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Intern Application deadline is extended to Thursday, March 5 @ 12:00pm noon PST
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Science Internship Program
The Science Internship Program (SIP) offers high school students the opportunity to spend their summer working on authentic, open-ended, research projects in science, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and art under the mentorship of UCSC researchers.
Learn how you can make a meaningful impact to sustain our work and advance our vision. Thank you!
Intern Information
The SIP 2026 Intern Application will open on January 16, 2026
Visit Applying to SIP for more details about our application.
Mentor Information
The SIP 2026 Mentor Application opened on January 16, 2026
For more information about becoming a SIP mentor, visit our Mentor FAQ and access the application here.
SIP 2026 Schedule Overview
Overall Format: 1 week of online research and 7 weeks of in-person research (8 weeks total)
Week 1 (June 15–19, 2026; 1 week): Online research week
SIP 2026 Kickoff: Monday, June 22, 2026 / 2:00–4:00 PM PDT (In-person)
Weeks 2–8 (June 22–August 7, 2026; 7 weeks): In-person research weeks
Presentation Day: Saturday, August 8, 2026 / 8:30 AM–2:30 PM PDT (Hybrid: in-person and online)
*Please note: UC Santa Cruz and SIP will be closed on Thursday, June 19, 2026 in observance of the Juneteenth holiday, and Friday, July 4, 2026 in observance of US Independence Day.
SIP Testimonials
Browse Research Projects from Previous Years
Find out more about CrEST
The Science Internship Program works hard to provide opportunities for all students to participate in the program and makes an intentional effort to recruit students from historically excluded backgrounds. Creating Equity in STEAM (CrEST) is the new initiative we have launched to strengthen the focus on these efforts across all of the programs SIP is connected to.
Record Number of SIP Alumni Participate in “the Super Bowl of Astronomy Conferences”
In January of 2021, 34 SIP Alumni (as well as 4 SIP-STAR fellows from 2020) were featured as lead authors or coauthors on a cumulative total of 16 virtual poster presentations at the 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.