15 STEM Internships for Undergraduates in Maine
Classroom learning builds your foundation, but internships show whether you can apply that knowledge. When you contribute to a lab, engineering team, or data-driven organization, you’ll move beyond theory and start building measurable experience. Exposure to research methods, technical tools, fieldwork, or systems design can help you decide whether you’re better suited for industry, research, or advanced study. Maine offers a mix of opportunities for undergraduates in marine science, biomedical research, renewable energy, aerospace-adjacent technology, and public-sector IT, making it a great place to gain STEM experience.
Why should I do a STEM internship in college?
A STEM internship allows you to test your technical skills in settings where precision, collaboration, and accountability matter. Instead of only completing assignments for a grade, you get to analyze data, assist in experimental design, build or test systems, or contribute to research deliverables that inform larger projects. That kind of applied experience significantly strengthens your employability, because you can speak concretely about tools used, problems solved, and results achieved. Internships also clarify your career trajectory, helping you identify whether you prefer lab research, fieldwork, computational analysis, engineering design, or applied industry roles. The professional relationships you build can become references, research mentors, or even future employers.
We’ve narrowed this guide to 15 STEM internships for undergraduates in Maine centered on mentorship, project work, and environments where undergraduates are expected to contribute meaningfully.
1. Bigelow Laboratory – Summer REU Program
Location: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay
Stipend: $6,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: No information available
Dates: May 26 – July 31
Application deadline: February 15
Eligibility: Current undergraduate students who are citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories
You’ll spend the summer working in a marine science research environment, building an independent project from question to conclusion under the guidance of a mentor. Early on, you’ll work on narrowing a research question, then map out a feasible approach, and learn the lab’s core techniques – before shifting into generating and interpreting results. You will also participate in professional “brown bag” discussions that cover research ethics, graduate school funding, and career development. A major deliverable is a research abstract and poster, followed by a formal symposium presentation, which pushes you to communicate your work clearly and defensibly. The program extends beyond the lab through field trips, outreach involvement, and community events that help you understand how marine science connects to people and places. The research topics vary by year but can span areas like marine microbiology, ocean biogeochemistry, optical oceanography, remote sensing, bioinformatics, and sensory biology.
2. Ladder University Internship Program
Cost: Varies depending on program type
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder placements are built around contributing to real work inside early-stage teams. You’ll be matched to a host organization based on interests and skills, then spend the internship completing project work that can cut across analysis, product, operations, research, content, or strategy, depending on the role. A distinctive feature is the dedicated “Ladder Coach” model, which adds structured 1:1 guidance focused on how you work on communication, prioritization, and professional execution. Many internships culminate in a final presentation to the host company, giving you practice in packaging your work for stakeholders and defending decisions with evidence. Apply now!
3. MSGC Maine In-State Industry Internship Program
Location: Various Maine-based research or technology companies
Stipend: $6,500
Dates: 10 weeks during the summer
Application deadline: February 20
Eligibility: Students who are enrolled in an accredited Maine Academic Institution, or must be a Maine resident if attending an accredited out-of-state academic institution | Minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale | More details here
This STEM internship for undergraduates in Maine is designed to place you into a Maine-based R&D setting where projects are connected to space-relevant STEM problems. You’ll work with an in-state mentor team on technical work in areas such as aerospace systems, robotics, propulsion, remote sensing, or data/modeling. You’ll gain exposure to how teams plan work, document decisions, and validate results – practices that translate directly to industry and lab roles. The program also functions as a pipeline into Maine’s growing space economy, so the networking aspect is grounded in regional employers and research groups doing relevant work.
4. MaineHealth Summer Research Internship Program
Location: MaineHealth research locations in Portland
Stipend: $18/hour
Acceptance rate/cohort size: No information available
Dates: June 1 – August 7
Application deadline: January 30
Eligibility: Graduating high school seniors through graduating college seniors | At least 18 years or older | GPA of 3.0 or higher
MaineHealth’s summer research experience places you within biomedical and applied science teams where you can learn the workflow behind health research. You may contribute to lab-based experimentation, data collection, or technology-supported research, depending on the research center you join. A lecture series led by faculty and clinicians exposes you to how research questions emerge from real health needs and how findings move toward impact. The program also includes professional development and networking activities, so you’re learning how to communicate in research settings and navigate career pathways in health, data, and science. There will be lab tours and research presentations that will help you understand what different subfields look like in practice.
5. JAX Internship Program
Location: Jackson Laboratory main campus, Bar Harbor
Stipend: Paid
Acceptance rate/cohort size: No information available
Dates: Seasonal: Summer (10-12 weeks) | Fall/spring options available
Application deadline: Varies by cycle
Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate students in relevant scientific or technology fields
JAX’s internships are built around project-based work inside a leading biomedical research environment, which means your tasks are typically tied to real research or technical objectives. You’ll work under the supervision of a dedicated mentor and contribute in areas such as computational biology, genomics technologies, bioinformatics, or lab-facing software and data systems, depending on the role. You’ll gain practical exposure to how a large research institution operates – versioned workflows, data stewardship, tool usage, and communication standards that professional teams expect. The assignments are often scoped as deliverables, and you can usually point to specific outputs (analyses, scripts, pipelines, documentation, systems improvements) in future applications.
6. Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) – NSF REU
Location: Portland
Stipend: $600/week for 10 weeks
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 6 students per summer
Dates: June 1 – August 7
Application deadline: February 1
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled in an undergraduate program at a two- or four-year institution
This STEM internship for undergraduates in Maine is centered on building your capacity to run an independent, hypothesis-driven project within a marine science organization working on real Gulf of Maine challenges. You’ll be mentored by a scientist and integrated into ongoing research that examines the Gulf as a coupled natural-and-human system. A standout feature is the transdisciplinary framing, where you’ll learn how scientific results intersect with communities, management, and socio-economic context. There will be workshops and seminars that will strengthen your understanding of the region’s ecosystem dynamics, warming trends, and research-to-action pathways, including education and outreach programs that focus on community science. The program also builds career clarity through exposure to staff pathways and professional guidance. You’ll practice scientific communication throughout and culminate with a formal symposium presentation.
7. JAX Summer Student Program (SSP)
Location: The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor
Stipend: $7,500, plus room, board, and travel
Acceptance rate/cohort size: No information available
Dates: May 30 – August 7
Application deadline: January 26
Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduating high school seniors
In this internship, you’ll join an ongoing research program and contribute to a project that aligns with the lab’s work over the summer. The co-curricular structure is robust: you’ll build skills through sessions on topics like genetic testing, data visualization, science communication, and peer review. Weekly journal club and informal conversations with professionals across scientific and non-lab roles (including grant writing and science-adjacent careers) broaden your view of what a research ecosystem looks like. The living-learning community model also encourages collaboration across backgrounds and interests, which can sharpen your ability to discuss science with peers outside your subfield. You will finish by presenting your work to researchers and fellow participants, helping you communicate your methods and findings clearly.
8. The University of Maine – Sensor Science REU
Location: The University of Maine, Maine College of Engineering and Computing campus
Stipend: $7,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Dates: June 1 – August 8
Application deadline: February 28
Eligibility: U.S. citizen or permanent resident and enrolled as an undergraduate in the fall
This REU is built around research in sensor technologies, where your work can span materials, devices, circuits, biomedical sensing, or data/AI approaches used to interpret sensor-network outputs. You’ll collaborate with faculty and researchers and gain experience working in advanced facilities. The topic range is intentionally current – areas like deep learning and data engineering for sensor-network analysis sit alongside hardware-focused projects. This STEM internship for undergraduates in Maine blends experimental validation with analysis, pushing you to understand both how a sensor is built and how its data becomes meaningful. The program culminates in a final report and presentation, so you’ll practice translating technical work into a coherent narrative with defensible results.
9. The University of Maine – Sustainable Wood to Fuel and Fish Feed (SWF3) Undergraduate Research Experience
Location: Primarily University of Maine, Orono (5 placements) + 1 placement at UMass Lowell
Stipend: $7,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 6 placements
Dates: June 1 – August 7
Application deadline: February 15
Eligibility: Undergraduate students who are currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year program with at least a 3.0 GPA
SWF3 is an interdisciplinary research experience that connects bioeconomy problems to hands-on technical work. You’ll join a focus area such as catalytic upgrading of bio-oil, fish nutrition, techno-economic analysis, thermochemical conversion, or wood preprocessing, and learn the methods teams use to make progress in that domain. The program also adds professional infrastructure – technical writing, oral presentations, and research ethics training – as part of the experience. There will be occasional field trips and facility tours that will help you see how lab work connects to industrial processes and practical scaling challenges. You’ll also work with advanced tools and technologies that support the research, which can strengthen your readiness for R&D roles.
10. University of Southern Maine (USM) Career Exploration Internship Program
Location: Maine community partners
Stipend: $18.50/hour
Acceptance rate/cohort size: No information available
Dates: May 18–August 28 (Summer) | August 31–December 18 (Fall)
Application deadline: February 19
Eligibility: Matriculated USM students (full/part-time) | Minimum 2.7 GPA and 30+ academic credits earned before internship start
This program places you with Maine community partners, with STEM placements that can range from software and data to engineering, health, or applied research. You’re not limited to one “type” of STEM work – past examples include software development, data analysis, IT support, VR-related projects, biomedical production, and applied research roles, depending on partner needs. What makes this program useful is the breadth of employer partnerships, which can help you test-fit career directions without committing to a narrow niche too early. You’ll work directly with professionals at host organizations and build skills around execution: communicating progress, meeting expectations, and delivering outcomes in a real environment.
11. University of Southern Maine – UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program)
Location: University of Southern Maine
Stipend: Stipend: $3,000 | Supplies and Materials: $500 | Travel: $400
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Dates: One full academic year starting in the fall
Application deadline: Rolling until funds are available
Eligibility: USM undergraduates in their third or fourth year, enrolled in at least 6 credit hours, have a GPA of 2.5 or greater, and have connected with a faculty mentor to collaborate on a research project
UROP is built for students who want to design and conduct a research or creative project with a faculty collaborator, developing the skills needed to run a project with real ownership. You’ll learn how to shape a proposal into a workable plan, manage a budget and logistics, and practice data management. There will be monthly cohort meetings that help create a peer network outside your major, which is helpful for accountability and exchange of ideas. The program also covers professional communication, guiding you toward written and oral outputs that resemble how research is shared beyond classrooms. You’ll also get opportunities to present at a campus research conference.
12. WCHP Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship
Location: University of New England, Portland (Westbrook College of Health Professions)
Stipend: $436/week | $200 for research supplies
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive; Up to 6 fellowships
Dates: Summer placements; Minimum 8 weeks and maximum 12 weeks
Application deadline: Early March every year
Eligibility: Typically, students who have completed their freshman, sophomore, and junior years
This STEM internship for undergraduates in Maine uses an apprenticeship model, placing you alongside a faculty mentor with an ongoing research program so you learn how health-professions research is actually conducted. You’ll develop competence in research design fundamentals, reading and interpreting scientific papers, and data collection and analysis methods tied to your mentor’s project area. You’ll see how research questions are framed, what methods fit the question, and how data is handled in a way that stands up to scrutiny. The small, selective nature of the fellowship supports close supervision and frequent feedback.
13. Shoals Marine Laboratory – Physical Oceanography & Ecology Internship
Location: Shoals Marine Laboratory, Appledore Island
Stipend: $2,100
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 1 undergraduate researcher
Dates: May 29 – August 10
Application deadline: February 9
Eligibility: Undergraduates in all majors may apply
This internship is built around collecting and analyzing oceanographic and ecological data in a setting where fine-scale conditions vary across a compact island system. You’ll train in core field methods like deploying and retrieving CTD casts and working with ADCP current data, along with complementary biological observations using co-located remote underwater video. You’ll also be part of the Shoals undergraduate research cohort, which adds a collaborative layer and exposes you to how other projects are designed. Sampling occurs repeatedly across the research period, so you gain experience with consistency, field logistics, and data quality.
14. MaineIT Internship Program
Location: Office of Information Technology (MaineIT), Augusta or remote
Stipend: May be available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: No information available
Dates: Typically 3 months; Available year-round
Application deadline: Rolling (apply directly to OITEnterpriseArchitectureTeam@maine.gov)
Eligibility: Undergraduate students pursuing or with coursework in computer science, networking, cybersecurity, systems, programming, or related technical fields
MaineIT places you into the operational reality of state government technology, where reliability, security, and service delivery matter as much as “building something cool.” You may work on systems, networking, programming, analytics, web design, or project support, depending on your background. A notable feature is the program’s mentorship-forward design, including detailed interview feedback even for applicants who aren’t selected. This STEM internship for undergraduates in Maine also focuses on career readiness and practical problem-solving, with roles that can expose you to user-facing support, infrastructure work, or behind-the-scenes systems operations.
15. University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) CIS Internship Experience
Location: Bangor or Augusta campuses, with placements at local Maine technology-based organizations or remote
Stipend: Some internships may include compensation (hourly wage or stipend)
Dates: Flexible across fall, spring, or summer semesters
Application deadline: Varies
Eligibility: Students enrolled in the UMA Computer Information Systems (CIS) program
UMA’s CIS internship is designed like a professional practicum where you’re expected to meet performance standards and produce a substantial IT project with guidance from an organizational mentor. The projects can span programming, database design, networking, hardware, or web/client-server systems. A key differentiator is the portfolio outcome: the internship is explicitly positioned to help you leave with work products you can show and explain. You’ll also practice reflective documentation – tracking communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving decisions as the project evolves – so you can articulate how you approached challenges, not just what you built. The STEM internship for undergraduates in Maine is integrated into the CIS curriculum, so it’s designed to connect theory to real constraints and stakeholder requirements.
Image source - Bigelow Laboratory logo