Virtual & Online Research Programs for High School Students

These research programs are fully online, so students in any town — not just near a major university — can participate.

Online research removes geography from the equation; selectivity and follow-through are all that separate you from applicants in Boston or the Bay Area.

42 verified programs match this page; 27 of the featured listings are completely free.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• Caltech Signature Award for Innovation — California Institute of Technology: Earn recognition for your groundbreaking ideas in science with this free high school research award. Boost your college applications and showcase your
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program — U.S. Department of State / IIE: Prestigious international fellowship offering virtual research and teaching opportunities for high school seniors. Boosts college applications and bui
• Davidson Fellows — Davidson Institute: Win $50k, $25k, or $10k scholarships in this elite STEM competition for high-achieving high school students. Boost college applications with hands-on
• Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) — Summit Education: The Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) is a virtual summer program for top STEM students around the world. Students learn from mentors at Harvard, Stanford,
• International Crisis Group - Youth Engagement Program — International Crisis Group: Access conflict analysis and peacebuilding resources from one of the world's leading organizations focused on preventing deadly conflict. Free educati
• American Chemical Society Scholars Program — American Chemical Society: ACS Scholars Program awards $5,000 annually to underrepresented minority students majoring in chemistry, biochemistry, or chemical engineering. One of
• Barry Goldwater Excellence in Education — Goldwater Foundation: Recognition program leading to Goldwater Scholarship eligibility in college.
• Pioneer Research Program — Pioneer Academics: Research mentorship with college professors; graded transcript included
• Wolfram High School Summer Research Program — Wolfram Research: Research program at company behind Mathematica. Work on computational projects with experts. Unique exposure to computational thinking and tools.
• MIT PRIMES-USA Math Research Program — Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT's online math research program for students outside Boston. Year-long mentorship conducting original mathematics research.
• Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association Essay Competition — Harvard College: International essay competition on economics topics. Winners published in Harvard Economic Review and receive prizes.
• Polygence Research Program — Polygence: 1-on-1 research mentorship program; opportunity to publish or present research
• Lumiere Research Scholar Program — Lumiere Education: 1-on-1 research mentorship with Harvard/Oxford PhD researchers; publication opportunity
• eCYBERMISSION STEM Competition — U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP): A free, virtual STEM competition where 6–9 grade teams solve real-world community problems with science and engineering.
• NSS Space Settlement Contest — National Space Society: International student design competition to create realistic space settlement concepts judged by space experts.
• Zooniverse Citizen Science — Zooniverse: Contribute to real scientific research by classifying images and data online.
• Horizon Academic AI Essay Prize — Horizon Academic: Compete in a selective AI essay competition for high school students. Build research and writing skills, boost college applications, and explore cutti
• National High School Journal of Science — Various Student Organizations: Publish original high school research in STEM through a peer-reviewed journal. Gain writing, science, and publication skills to enhance college applic
• MIT INSPIRE — MIT: National research competition for high schoolers in humanities, arts, and social sciences. Build research skills, boost college applications, and comp
• MIT THINK Scholars Program — MIT TechX: Empower your STEM journey with this free high school research program. Get grants, mentorship, and hands-on experience to elevate college applications
• The Junior Academy — New York Academy of Sciences: Join global R&D teams solving real-world challenges in this free virtual high school STEM program. Gain mentorship, research skills, and boost your co
• Stanford SHTEM Internship — Stanford Compression Forum: Remote high school research internship blending STEM and humanities. Gain hands-on experience in NLP and computer science to enhance college applicati
• The Concord Review (Publication) — The Concord Review: Publish your high school history research in a prestigious peer-reviewed journal. Enhance writing skills, boost college applications, and gain recogni
• C-SPAN StudentCam — C-SPAN: Engage in a national documentary competition exploring public policy issues. Build media skills, boost college applications, and showcase your creativ
• Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI) — JEI (founded by Harvard-trained scientists): Publish your high school research in a peer-reviewed science journal! Build writing and STEM skills, enhance college applications, and gain hands-on e
• Pioneer Academics Research Program — Pioneer Academics: Online research program with one-on-one professor mentorship for high school students earning college credit.
• Lumiere Education Research Program — Lumiere Education: One-on-one research mentorship with PhD researchers for high school students developing original research projects.
• Polygence Research Mentorship — Polygence: Personalized research mentorship with PhD mentors for high school students across all academic disciplines.
• Quantitative Finance: 4-Week Virtual Summer Research Experience — Stevens Institute of Technology School of Business: Four-week live virtual quant-finance program from Stevens School of Business (July 6-31, 2026, $2,500): rising juniors and seniors earn Bloomberg Mark
• AIMI Summer Research Internship — Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine & Imaging: Two-week fully virtual Stanford AIMI internship where high schoolers do mentored, small-team AI-in-healthcare research with lectures from Stanford exp

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