SAO Astronomy Summer Intern Program (Astro REU)

The SAO Summer Intern Program is a 10-week NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) internship where students take on an astrophysics research project with an SAO or Harvard scientist. Students are expected to work at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for the full duration of the program. We house our interns in Harvard's graduate student dormitory facilities.

The program is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution. Undergraduates who are US citizens or green card holders at the time of the internship are eligible to apply. For more details regarding eligibility requirements, see the FAQ page.

The many potential areas of research at the CfA can be seen here and can involve data from a host of facilities, including space-based telescopes like NASA's Kepler, Spitzer, and Chandra missions (among others), and the many ground-based observatories often used by SAO scientists, such as: 

• The Submillimeter Array in Hawaii
• The MMT on Mt. Hopkins in Arizona
• The Magellan Telescopes on Las Campanas, in Chile
• The Millimeter-Wave Telescope in Cambridge

Undergraduate students interested in astronomy, astrophysics, physics, or related physical sciences are encouraged to apply. We provide a wide range of projects to our interns. That said, we have noticed in recent years that many of our projects involve programming tasks, and Python tends to figure prominently in them. You may find it helpful to bring some Python proficiency to your internship -- but this is by no means required; we have hosted many successful interns with NO prior programming experience. In a similar vein, you may find it useful to have taken at least an introductory Astronomy course, for scientific context. Again, that is NOT required.

Check here periodically for further updates.

The application portal for summer 2026 is scheduled to be opened  by January 10, 2026 with an application deadline of February 10, 2026. The required application materials will be the same.  

Here is the link to the application portal: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31493

Application Instructions

Some Instructions Regarding Letters of Recommendation:

The letters of recommendation are essential elements of your application. Make sure that you ask your recommenders long enough in advance of the deadline that they have adequate time to write your letters and submit them.

Double-check your recommenders' contact information for accuracy. They will be contacted using the email address you enter, exactly as you enter it.

If you decide to change your recommender before completing your application, be sure to notify your previous reference as a courtesy and to prevent confusion.

Instructions Regarding Transcripts:

Make sure that your name appears on each transcript.

Black out your SSN, date of birth, and address.

IMPORTANT: Print all transcripts to PDF format or otherwise flatten them to remove security from the document, so we can print them.

Instructions Regarding the Essay:

The essay is to be a maximum of two pages in 12-point font in PDF format only. We have to read literally hundreds of essays, it will not help your cause if you ignore this instruction.

Your name should appear at the top of each page (in the margin is OK).

Notes Related to the Application Portal:

Because our program is funded by a federal agency (NSF), we can only accept undergraduates who are US citizens or green card holders.

Our interns will receive a stipend. Housing will be provided free of charge for the duration of the internship (subject to Harvard re-opening). Questions about these and other matters are addressed on our FAQ page.