it right for? Rising juniors and seniors who want a short immersive Harvard experience and are comfortable with a non-credit evaluation.

24. Program for Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Physics (SPINWIP), Stanford University

Location: Fully virtual, conducted through online video meetings

Cost: Free. No stipend

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: 3 weeks of weekday half-days, 9am to 1pm Pacific. The 2026 cycle ran July 6 to 24; 2027 dates are not yet posted

Application Deadline: May 1 at 11:59pm PDT. The 2027 application is not yet open and a mailing list is available for notification

Eligibility: Grades 9 to 11 at time of application. Students of any gender may apply. International students welcome. No prerequisites and no geographic restriction

Run by Stanford’s Physics Department and the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, SPINWIP delivers three weeks of physics instruction, research skills training and mentorship from Stanford physicists and graduate students, focused on encouraging high school girls and students from backgrounds underrepresented in physics to continue in the field. Two practical points: despite the name and mission, the stated eligibility is open to students of any gender, and the May deadline falls far later than almost everything else here, which makes it viable for students who missed the winter season.

Who is it right for? Freshmen through juniors anywhere in the world, and anyone who has already missed the winter deadlines.

25. Python4Physics, UC Berkeley

Location: Hybrid. Some students attend in person at UC Berkeley, others join remotely by video

Cost: Free. No stipend

Cohort size: Not publicly available

Dates: Roughly 4 weeks, three mornings a week at about two hours per session. The 2026 cycle ran June 15 to July 10. Length has varied between four and six weeks across years

Application Deadline: Late May for in-person places and early June for remote. The 2027 application is not yet open

Eligibility: Open to high school students and to anyone wanting to learn the basics of coding. No physics or calculus background required; basic algebra is sufficient. No grade or age restriction stated

Run by the UC Berkeley Physics Department as part of its REYES initiative, Python4Physics teaches computational methods for physics from the ground up, covering the programming skills that underpin essentially all modern physics research. This is the most accessible program on the list by some margin: free, remote-friendly, no prerequisites beyond basic algebra, and deadlines in late spring rather than the winter crush. The skills it teaches are a prerequisite for most of the research programs above, which makes it a sensible first step.

Who is it right for? Anyone at any grade level who wants the coding foundation that physics research now depends on, at no cost.

Frequently asked questions

Resources- More from Horizon

Getting in

• How to get into a top high school research program
• 7 ways to find a research lab, beyond cold emailing
• 14 research programs for complete beginners
• Do summer research programs actually help with college admissions?

Writing and publishing your paper

• How to publish research in high school
• 15 research journals for high school students
• What can you actually do with a high school research paper?
• 7 steps to turn your paper into a competition submission

By format and funding

• Summer research programs for high school students
• 20 summer research mentorship programs
• 11 free research mentorship programs
• 12 paid research mentorship programs
• 16 fully funded STEM programs
• 14 grants for high school research
• The most competitive research programs
• Prestigious summer research programs with low acceptance rates

Image source: University of Pennsylvania