Robotics teams, aerospace programs, and hands-on engineering summers for students who love to build.
Programs in this collection (9)
Applied Research Innovation in Science & Engineering (ARISE): New York University. Research, Brooklyn, New York, USA. A free seven-week summer research program at NYU Tandon for New York City high school students in 10th and 11th grade who show interest in STEM. Students spend five weeks in a participating NYU faculty lab with mentoring from a graduate or postdoctoral student, plus two weeks of workshops and college advising, and receive a stipend. Applicants must live in one of the five boroughs and apply to the program as a whole rather than to a specific lab.
Summer Science Program: SSP. Summer Program, Multiple, USA. Five-week residential research program on college campuses for high school juniors, who work in teams of three on astrophysics, biochemistry, cell biology or bacterial genomics. Applicants must be at least 15 and under 19. A fee is charged, with need-based financial aid requested after admission.
Junior Academy: New York Academy of Sciences. Fellowship, Worldwide. A free online program of the New York Academy of Sciences in which students ages 13 to 17 join international teams and work with STEM expert mentors to solve real-world challenges. Each challenge is a 10-week virtual competition, held from mid-September to mid-November in the fall or mid-February to mid-April in the spring. Students who complete a challenge receive a certificate and a Young Membership to the Academy, and there is no travel.
FIRST Robotics Competition: FIRST. Competition, Worldwide. A robotics competition run by FIRST in which teams of high school students design, build and program industrial-sized robots and compete at events. Season registration is $6,500 per team and includes one regional event, while additional regional events cost $3,200 each and some district events cost $1,000 each. Teams that qualify for the Championship pay $6,000 to register. Teams also cover parts and travel, and grant opportunities are available.
VEX Robotics Competition: REC Foundation. Competition, Worldwide. Middle and high school teams build metal robots and compete in 2-vs-2 alliance matches with an autonomous period and a driver-controlled period, plus Robot Skills matches. Teams qualify at local events for state, regional or national championships and can advance to the World Championship.
FIRST Tech Challenge: FIRST. Competition, Worldwide. Teams of up to 15 students in grades 7 to 12 design, build, and program a robot from a reusable kit to play a new game each season in alliance matches. Each team needs two adult coaches, and starting a team costs about $1,800 for registration and the kit.
JROTC StellarXplorers: StellarXplorers. Competition, USA. Teams of two to six students with an adult director solve orbit, satellite design and launch problems in online rounds using Systems Tool Kit software. The top ten semifinal teams go to an all-expenses-paid national final. The fee is $250 per team, less for JROTC, and waived for Title I schools.
MITES (MIT Introduction to Technology, Engineering & Science): MIT. Summer Program, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Free six-week residential STEM program on MIT's campus for high school juniors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Program costs are covered except travel to and from MIT, and travel scholarships are available. Students apply online in the fall of junior year.
Beaver Works Summer Institute: MIT Lincoln Lab. Summer Program, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Four-week summer STEM program at MIT for rising high school seniors living in the U.S., with project courses in areas such as autonomous systems, programming, microelectronics and cybersecurity. Students take an online course before applying. Free for families under $200,000; others pay $3,000.