This page covers research opportunities and internships for undergraduate students at Massachusetts colleges and universities, including on-campus labs, summer programs, biotech internships, and public health research.
On-Campus Research
Massachusetts is arguably the premier destination in the world for undergraduate biomedical research. The concentration of research universities, medical schools, independent research institutes, and teaching hospitals creates opportunities that are simply not available in most other states.
Harvard University: Harvard’s biomedical research enterprise spans the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (biology, chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, stem cell and regenerative biology), Harvard Medical School (dozens of departments and affiliated hospital-based labs), the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and independent institutes like the Broad Institute (shared with MIT). Undergraduates can join faculty labs through direct outreach, the PRISE (Program for Research in Science and Engineering) summer program, and departmental research courses. Harvard’s culture strongly encourages undergraduate research.
MIT: MIT’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) is one of the most established undergraduate research programs in the country, providing funding and structure for students to work in faculty labs across biology, bioengineering, chemical engineering, brain and cognitive sciences, and other departments. Over 80 percent of MIT undergraduates participate in UROP during their time at MIT. Visit urop.mit.edu.
Boston University, Tufts, Northeastern, BC, Brandeis: Each institution has active undergraduate research programs with funding opportunities. BU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), Tufts’s Summer Scholars program, Northeastern’s research co-ops, and similar programs at other schools provide structured pathways into faculty labs. Smaller schools like Brandeis, Holy Cross, and Wellesley offer particularly close faculty mentorship in research settings.
UMass campuses: UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, UMass Lowell, and UMass Dartmouth all support undergraduate research through Office of Undergraduate Research programs, departmental research courses, and faculty lab placements. UMass Amherst’s size means extensive lab options across biology, chemistry, biochemistry, neuroscience, public health, and engineering.
Summer Research Programs
NSF REU Programs: Multiple Massachusetts institutions host NSF-funded REU programs in biology, chemistry, biomedical engineering, and neuroscience. REUs provide 8 to 10 week paid summer research with stipends ($5,000 to $7,000), housing, and travel. Search the NSF REU database at nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu.
Harvard SHURP: The Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program places students from underrepresented backgrounds in Harvard Medical School research labs for a 10-week experience with stipend and housing. Highly competitive but transformative. Visit hms.harvard.edu. Dana-Farber Summer Research Program: Places undergraduates in cancer research labs. Broad Institute: Offers summer research positions in genomics and computational biology. Mass General and Brigham and Women’s: Hospital-based summer research programs place students in clinical and translational research labs.
NIH Summer Internship Program: While in Bethesda, MD, the NIH SIP is accessible from Massachusetts and is one of the most prestigious undergraduate research programs. Apply at training.nih.gov/programs/sip.
Biotech and Pharmaceutical Internships
The Cambridge/Boston biotech corridor is the global epicenter of pharmaceutical and biotechnology research. Companies including Moderna, Biogen, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Takeda, Novartis, Alnylam, Bluebird Bio, and hundreds of smaller firms hire summer interns for research, clinical operations, regulatory affairs, data science, and other positions. Hourly rates for biotech interns in the Boston area range from $20 to $35+. These internships provide exposure to drug development, clinical trial design, regulatory science, and the business of healthcare that academic lab research alone cannot offer. Check company career pages (typically posted December through March for summer positions), attend campus career fairs, and use your school’s alumni network and career services office.
Public Health Research
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) hires interns for epidemiology, disease surveillance, health data analysis, and community health projects. Academic programs at Harvard Chan School of Public Health, BU School of Public Health, Tufts, and UMass conduct community-engaged research that may include undergraduate positions. Boston-area community health centers conduct their own research on health disparities, chronic disease management, and preventive care. See our Public Health career page.
Presenting Your Research
Present at your institution’s undergraduate research symposium, apply to regional and national conferences (Experimental Biology, AACR, ASM, and discipline-specific meetings accept undergraduate posters), and discuss co-authorship with your mentor. Massachusetts institutions host numerous undergraduate research showcase events throughout the year. See our Research Experience page.
Finding and Securing Research Positions
The process for joining a Massachusetts research lab follows the same pattern regardless of institution: identify faculty whose work interests you, read one or two of their recent papers (at least the abstract and conclusions), and send a brief professional email expressing interest and describing your availability. At Harvard and MIT, where research culture is deeply embedded and faculty expect undergraduate participation, most professors respond positively to well-crafted inquiries. At UMass and state universities, persistence matters; if your first contact does not respond within a week, send one polite follow-up and then try other faculty. At liberal arts colleges, faculty are often eager for undergraduate collaborators and may be more accessible than professors at large research universities.
Timing matters. The best time to approach faculty is early in the academic year (September for a spring start, January for a summer start). For competitive summer programs (Harvard SHURP, MIT MSRP, Dana-Farber, Broad Institute, NSF REUs), deadlines typically fall between November and March. Set calendar reminders, prepare application materials (resume, personal statement, letters of recommendation) well in advance, and apply broadly to maximize your chances. Massachusetts students have the advantage of geographic proximity to more competitive summer research programs than students in any other state, so take full advantage of this by applying to multiple programs each cycle.
Industry Research and Career Exploration
The Cambridge/Boston biotech corridor provides career exploration opportunities that extend well beyond traditional academic research. Attending industry networking events (many are open to students), participating in career panels hosted by your school’s career services office, and conducting informational interviews with biotech professionals help you understand the full range of careers available in the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem. Not every pre-health student will become a physician; some will discover passions for drug development, health policy, biomedical engineering, clinical trial management, or health technology entrepreneurship through their exposure to Massachusetts’s biotech industry. These alternative pathways are valid and valuable, and Massachusetts is the best place in the world to explore them.
Making Research Count on Your Application
The quality and depth of your research experience matters more than the prestige of the institution where you conducted it. Admissions committees look for evidence that you understood the scientific question your lab was investigating, contributed meaningfully to the project beyond washing dishes and preparing reagents, can articulate what you learned about the scientific process, and ideally communicated your findings through a poster presentation or publication. If your project does not result in a publication (most undergraduate research does not), presenting a poster at your school’s research symposium or a regional conference still demonstrates your ability to synthesize and communicate scientific findings. Massachusetts institutions host numerous undergraduate research showcases throughout the year, and regional conferences in New England provide additional presentation opportunities. Ask your research mentor about conferences appropriate for your level and about the possibility of contributing to a manuscript or review article. See our Research Experience page.
References
NSF. “REU Programs.” NSF, 2025. https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/. Accessed March 2026.
MIT. “UROP.” MIT, 2025. https://urop.mit.edu/. Accessed March 2026.
Harvard Medical School. “SHURP.” HMS, 2025. https://hms.harvard.edu/. Accessed March 2026.