UMass Dartmouth Internship Program
Thank you for your interest in the program. The application for Winter/Spring 2027 is now open!
We are offering a paid research opportunity for UMass Dartmouth undergraduate students with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) January-April, 2027. Preference will be given to students who have not had an off-campus research experience in the past. Students will participate in a short course in January and begin a research project to be co-advised by a WHOI scientist and UMass Dartmouth faculty member through the spring semester.
Interns will be on-site full-time at WHOI in Woods Hole, MA, January 4-15 (weekend excluded) and March 15-19, 2027. WHOI campus housing is provided at no charge (travel allowance available if students prefer to commute). A stipend of $720/week is provided for the 3 weeks at WHOI. UMassD on-campus research throughout the semester is anticipated to continue at ~4-10 hours/week.
The research project will introduce undergraduate interns to research career opportunities that exist locally, and it may serve as a stepping stone for them to consider graduate studies. Research projects are in the fields of biochemistry, biology, chemistry, data science, economics, engineering, marine science, mathematics, physics, and public policy. Research project topics for Winter/Spring 2027 are listed below.
The short course will be 2 hours/day, Tues-Fri, Jan 5-8 and 12-15, including lectures and hands-on activities related to WHOI research on Blue Economy topics such as ocean aquaculture, offshore wind energy, harmful algal blooms, engineering and sensor development, and degradation of organic pollutants. The course will be taught in the WHOI DeepTech facility.
The application for Winter/Spring 2027 is now open! Apply by November 16, 2026
1. On-line Application Form - includes contact and academic information, and short answer questions about your educational/career goals and research interests
2. Unofficial Transcript - email to education@whoi.edu
3. Resume (pdf or doc) - email to education@whoi.edu
4. One Reference is required from a professor/instructor who knows you in an academic capacity. A second reference is optional from a job supervisor, another instructor, or another supervisor. Instructions to send to reference letter writers are here.
Applicants will be notified of decisions by late November 2026. If you have any questions about the program or the application, please contact education@whoi.edu
Below are sample research project topics for WHOI-UMass Dartmouth interns for Winter/Spring 2027:
Developing and applying AI tools for automated analysis of 2-D and 3-D underwater images of coral reefs collected by an uncrewed surface vehicle
Developing genetic tools to study gene expression and monitor viral infections in Dinoflagellates
Ecology and policy considerations of Sargassum in the Caribbean
Field robotic systems and developing novel algorithms for mission planning
Kelp Aquaculture: Assessing outcomes of selective breeding and improving hatchery/nursery processes for ocean farming sugar kelp
Machine Learning for image analysis of seafloor images of hydrothermal vents, with applications to community recovery after an eruption
Meteorology: Data analysis of cloud and weather balloon data
Physical Oceanography: Data analysis of hydrographic monitoring data and/or model output off the Northeast U.S. coast
Public policy and resource economics for ocean and coastal management