# Fermilab Program for Research, Innovation, and STEM Mentorship (PRISM) PRISM is a four-week, immersive paid summer school at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory — the United States' premier particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois. Designed for rising high school seniors and recent graduates from Illinois, PRISM pairs students with the laboratory's scientific and technical community for a month of projects, mentorship, and career exposure, with participants paid $500 per week. ## What You'll Do - Spend four weeks (July 13 - August 7 in 2026) embedded at Fermilab on an on-site and off-site work schedule - Work on hands-on STEM projects with mentorship from laboratory staff - Explore the science and engineering behind experiments in particle physics, accelerators, computing, and detector technology - Earn $500 weekly for full participation (housing is not provided; transportation assistance is available) ## Who Should Apply U.S. citizens who will be high school seniors in the upcoming school year or are graduating seniors, enrolled at an Illinois high school, with an interest in physics, engineering, computing, or math. The 2026 application window ran January 13 - March 1, 2026; expect a similar mid-winter window for the next cycle. ## Outcomes PRISM alumni leave with a paid national-laboratory experience on their resume, mentors inside the Department of Energy lab system, and a grounded sense of what careers in big-science research actually look like.