The Mass General Youth Neurology Education and Research Program engages youth from communities underrepresented in neurology. We particularly focus on providing educational and research opportunities to female, Black, Latinx, American Indian, and first-generation youth across Massachusetts.

We aim to inspire by offering exposure to leading neurologists and neuroscientists from diverse backgrounds, equip through paid opportunities to engage in mentored educational and research activities, and empower with structured support to translate contributions into publications, presentations, and awards that facilitate the academic advancement of participating youth.

Paid Summer Internships

Applications for the 2023 season are now open!  

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2023 Timeline

  • Applications open: January 1, 2023
  • Applications close: March 1, 2023
  • Interviews by invitation: March 13-17, 2023
  • Receive a decision by: March 24, 2023
  • Accept or decline offer by: April 14, 2023
  • Undergraduate internships: June 21 – August 11, 2023
  • High school internships: July 5 – August 11, 2023
Eligibility Details

All student interns must be living or studying in Massachusetts at the time of the internship. If accepted, you must be able to provide a Massachusetts address for the duration of the program.

All internships will be held in person at MGH unless the evolving COVID-19 pandemic prevents on site activities. In that case, internships will be held virtually. All interns must comply with the hospital's COVID-19 vaccination policy, requiring both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or one dose of the J&J vaccine, as well as booster shots when eligible.

High school internships: Rising high school seniors, recent high school graduates, and rising college freshman are eligible to apply.

Undergraduate internships: Current undergraduates students or recent college graduates are eligible to apply.

We are looking for interns who are current or past participants of programs focused on supporting the academic development of students underrepresented in science or medicine. The following is a list of examples, however, if a school or organization has supported your development as a student underrepresented in STEM/medicine but is not listed here, you are still eligible to apply! Please email youthneurology@mgh.harvard.edu with any questions.

Some examples include:

  • Biogen Community Lab Adventures in Biotechnology High School Lab Program
  • Biogen Foundation STAR Initiative
  • MGH Center for Community Health Improvement Youth Programs, including: MGH Youth Scholars, MGH College Scholars, MGH Summer Jobs Program and MGH STEM Clubs
  • MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion Summer Training Research Program
  • Biomedical Science Careers Program
  • Harvard Medical School Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership, including: Explorations, Reflection in Action Building Health Communities, Advanced Placement Biology Hinton Scholars Program, Bridge to Advanced Placement Biology, Health Professionals Recruitment and Exposure Program, Project Success for High School Students, Project Success for College Students, Harvard Catalyst Summer Clinical and Translational Research Program and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Exceptional Opportunities Program
  • Other Massachusetts programs for student underrepresented in STEM, including but not limited to: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Red Sox Scholars, Boston University Summer Training as Research Scholars Program, Brigham and Women's Four Directions Summer Research Program, Brigham and Women's STARs Program, Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences program, Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and UMass Boston Summer Programs to Advance Research Careers, Harvard University Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program, MIT Summer Research Program, Tufts University Building Diversity in Biomedical Science Program, the University of Massachusetts Medical School Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Upward Bound, Beacon Academy and Health Resources in Action LEAH Project and the BioBuilder High School Apprenticeship Challenge.
Program Details

This is a full-time, 40 hour per week, paid summer internship. Students are expected to follow an 8:30am to 5pm schedule, Monday through Friday, with some exceptions and flexibility.

Undergraduate student interns will work for 8 weeks, from June 21 to August 11, and receive a stipend of $5,400.

High school interns will work for 6 weeks, from July 5 to August 11, and receive a stipend of $3,400.

It is a requirement to live or study in Massachusetts for the duration of the program, and students are responsible for their own housing and transportation. 

Student pairs (one undergraduate and one high school student) will be assigned to a lab under the mentorship of an MGH Neurology faculty member. All students will engage in three times weekly didactic sessions led by leading neurologists, neuroscientists, and other professionals, as well as complete lab assignments and attend lab meetings throughout the week. Student pairs will create final presentations at the end of the program to present to their peers, mentors, family, and the MGH Neurology department. All students will receive longitudinal support after program completion in the form of career advising, networking, application support, professional funding, resume building, and anything else the student may need support with. 

Application Requirements

When completing the application, you will need:

  • Your personal, demographic, and contact information.
  • A CV/Resume to upload as a PDF.
  • A 250 word statement of interest detailing your current/future academic and career interests and what you hope to accomplish by participating in this internship program. If you have done research before, please comment on how this internship builds upon your prior work. This must be uploaded as a PDF.
  • Two references: You will only need to upload the contact information (email and phone number) of each reference. References will only be contacted if you are chosen to interview.
  • Submit the program application linked below. You can save this application and come back to it at any time before the deadline.
Apply now

2022 Virtual Programming

Join us for interactive career chats with leading neurologists and neuroscientists across a diversity of backgrounds. These are free-of-cost and open to high school and undergraduate students as well as educators.

Register now    

2022 Career Chat Schedule

All chats are held online from 11:00 am to 12:00 noon Eastern Time:

  • Monday, July 11 - Dr. Cherie Butts, Medical Director - Therapeutics Development, Biogen
  • Monday, July 18 - Dr. Brian Edlow, Director, Laboratory for NeuroImaging of Coma and Consciousness
  • Monday, July 25 - LaShyra "Lash" Nolen, Harvard Medical School class of 2023
  • Monday, August 1 - Dr. Oluwole Awosika, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology & Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
  • Monday, August 8 - Dr. Jose McFaline-Figueroa, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University

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