About

The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) High School Internship is an eight-week paid research experience for rising seniors offered through ISB's Systems Education Experiences (SEE) program, which operates within the Baliga Lab in Seattle, Washington. ISB is one of the world's leading centers for systems biology — the field that integrates genomics, computational modeling, and molecular biology to understand how biological systems function as a whole — and the high school internship places students directly inside that research environment.

The flagship internship admits a small cohort of roughly 2–6 rising seniors each summer, selected through a competitive two-stage process: an initial application (resume, transcript, cover letter) followed by phone and/or in-person interviews for finalists. No acceptance rate is published, but given the cohort size and two-stage review, the effective bar is high. The internship runs June 29 through August 21, 2026, Monday through Friday during business hours. It is paid — interns receive a $5,000 stipend — and no prior research experience is required, though strong interest in systems biology and scientific inquiry is expected. No housing is provided; students arranging to attend from outside the Seattle area will need to secure their own accommodations.

Over eight weeks, interns work alongside ISB scientists on projects drawn from the institute's active research portfolio. Topics vary by year and mentor but have included computational biology, cancer research, microbiology, antimicrobial resistance, infectious disease, immune system diversity, and aging. The systems biology framework means interns work across disciplines — gaining experience in laboratory techniques, computational modeling, data analysis, and scientific communication — rather than being siloed in a single method. Students also interview ISB professionals about career pathways, build a public website documenting their project and experience, and may contribute to school-based curriculum development. All interns participate in LEADS, a structured leadership development program woven throughout the summer.

SEE also offers complementary programming for younger students: the Systems Thinkers in STEM Ambassadorship (STiSA), open to current 10th and 11th graders, provides virtual micro-courses and mentored projects in systems thinking; and ESORE, a six-week environmental science outdoor research experience, is available for students interested in field-based science. The flagship internship application covers all tracks simultaneously — a single submission allows ISB's hiring committee to consider students for every opportunity they are eligible for.

For a rising senior within reach of Seattle, the ISB internship is one of the more unusual research opportunities in this catalog: genuinely paid, grounded in a research discipline that most high school programs ignore entirely, and operating inside a working scientific institute rather than a university training lab.