How to Apply
Important Dates
- The application portal is currently open. The application deadline for visiting students is February 1, 2023.
- For Princeton students, the deadline for applying via SAFE for summer research funding is March 22, 2023.
- All required application components must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. EST on the deadline date.
There are two ways to apply to the PNI Summer Internship Program
- Undergraduates can apply directly through the application portal.
- Princeton University is a member of the Leadership Alliance and encourages applicants to apply to the Program through the Leadership Alliance-SR-EIP portal and select Princeton as one of their three site choices. The Leadership Alliance is a consortium of academic institutions that encourage diversity and work to prepare young scholars from underrepresented and underserved populations for graduate training and are not exclusionary on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national and ethnic origin, disability, veteran status, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The Leadership Alliance application portal will be open November 1, 2022.
- Applicants are encouraged to do both applications as becoming a member of the Leadership Alliance network provides additional benefits (beyond what PNI will offer,) including a summer trip to present your research at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium.
- Princeton's application requests additional information beyond what is included in the Leadership Alliance's application (for example, lab placement requests. However, you need only submit the Application and PNI-SIP Questionnaire in our system and do not need to resubmit transcripts, personal statement, and letters of recommendation. We will receive that information from the Leadership Alliance.
Princeton Neuroscience Institute Summer Internship Program
To apply to the summer program, please complete and submit the following information through the application portal.
- The application form within the online system
- A personal statement
- Transcript(s) of all undergraduate courses and grades, including the fall semester (submitted online). Transcripts should be sent as a .pdf, .doc, .docx, .jpg, or .html file. Please do not mail a hard copy of your transcript.
- Two letters of recommendation from faculty members (submitted online by faculty recommenders - separate from the application form)
In your personal statement, please briefly describe your academic background, research interests, career goals, reasons for applying to the program, and how your participation in the program may assist in attaining your future ambitions. Please limit your statement to 750 words.
In your application form, we ask you to specify 3 or 4 PNI labs in which you would most prefer to work. You can learn more about our faculty and their research by exploring the PNI website, starting at the faculty research page. A number of faculty in Psychology also accept summer interns, including Prof. Casey Lew-Williams in the Princeton Baby Lab. Please note that not all of the faculty listed on this page will be participating in the program this year; only those listed in the application form will be valid choices.
The online application system will have a dedicated section for entering the contact information for your recommenders. A notice will be emailed to each referee and they will be asked to complete a short reference survey and provide a brief overview of your qualifications for our program. You do not need to submit your application for your recommenders to receive their email notices. Please contact Ed Clayton with any questions, problems, or concerns regarding this policy.
It is helpful to have your recommendation letters come from college-level advisors, professors, researchers, or professionals who can remark on your laboratory skills, academic background, problem-solving abilities, and overall scholarship. Recommendations can be written by faculty/advisors from your home institution or by professionals outside your home institution (such as an advisor from a past internship). Current college freshmen should avoid submitting recommendations from high school teachers but should feel free to mention high school achievements in their personal statement.
You can change your referee only if she/he has not submitted a recommendation yet. To do so, log in to your application, revise the referee information and click the button to update your application. An automated email with the recommendation link will then go out to the new referee asking her/him to submit a recommendation on your behalf. The original referee will also receive an email notifying her/him that the prior invitation s/he received is no longer valid. Please let your original referee know of the change before she/he receives the automated email notice.
Your application is automatically considered complete and submitted once we have received all the appropriate materials. The online application system will display check marks once you’ve submitted the required responses. You can complete your application before your recommendation letters are submitted. You can log in to the system and check the status of your recommendations anytime. If all required sections are checked off, your application is complete.
All visiting student applicants will be notified of the Selection Committee's decision by email in mid-March. Princeton students will be notified by mid-April.