Applications are open! >>
Program Description
The Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory (EPL) Summer Undergraduate Research Internship is a full-time, paid 10-week research internship and professional development program based on the EPL campus in Washington, DC.
EPL is a division of the Carnegie Institution for Science, a non-profit, non-degree-granting research institution where people conduct cutting-edge investigations about Earth and its place in our Universe. Our internship offers authentic, collaborative scientific research experiences across the range of disciplines pursued on our campus—including astronomy, geochemistry, geophysics, material science, and planetary science—for a diverse cohort of 6-8 undergraduate students from local colleges and universities.
Summer interns will participate in a professional development program covering important topics and skills like scientific programming, presenting at conferences, effective science communication, building a positive identity as a scientist, and career opportunities in STEM (including applying to graduate school). Summer interns will also have the opportunity to join in departmental intellectual activities, including reading groups and seminars where they will interact with our interdisciplinary group of researchers, and in the social and cultural activities of the department and the vibrant city in which we are situated. The entire program is grounded in best practices of mentoring and is intended to provide inclusive and flexible support to interns during the summer and in their future careers.
The dates of our 2022 internship will be May 31-August 5, 2022. The stipend for the summer will be $6,000, with up to an additional $500 for relocation expenses*. Housing at American University dorms will be provided, and computing needs for the summer will be covered. Pending advisor approval, interns will also have the opportunity to present their research at a professional scientific conference following the internship.
Applications are due February 1, 2022, and we expect to make offers in early March. In the event the program cannot take place in person, we will run a remote program with projects that do not require in-person lab access.
If you have questions about our program, please read our FAQ page. Any further questions can be directed to the program director, Dr. Johanna Teske (jteske@carnegiescience.edu). You can read more about former EPL interns here.
*Please contact us if you have any questions regarding relocation expenses.
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Summer 2022 Projects
- Modeling disks of dust around stars
Primary Mentor: Alycia Weinberger - Biochemistry of chemolithoautotrophic life: constraining H and N isotope fractionation during growth of piezophilic epsilonproteobacteria
Primary Mentor: Dionysis Foustoukos - Isotope and chemical evolution of hydrothermally altered insoluble organic matter
Primary Mentor: Dionysis Foustoukos - In search of mineral ‘natural kinds’: The many facets of beryl
Primary Mentor: Bob Hazen - Melting metals in microseconds: laboratory experiments to study Earth's core
Primary Mentor: Zack Geballe - Thermal conductivity of deep Earth’s materials
Primary Mentor: Alex Goncharov - Numerical modeling and visualization of planetary dynamos
Primary Mentor: Peter Driscoll - Laboratory Analysis and Characterization of Planetary Materials
Mentoring team: Emma Bullock, Michelle Jordan, Timothy Mock, Suzy Vitale, Jianhua Wang, Cian Wilson, Jing Yang - Enabling community modeling of subduction zones
Mentoring team: Nate Sime, Peter van Keken, Cian Wilson - Discovering Flexible Diamonds at High Pressures
Mentor Team: Timothy Strobel, Samuel Dunning - The mystery of ungrouped chondritic meteorites
Mentor: Shauna Morrison