FAQ

The 2026 program will run from June 14 (move-in) through July 24 (move-out).

Applicants will be notified via email by the end of March. Due to the volume of applicants, we cannot give individual confirmation for application materials received.  We appreciate your patience as we make our final decisions. If you have not heard from us yet, no decision has been made on your application.

No. The program is specific to current juniors. Fortunately, it is an ongoing program so we encourage you to apply in the future.

No, you must be a current junior attending a high school in the state of Michigan to be eligible. 

No. The Aspirnaut internship program is open to young scholars of all experience levels. There is no expectation of any prior research experience. 

No. Due to employment laws for individuals under 18 and LSI policies, we are unable to offer volunteer opportunities for high school students.

Yes.  Aspirnaut interns will be expected to do work "at the bench” within their host laboratory. The exact nature of the experiments being performed will depend on the hosting laboratory. 

Our staff works closely with the host laboratories to ensure that there is a clearly defined project to be worked on and that the techniques are suitable for all skill levels. 

Yes, you are eligible. The SAT is not a requirement to apply or participate in the program. 

Yes, you should submit your application once you have finished your portion.
Your recommenders can submit their letters even after you have submitted your application so long as they do so by the application deadline. Please give your recommenders at least two weeks to complete this requirement.

The program is in-person on the U-M Ann Arbor Campus. Students stay in the Alice Lloyd Residence Hall during the duration of the program and work in an on-campus laboratory. 

Yes. To fully participate in this program, students are required to be on campus during the entire duration of the program, aside from any health, permitted accommodations or emergency related absences. Outside of the lab, interns will participate in professional development and enrichment opportunities. 

Students must be available and ready to commit their time to the program, living on campus, for the entire six weeks.

Aspirnaut is an in-person program, where you stay in a dorm on the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus. You do hands-on, laboratory research with a research mentor Monday through Friday and on the weekends you get to participate in social events, professional development, and free time to explore Ann Arbor and rest for the next week of the program.

No, students are not allowed to take classes during the duration of the program. 

No. Participation in the Aspirnaut program is completely free and includes housing, a meal plan, lab materials and more.
We actually pay interns $3,000 for their work as well.  Funding received by an intern may be subject to federal and/or state income taxes. It is the sole responsibility of the individual Aspirnaut intern to investigate the impact, if any, of their pay on financial aid, personal income tax or any similar situation.

We accept anywhere between 6 and 10 interns each year. 

The life sciences cover any area of science which investigates questions regarding living organisms.

At the Life Sciences Institute, we house laboratories from several different departments within the University of Michigan. Our labs do work focused on biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and genetics.  Often the questions these laboratories are seeking to answer involve several individual areas of study.

We don't have a specific list of faculty researchers, as they differ from year to year. The program will make decisions on lab placement.  We consistently work with scientists in the Life Sciences Institute; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB); School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS); and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB).  You can get a sense of the types of research you would be working on by looking at the research on their websites.

Before the program begins, our staff creates a list of potential laboratories to host an Aspirnaut. These are laboratories both within the LSI as well as labs in other life sciences units. 

Once an Aspirnaut is accepted into the program, our staff goes to work on placing Aspirnauts in labs that most align with each Aspirnaut’s scientific interest.

International students are eligible if they are attending a high school in the state of Michigan and are either U.S. Citizens or non-U.S. citizens with employment authorization documentation (EAD).