Free Biology Programs for High School Students

Free biology means funded lab benches: NIH-adjacent programs, university research placements, and genetics institutes that cover costs so talent, not tuition, decides who attends.

Lab seats are the bottleneck, not money — funded bio programs fill on mentor capacity, so a specific “why this lab” paragraph beats a generic love-of-science essay.

35 verified programs match this page; 30 of the featured listings are completely free; 4 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• YES! Teen Internship Program — Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Explore STEM with a paid internship at the Smithsonian! Open to high schoolers, this in-person program builds science skills and strengthens college a
• USA Biolympiad (USABO) National Camp — Center for Excellence in Education: Training camp for top 20 USABO finalists. Participants compete for spots on USA team for International Biology Olympiad.
• GSA High School Research Contest — Genetics Society of America: Showcase your genetics research skills in this hybrid high school competition! Gain hands-on experience, boost your college applications, and present
• Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Program - High School Application — The Jackson Laboratory: Explore genetics in this competitive high school summer program. Gain hands-on research experience, enhance your skills, and boost your college applic
• Genomics Research Internship Program (GRIP) — Stanford University Department of Genetics: Paid summer research internship in Stanford genetics labs for local high school students underrepresented in biomedical science.
• High School Research Academy (HRA) — The University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences: High school research academy offering hands-on STEM experience in biology, physics, and data science. Build skills for college applications in this fr
• Simons Summer Research Program — Stony Brook University: Explore STEM fields in the fully funded Simons Summer Research Program. Conduct hands-on research, gain mentorship, and boost college applications. Pe
• Monell Science Apprenticeship Program — Monell Chemical Senses Center: Explore a paid high school research apprenticeship in taste and smell science. Build hands-on STEM skills, boost your college applications, and work w
• Science Research Mentoring Program (SRMP) — American Museum of Natural History: Explore astrophysics, biology, and earth science in this free hybrid high school research program. Gain hands-on experience and boost your college app
• International Brain Bee - USA Finals — International Brain Bee: USA national championship in neuroscience. Winner to international competition.
• WCS High School Internship Program — Wildlife Conservation Society: Explore a paid summer internship at the Bronx Zoo or New York Aquarium! Gain hands-on biology and conservation experience to boost skills and strength
• Heithoff-Brody High School Summer Scholars — Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Gain hands-on lab experience in biology, genetics, and neuroscience through this free summer program for high school juniors and seniors. Boost your c
• Partners for the Future — Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: Gain hands-on research experience in molecular biology, neuroscience, or genetics with this free high school lab placement. Boost college applications
• International Biology Olympiad (IBO) Team USA — Center for Excellence in Education: Only 4 students represent USA at IBO. Extremely prestigious, with team members regularly admitted to Harvard, MIT, Stanford for biology/pre-med.
• National Science Bowl (High School) — U.S. Department of Energy: Compete in the National Science Bowl, a thrilling high school STEM competition. Build expertise in biology, physics, and math while boosting college a
• USA Biology Olympiad (USABO) — Center for Excellence in Education: Compete in the USA Biology Olympiad to enhance lab skills, deepen biology knowledge, and boost college applications. Open to high school students in g
• AMNH Science Research Mentoring Program — American Museum of Natural History: Explore hands-on biology research through a free, year-long high school mentorship program at AMNH. Build STEM skills and boost your college applicati
• UCSC Summer Session: Science Internship Program (SIP) — University of California, Santa Cruz: Explore STEM careers with UCSC's free summer internship for high schoolers. Gain hands-on lab experience in astronomy, biology, and bioinformatics. Pe
• Summer Cancer Research Experience Program — Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center: Paid 8-week in-person cancer research internship for WNY high school juniors and seniors at Roswell Park.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Antibody Scholarship — Thermo Fisher Scientific: Win a $10,000 scholarship for biology or biochemistry majors. Perfect for high school seniors aiming to boost college applications and pursue STEM car
• Stony Brook Simons Summer Research Program — Stony Brook University: Explore STEM fields in this free summer research program for high school juniors. Gain hands-on lab experience and boost your college applications thr
• Governor's School in the Sciences (NJGSS) — Drew University: Explore advanced STEM topics in this free summer program for NJ high school juniors. Gain hands-on research experience in biology, chemistry, and phys
• Urban Barcode Research Program (UBRP) — Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center: Conduct DNA barcoding research in this free hybrid STEM program for high school students. Gain hands-on experience, build your resume, and impress col
• Whitehead Institute High School Research Program — Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: Biomedical research program at MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute. Hands-on experience in cutting-edge life sciences research.
• International Young Naturalists Tournament (IYNT) — IYNT: International biology and ecology team competition. Students solve open-ended research problems and defend findings.
• Broad Institute Scientific Internship Program — Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard: Research internship at world-leading genomics research institute.
• Salk Institute High School Research Scholars — Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Research program at iconic Jonas Salk's institute.
• Breakthrough Junior Challenge — Breakthrough Prize Foundation: Engage in a global competition for high schoolers to explain complex STEM concepts through creative videos. Boost science communication skills and enh
• Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR) — Stanford University School of Medicine: Elite 8-week paid research internship at Stanford Medicine. Mentorship from world-class researchers. Highly competitive admission.
• Genes in Space Competition — miniPCR Bio: Winning experiment is conducted aboard the International Space Station

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