Internships

The LCLS has a well-established, paid 10-week summer internship program for undergraduate and graduate students looking for internship opportunities. The primary goal of the program is to provide interns with a stimulating, real-world research experience.

Alan Fry is a Senior Staff Scientist and the founder of the LCLS Internship Program in 2011. For him, there is not a one-size-fits-all internship that will meet the goals of the internship program. Technical projects are matched to the interests and skills of each intern, as well as to the programmatic needs of the facility. Each intern is partnered with a mentor, typically a staff scientist or engineer, who directs the internship project during the summer.

“The LCLS Summer Internship program is an opportunity for students to be a part of the visionary science and engineering at a national laboratory and to interact with scientists, engineers and professionals at SLAC working in many different areas,” says Fry.

Research Opportunities

Depending on the area of interest, intern projects may focus more on the research or development side of LCLS, involving students in hands-on laboratory projects, programming and data analysis, and/or some combination of the two.

Projects span topics including but not limited to:

Computer Science
Data Science
Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, and Controls Engineering
Materials Science
High Energy Density Science
Laser Physics
X-ray Physics
Accelerator Physics
Structural and Molecular Biology
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Science Communication
Business Administration

Student Experiences

The LCLS internship program has opened doors for many interns, introducing them to potential careers and a network of professionals at the frontiers of science.

Interns are matched with mentors whose work aligns with their interests and talents. Interns gain novel, hands-on experience, while mentors receive an extra helping hand and a pipeline of future potential employees, collaborators and users of SLAC’s facilities.

But the mentorship goes beyond project work, and many interns even look to their mentors for advice about graduate school and potential career paths.

At the end of the 10-week internship, all LCLS interns participate in a poster session where they showcase their work to the other interns and LCLS staff. The best are evaluated by a panel of judges for quality of work, clarity of presentation, and impact on the LCLS mission; cash prizes are awarded to the best posters.

Intern testimonials Intern poster session photos

Intern posters

2026 Summer Internship

The 2026 LCLS Summer Internship program will begin on June 15 - August 21, 2026. The first week of the Summer Internship will be remote.

The LCLS Summer Internship application will open on November 11, 2026 and will close February 9, 2026. Both the Application (requisition 6560) and the Pre-Application form will be due February 9, 2026.

Living Accommodations

LCLS will pay for housing on the Stanford campus dormitory, for those participating in the onsite internship. Housing will be available from June 21 – August 22, 2026. Move in date is June 21, 2026.

Rooms are double occupancy. We will use information gathered on the Housing Form to match roommates.

If you elect to live in Stanford housing, you will be required to purchase a meal card. You can use the meal card at various outlets on campus ranging from dining halls to retail outlets (e.g., Starbucks), to a mini market on campus. The dining card will be fully loaded at the start of your internship.

Who Should Apply

We look for bright, passionate undergraduate and graduate students interested in LCLS’s various research fields. Some interns go on to pursue full-time employment at SLAC, and many pursue higher academic and professional degrees.

The candidate selection process is based on reviewing interns’ resumes. Candidates are not interviewed during the process.

The LCLS Internship Program requires that:

The intern must be 18 years or older at the time the internship begins.
All accepted candidates must have or be able to timely acquire US work authorization.

LCLS summer internship is a paid 10-week internship program from June 15, 2026 through August 21, 2026. The first week of the internship will be fully remote (June 15-19, 2026). Move in date for interns who elected to stay at the Stanford dorms will be on June 21, 2026.

Intern selection process timeline

Early to Mid March: SLAC HR will contact the candidates who are accepted into the program. IMPORTANT: Interns will have 10 days from the date the offer is extended to accept the internship.

Graduate Research Opportunities

Through collaborative research, scientists and engineers at LCLS mentor graduate students in multiple research topics including X-ray science, optical lasers, detectors, controls and data acquisition, sample delivery, engineering and advanced computation.

See all research areas

To inquire about conducting graduate research at SLAC, please e-mail Alan Fry, director of LST at alanfry@slac.stanford.edu.