15 Bioinformatics Internships for Undergraduates

Internships are one of the most practical ways for you to turn what you learn in class into practical skills while getting exposure to how the industry you’re interested in works. You get to practice professional communication, work with data, and build connections that can help when you apply for jobs or graduate school. Online internships, in particular, are accessible options if relocating for the summer is not realistic for you. If you are interested in computational biology, doing a bioinformatics internship allows you to explore how coding, statistics, and biology come together in research or industry projects. 

Why should I do a bioinformatics internship in college?

Internships are a good way to figure out whether you enjoy bioinformatics before you commit to this career path. Doing a bioinformatics internship helps you build technical skills in Python, R, genomic data analysis, and statistical modeling, which are often required for entry-level roles. This experience can make your resume stand out when you apply for biotech roles and PhD programs after graduation. Networking is another big benefit, since mentors can write recommendation letters or connect you to future opportunities. 

With that, here are the 15 best bioinformatics internships for college students! 

1. Ladder University Internship Program

Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Cost varies by program type. Financial aid available. No stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 10 to 25 percent acceptance. 70 to 100 students per session
Dates: 8 weeks. Multiple cohorts throughout the year in summer, fall, winter, and spring
Application Deadline: Multiple deadlines throughout the year. Spring January. Summer May. Fall September. Winter November
Eligibility: Undergraduates and gap year students who can work 10 to 20 hours per week for 8 to 12 weeks

The Ladder University Internship Program is a selective, 8-week virtual internship designed for college students and gap-year undergraduates. Founded by entrepreneurs from Harvard and McKinsey, the program acts as a bridge between academic study and the professional startup world, placing students in remote roles at high-growth startups and NGOs. If you are interested in bioinformatics, you will work with a startup on real business or tech projects that may involve data analysis or health-tech applications. You receive mentorship from startup managers and Ladder coaches throughout the program. Projects end with formal presentations to the company, and the program also has training sessions focused on professional communication and teamwork. Apply now!

2. Yale BioMed Amgen Scholars Program

Location: Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Stipend: $5,000 plus $725 food allowance and travel reimbursement up to $750
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective. About 25 students
Dates: May 26 to July 31
Application Deadline: February 2
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are sophomores, juniors, or non graduating seniors at accredited four year colleges in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or other U.S. territories. Must have a minimum 3.2 GPA. Must return in the fall to continue studies

In this program, you will spend nine weeks working in a Yale faculty lab on a biomedical or bioinformatics project. Bioinformatics placements may involve analyzing genomic, proteomic, or transcriptomic data using statistical and computational pipelines. You will attend lab meetings, journal clubs, and professional development sessions focused on research careers. Peer mentoring and physician-scientist shadowing are built into the program, giving you broader exposure to research paths. You will finish with poster and oral presentations at the closing symposium, which strengthens your scientific communication skills.

3. The Jackson Laboratory – Summer Student Program (SSP)

Location: Bar Harbor, ME and Farmington, CT
Stipend: $7,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive. About 40 students per year
Dates: Bar Harbor May 30 to August 7. Farmington May 30 to August 10
Application Deadline: January 26
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 18 or older who are full time undergraduates with at least one semester remaining before graduation

The Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Program (SSP) is a premier 10-week residential research fellowship focused on genetics and genomics, where you will work in labs on research questions in biomedical science. Projects can include computational analysis of genetic data, alongside wet-lab components, depending on the mentor. Weekly journal clubs and career talks expose you to different science careers beyond academia. You will develop independence by running parts of your project while receiving close mentorship. The program ends with a formal research presentation, helping you practice explaining complex data clearly.

4. NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP) – Bioinformatics Track

Location: NIH campuses including Bethesda, MD. Research Triangle Park, NC and others
Stipend: $3,010 to $3,310 depending on undergraduate tenure
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective. Roughly 1,200 interns across all campuses
Dates: Minimum 8 weeks. Typically May to September
Application Deadline: February 18
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents who will be age 18 or older by September 30. Must be enrolled or accepted at least half time in high school, community college, undergraduate, graduate, or professional programs. High school students must graduate before start. Permanent residents must attend U.S. institutions

In this program, you will join a full-time NIH research group and work under a principal investigator on biomedical data problems. In bioinformatics roles, you may analyze genomic or transcriptomic datasets, build predictive models, or design algorithms for large biomedical databases. You will collaborate with clinicians, biologists, and statisticians, which helps you see how computational tools fit into real health research. The program also includes career panels, training workshops, and a large poster day where you present your work. This is considered highly prestigious because it is nationally competitive and hosted by the largest biomedical research agency in the U.S.

5. Boyce Thompson Institute & Cornell – Plant Genome REU (Bioinformatics Track)

Location: Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Stipend: $7,000 plus $850 meal allowance and $700 travel allowance
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive. About 25 to 30 students total. Bioinformatics track is a subset
Dates: June 1 to August 7
Application Deadline: February 2
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Must be undergraduates who have not earned a bachelor’s degree by program start. Must be age 18 or older before the program start date. Should have prior experience with computer programming

This is a 10-week summer research program for undergraduates who want to apply computational skills to plant science. In this program, you will work on plant genomics projects that rely heavily on computational data analysis. Projects may involve transcriptomics, proteomics, or metabolomics datasets, with an emphasis on building and testing analysis pipelines. You will collaborate with molecular biologists and computer scientists in a shared research environment. The program also involves seminars and professional development sessions to support your academic growth. This program is well-regarded for combining biology and computation in a research-intensive setting.

6. Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP) – University of Pennsylvania

Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Stipend: $5,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive. Approximately 30 students per year
Dates: June 1 to August 7
Application Deadline: February 1
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a four year college who will return in the fall. Not graduating seniors. Must commit full time for 10 weeks

This program allows you to spend 10 weeks working full-time in a biomedical research lab under a University of Pennsylvania principal investigator. Projects may include laboratory experiments, data analysis, and in some labs, computational or bioinformatics components, depending on your research match. You will attend scientific seminars, professional development sessions, and graduate school preparation workshops throughout the program. The experience is designed to help you build research independence while receiving close mentorship from lab members. You will present your findings at the SUIP Symposium at the end of the program. Students interested in specific research areas may also be placed into affiliated tracks like SUIP-CCI, SUIP-CFAR, or SUIP-PERFORM-KUH, while still participating in all core SUIP activities.

7. Vanderbilt Summer Research Internship in Biomedical Informatics

Location: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Stipend: Paid. Amount not specified
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive. 2 to 4 students
Dates: May 26 to July 31
Application Deadline: February 15
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Open to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students

This is a highly structured, 10-week research fellowship designed to introduce you to the field where computer science, statistics, and engineering intersect with clinical medicine and biology. In this program, you will work on biomedical informatics projects related to healthcare data systems and biological analysis, in which projects can include clinical data modeling or molecular bioinformatics, depending on faculty placement. You will attend seminars led by researchers and industry professionals, and the program includes career preparation and guidance on graduate school. You will complete a final report and seminar presentation summarizing your work.

8. University of Iowa – Summer Internship in Bioinformatics (IIHG)

Location: Iowa City, IA
Stipend: $5,600
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive. Typically small and selective cohort size
Dates: June 2 to July 25
Application Deadline: Typically mid March
Eligibility: Undergraduate students or recent graduates

The University of Iowa’s Summer Internship in Bioinformatics, hosted by the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics (IIHG), is an 8-week, research-intensive program designed to immerse students in the computational side of genetics and personalized medicine. You will work on genomics projects under faculty mentorship at the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics. Your training will focus on computational analysis, data interpretation, and research communication. Collaboration with peers is built into the program structure, and you will present your work twice, helping you practice explaining results to different audiences. This experience is rigorous and closely resembles undergraduate research in top biomedical labs.

9. Oregon Health & Science University – B-BRITE Internship

Location: Knight Cancer Institute laboratories, OHSU South Waterfront Campus or Marquam Hill Campus, Portland, OR
Stipend: $4,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective
Dates: June 22 to August 14
Application Deadline: January 22
Eligibility: Undergraduates age 18 or older by the program start. Must have completed at least two years of college and not yet graduated by the program start. Must have taken foundational introductory science courses

In this program, you will spend eight weeks working on biomedical and bioinformatics research projects at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. Your project will be guided by experienced mentors and may involve experimental design, data processing, and computational analysis of biological data. Weekly seminars expose you to different areas of cancer and biomedical research, helping you understand how informatics supports clinical science. You will also receive feedback on scientific communication and research methods throughout the program. The internship ends with a symposium where you present your work to peers and faculty. 

10. Indiana University School of Medicine – Summer Undergraduate Research in the Biomedical Sciences

Location: Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
Stipend: $5,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective. Typically 10 to 15 students per summer
Dates: May 26 to July 31
Application Deadline: January 15
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are undergraduates with freshman to junior years completed. Must have backgrounds in biology, chemistry, physics, behavioral sciences, or biomedical engineering. Must plan to pursue PhD training in biomedical sciences

The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience in the Biomedical Sciences (SUREBS) is an intensive 10-week research fellowship designed as a pipeline for students intending to pursue a PhD or a dual MD-PhD in the biomedical sciences, rather than those solely focused on clinical medical practice. In this program, you will work on biomedical projects that may involve sequencing data, imaging, or computational analysis. Faculty mentors guide you through experimental and analytical methods, and you will also tour research centers and attend graduate school preparation workshops. Collaboration with other interns builds peer learning, and the program ends with a poster presentation at the university research symposium.

11. University at Buffalo – CLIMB UP Summer Research Bioinformatics Track

Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Stipend: Paid. Amount not disclosed. Includes $300 reimbursement for students living 50 miles outside Buffalo, NY
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive. 4 to 8 students per summer
Dates: June to August for 9 weeks
Application Deadline: February 9
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled at a four year undergraduate institution who have completed at least one year of college

This program enables you to spend nine weeks conducting research with a University at Buffalo faculty mentor whose interests align with yours. Your work will focus on biomedical, behavioral, or health sciences topics, and the program ends with a formal presentation at Summer Research Day. In addition to your faculty mentor, you will receive guidance from graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and program leadership. Weekly BioSTEM workshops introduce you to different research fields and career paths within science. Professional development sessions cover graduate school planning, fellowships, and research communication. 

12. The University of Maryland Scholars (UM Scholars) Summer Research Program - Bioinformatics and Data Science track

Location: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore Campus
Stipend: Paid. Amount not specified
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive. Typically small cohorts
Dates: May 26 to July 24
Application Deadline: February 2
Eligibility: University of Maryland, College Park undergraduates

In this intensive summer fellowship, you explore biomedical research by partnering with top faculty at the School of Medicine. You will be matched with mentors from the Institute for Genome Sciences to work on complex dry lab projects involving genomic data analysis and computational modeling. You spend your weeks in a real-world research team, attending weekly seminars, ethics workshops, and professional development sessions designed to prepare you for a future MD or PhD. The experience culminates in a formal research forum where you present your specific findings, giving you a tangible advantage when applying to graduate schools.

13. Ionis Pharmaceuticals – Bioinformatics Internship Program

Location: Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA
Stipend: Paid hourly. Rate not disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective. Typically a small group per department
Dates: 10 to 12 weeks in summer
Application Deadline: April 30
Eligibility: Students currently enrolled in a U.S. undergraduate or graduate program who maintain student status throughout the internship

The Ionis Pharmaceuticals Summer Internship Program is a 10-week professional opportunity to contribute to the development of RNA-targeted medicines. As a bioinformatics intern, you will likely spend your days writing and optimizing code in Python or R to analyze complex genomic datasets, performing variant calling, or assisting in the development of computational models for drug delivery. You are paired with a professional mentor to complete a high-impact project that you will eventually present to the company's scientific leadership. You will gain hands-on experience with industry-standard tools for sequence analysis and data visualization, while learning the rigorous documentation standards required in a pharmaceutical environment.

14. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center – Research Internship

Location: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO
Stipend: $7,000 plus $500 travel assistance and $1,400 for meals
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective. About 20 students per summer
Dates: May 26 to July 31
Application Deadline: March 2
Eligibility: Undergraduates majoring in plant or life sciences with relevant coursework. Must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Must not have previously participated in the program

In this intensive 10-week experience, you will join a research community to help solve global challenges like food security and environmental sustainability. You are paired with a faculty mentor to conduct original research in fields ranging from molecular biology and metabolic engineering to advanced bioinformatics and phenotyping. Throughout the summer, you will spend over 40 hours a week in the lab, gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies like CRISPR gene editing or high-throughput imaging systems. By the end of the term, you will have completed a formal research paper and delivered an oral presentation at a center-wide symposium, leaving you with a professional network.

15. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences – REU

Location: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME
Stipend: $6,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive. Around 10 students
Dates: May 26 to July 31
Application Deadline: February 15
Eligibility: Current undergraduates who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents

This NSF-funded REU places you in marine science projects that often include genomic and metagenomic analysis. You will be paired with a mentor based on your interests in areas like marine microbiology, ocean biogeochemistry, or bioinformatics to answer questions about the global ocean's health and function. You may study environmental DNA, microbial genomics, or ecosystem-level datasets using computational methods, and work in research teams and attend professional development workshops focused on scientific writing and careers. Field sampling and outreach activities add hands-on context to your computational work. You will present your findings at an end-of-summer symposium, building confidence in scientific communication.

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