The Lee Teng undergraduate internship is a competitive, paid summer program that provides a unique research experience in accelerator science and technology. Ten students are selected from the applicant pool each year. Interns are assigned a physicist or engineer mentor at either Argonne or Fermilab, based on the best match of student skills with the research project. Mentors work closely with the interns to carry out the research during the ten-week summer residency.

Application Requirements

• Must be currently enrolled in full-time undergraduate studies at a U.S. university (open to both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals)
• Must be a sophomore or junior who has completed requisite coursework at the time of applying 
• Must be 18 years or older at the time the internship begins
• Demonstrate interest in physics, electrical engineering, computing and control systems, mechanical engineering, and/or material science
• Submit complete online application form
• Provide two (2) letters of recommendation
• Submit transcript (unofficial transcript may be submitted with application, but official transcript must be provided upon acceptance)
• Argonne employees, and certain guest researchers and contractors, are subject to particular restrictions related to participation in Foreign Government Sponsored or Affiliated Activities, as defined and detailed in United States Department of Energy Order 486.1A. You will be asked to disclose any such participation in the application phase for review by Argonne’s Legal Department.
• Accepted program applicants must provide evidence of authorization to work in the United States.

Student Experience

The Lee Teng internship provides an integrated approach to accelerator science and technology by including exposure to the field beyond the individual research projects. Interns attend the US Particle Accelerator School (USPAS) on a partner university campus for two weeks out of the ten week period. Students receive the equivalent of a semester course in accelerator physics, and obtain credit from the host university. Attendance at USPAS provides an academic grounding in the subject.

Interns are assigned to mentored projects at either Argonne or Fermilab, but are introduced to research at both labs. One day tours of Fermilab and Argonne  include opportunities that vary each summer. Lee Teng interns also spend a day at the University of Chicago, where they visit the campus and research laboratories. Interns also receive guidance on how to prepare competitive applications to graduate school programs. Finally, at the end of the summer they write a paper about their summer research and give a short presentation about their project. View past internship cohorts and projects.

About Argonne

Argonne National Laboratory is the home of the Advanced Photon Source, generating brilliant high-energy X-ray beams for research on the structure and function of materials. Argonne is also home to ATLAS (Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System), and the AWA (Argonne Wakefield Accelerator). ATLAS is a superconducting accelerator for heavy ions, used for nuclear structure and reaction research. The AWA research focuses on the physics and technology of advanced methods to accelerate charged particles. Lee Teng Interns at Argonne have worked on physics, engineering, or computational problems of importance to accelerator or beamline research and development. The interns have been placed with mentors at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), APS beamlines, ATLAS, and the AWA.

About Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is a high energy physics laboratory with the mission of understanding the fundamental nature of matter and energy. Accelerators are the primary discovery tool serving this mission, so research on the science and technology of accelerators also thrives at Fermilab. Besides the major accelerator complex, Fermilab is also home to ASTA (Advanced Superconducting Test Accelerator). ASTA is an electron accelerator used to investigate science and technology important to future accelerators. Lee Teng interns have focused on problems of primary importance either to the main accelerator complex, ASTA, or to the development of high performance accelerator components of the future.