Summer Research Internship in Computer Science

Overview

Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Department offers a ten week Summer Research Internship Program to provide training in and development of research and other educational skills in Computer Science to undergraduate students (juniors & seniors) with great promise for graduate studies. The program will typically start the last week of June. The activities will take place Monday through Friday for ten weeks during the summer. Each student will be mentored by a faculty advisor in Carnegie Mellon’s Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. 

The Program is intended to provide opportunities for the students to observe and undertake research processes and methodologies assigned to each student by their faculty advisor, and to attend technical talks and activities to learn about Computer Science research processes. Although the program is educational in nature, the students will not receive Carnegie Mellon degrees or academic credit for their participation and will not own intellectual property rights for their assignments at Carnegie Mellon.

Departments in the Griffin School of Computer Science:

• Computer Science Department (CSD)
• Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII)
• Language Technologies Institute (LTI)
• Machine Learning Department (MLD)
• Ray and Stephanie Lane Computational Biology Department (CBD)
• Robotics Institute (RI)
• Software and Societal Systems Department (S3D)

Application Information

General Information

Approximately 20 students will be admitted. Applicants must complete an online application form and provide their academic transcript, curriculum vitae, and a brief statement of purpose by January 1, 2027.

Applicants must also arrange for up to two faculty members or university representatives to submit recommendation letters by January 1, 2027. Letters must be sent directly by the recommenders (not by the applicant) to the internship staff, using the submission instructions provided in the online application.

Final admission is contingent on successful matching with a faculty mentor and is subject to Carnegie Mellon University's discretion. There is no application fee.  However, admitted students must pay a nonrefundable administrative fee of USD 1,600 within seven days of the program's start date.

Carnegie Mellon will assist with the visa process. It will coordinate with the appropriate university offices such as Human Resources, Export Control Compliance, and the Office of International Education to assist students with the visa application process, if necessary. 

This should begin at least four months prior to the start of the program (by February 15, 2027) to ensure timely approval should a visa be needed.