Last updated: October 2026
The Department of Energy offers undergraduates four separate routes, and the biggest one for summer 2027 is already open. Applications for the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) opened on 14 October 2026 and are due 6 January 2027 at 5:00 PM Eastern, paying $650 a week for 10 weeks at one of 17 participating DOE laboratories. The Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship pays undergraduates $7,500 for a 10-week summer and closes two days later, on 8 January 2027. In plain words: you apply between now and early January 2027, you intern in summer 2027. The route most students search for, a paid Pathways internship on USAJOBS, is quiet: none of DOE's 52 open announcements on 16 October 2026 was an undergraduate internship.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | SULI and CCI: the DOE Office of Science portal. Mickey Leland: ORISE (Zintellect). Pathways: DOE student jobs on USAJOBS; save a search for Department of Energy with the Students hiring path. Student Experience Program: energy.gov (Handshake). |
| Application window (2027–28) | SULI and CCI summer 2027: opened 14 Oct 2026, due 6 Jan 2027, 5:00 PM ET. Mickey Leland 2027: due 8 Jan 2027, 11:59 PM ET. Pathways: no fixed calendar, nothing open for undergraduates. Student Experience Program: dates not published |
| Rolling? | No for SULI and Mickey Leland (hard deadlines). Pathways announcements post as needed and run about 1 to 3 weeks |
| Eligibility | SULI: 3.0 GPA, U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Mickey Leland: U.S. citizen, 2.8 GPA, sophomore or higher in STEM. Student Experience Program: U.S. citizen or national, 2.0 GPA |
| Duration | SULI summer: 10 weeks; SULI fall and spring: 16 weeks. Mickey Leland: 10 weeks (7 Jun to 13 Aug 2027). Student Experience Program: 8 to 16 weeks |
| Compensation | SULI and CCI: $650 a week. Mickey Leland: $7,500 for undergraduates. Pathways: federal GS pay, set in each announcement. Student Experience Program: unpaid |
| Return offers | Pathways interns who finish the program may be eligible for non-competitive conversion; no rate is published. Other routes state no conversion path |
| Locations | Washington, DC headquarters; 17 national laboratories (SULI is onsite only); power marketing administrations; Mickey Leland at labs or headquarters |
| # Programs | 4 student routes: Pathways, Student Experience Program, SULI/CCI and the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship |
SULI and CCI close 6 January 2027 and the Mickey Leland fellowship closes 8 January 2027; no Pathways internship for undergraduates is open on USAJOBS.
Externships are short remote programs where you finish a real project for a real company, most commonly over 8 weeks at 5 to 10 hours a week. The ARCeH Data Analytics, Health Outcomes Externship gives you an environmental data project to show, and the Center for Improving Youth Justice Data Analytics Externship builds public-sector policy data skills. Explore all Externships.
What Is a Department of Energy Internship?
A Department of Energy internship is a student placement under the federal department that oversees 17 national laboratories and supports energy, science and environmental policy. There is no single DOE intern class. DOE's own internships page describes paid Pathways internships, an unpaid Student Experience Program and lab programs run by the Office of Science and ORISE. This guide covers those four routes at program level; individual laboratories have their own guides. Participants in ORISE-run programs aren't federal employees, while Pathways interns are.
When Do Department of Energy Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
The lab programs follow a national calendar published on DOE's SULI key dates page: Fall 2026 applications ran 12 March to 20 May 2026, Spring 2027 ran 8 July to 30 September 2026, and Summer 2027 runs 14 October 2026 to 6 January 2027. The summer 2026 window ran 23 October 2025 to 7 January 2026. That's about 5 months from the January deadline to a June start. USAJOBS is different: DOE-department student announcements numbered 73 in 2024, 1 in 2025 and 7 through 15 October 2026, per USAJOBS historic data, so no calendar can be projected.
SULI and CCI for summer 2027 are open, and the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship is open too. No undergraduate Pathways internship is posted: DOE's only student announcement is a law-student trainee role at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an independent commission listed under DOE.
DOE holds a SULI application workshop on 4 November, a virtual internship fair on 12 November and an alumni panel on 8 December, with office hours on 2, 9 and 16 December. Recommenders are asked to attend too.
SULI and CCI are due 6 January at 5:00 PM Eastern, and the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship is due 8 January at 11:59 PM Eastern.
DOE says SULI offers begin around 3 February and finish around 14 April 2027, with all offers contingent on funding. Mickey Leland notification is in April. Pathways announcements can post in any month, so keep a USAJOBS saved search running.
Mickey Leland runs 7 June to 13 August 2027, and SULI summer terms start around 1 June, depending on the lab. DOE publishes no conversion rate for these routes.
How to read this page: our dates come from tracking previous recruiting cycles and daily posting data. Treat them as informed estimates based on historical patterns, not confirmed dates. The company's official careers page is always the most current source. If a role is posted there, go by that, even if this page suggests the window hasn't opened yet.
Why You Must Apply the Week Applications Open
SULI and Mickey Leland are hard deadlines, not rolling reviews. A former lab program runner on Reddit (unverified) says compliance is strict, so a missing reference letter or an unredacted transcript can drop you from the pool, and most lab spots fill in the first one to two weeks of the offer period. Pathways announcements, when they appear, can run only one to three weeks, so a USAJOBS saved search matters more than a calendar.
Which Department of Energy Internship Programs Should You Target?
Each route has its own official name, pay and application system.
| Program | Focus | Duration | Key skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathways Internship Program (USAJOBS) | Paid federal student jobs at headquarters and components such as BPA, WAPA and FERC | Varies by announcement | Resume with hours worked, enrollment proof |
| Student Experience Program (unpaid) | Student volunteers in fields such as communications, cybersecurity, HR, IT, law, policy, public affairs and STEM | 8 to 16 weeks, fall, spring or summer | Field-specific; apply on Handshake |
| SULI | Research at a DOE lab with a scientist or engineer | 10 weeks summer; 16 weeks spring or fall | Research report, presentation, peer review |
| Community College Internship (CCI) | Technical training at a DOE lab | 10 weeks summer | Technology, instrumentation, project report |
| Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship | Research for the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office, at labs or headquarters | 10 weeks (7 Jun to 13 Aug 2027) | Research, technical forum presentation |
DOE also lists ORISE-run programs such as the Energy Innovator Fellowship and the Professional Internship Program at NETL on its internships page; dates for those weren't found. Don't confuse the 2026 "Power Up Program Internship" announcements with a student internship: they were two-year term jobs that closed in September.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
Eligibility differs by route, so check the right one.
• SULI: full-time undergraduate (or a graduate within two years), one semester matriculated, 6 STEM and 12 total credits, 3.0 GPA, 18 or older, U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Permanent residents should contact their lab, because offers depend on site access approval.
• Mickey Leland: U.S. citizen, 18 or older, 2.8 GPA, full-time STEM student at an accredited U.S. school (associate's, bachelor's or master's), sophomore or higher, available for all 10 weeks.
• Pathways: a student enrolled at least half-time in a qualifying institution; U.S. citizenship and a background check apply, and each announcement lists its own rules.
• Student Experience Program: enrolled at least half-time, 18 or older, 2.0 GPA, U.S. citizen or national, school permission, and fingerprinting plus a background investigation. Participants are student volunteers, not federal employees.
• Funding: DOE says all SULI offers are contingent upon funding availability for the DOE program.
How Many Times Can You Apply to SULI?
DOE's SULI eligibility page limits you to two internships and four applications, while Fermilab's copy of the rules says three. Follow DOE's page and check it before you reapply. Applicants also rank labs, and the labs differ in how they match students, so research each lab's projects before you rank.
What Skills Does the Department of Energy Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
DOE posts program descriptions rather than job descriptions for these routes. Research and technical writing carry SULI, whose deliverables are a presentation, a 1,500 to 3,000 word report and a peer review. Programming and data analysis serve SULI and Mickey Leland projects. The Student Experience Program names communication, cybersecurity, HR, IT, law, policy, public affairs and safety fields. Pathways announcements ask for a federal-style resume.
Note: Note: DOE had no undergraduate job descriptions open on USAJOBS on 16 October 2026, and its program pages describe training rather than hiring requirements, so a skill-frequency chart would be built on too little text to count honestly.
How Is Demand for Research Interns Moving Right Now?
Research intern postings · Sep vs Aug 2026
vs 1,651 in August
For Department of Energy applicants: Research intern hiring picked up sharply in September; apply within the first week a role posts, while the most seats are open.
Daily US job-posting counts, Sep 1–30 vs Aug 1–31, 2026. Covers under half of US postings; shows direction, not market size.
Build These Skills Before You Apply
Each row links a DOE student-program field to a remote Externship that gives you a project to describe.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental and energy data analysis | SULI and Mickey Leland: research projects with data and technical reporting | ARCeH Data Analytics, Health Outcomes Externship |
| Cybersecurity and IT | Student Experience Program fields: cybersecurity and information technology | vCISO Cybersecurity Risk Assessment Externship |
| Budgeting and financial analysis | Student Experience Program fields: finance-adjacent and business operations roles | Attronica Financial Planning & Analysis Externship |
| Policy and public data | Student Experience Program fields: policy and public affairs | Center for Improving Youth Justice Data Analytics Externship |
None of these Externships is connected to the Department of Energy. They give you a finished project, which helps when an application asks what you have already done.
What Is the Department of Energy Application and Interview Process Like?
Each route has its own steps.
1. Pick the route. SULI and CCI close 6 January 2027, Mickey Leland 8 January 2027. For Pathways, create a USAJOBS profile and a saved search.
2. Prepare documents. SULI needs a redacted transcript, two recommendation letters and essays, and you rank labs. Mickey Leland needs a Zintellect profile, resume, transcripts and two references, one academic.
3. Wait for matching. Labs either assign mentors to applicants or let researchers review and interview, according to a self-described former program runner.
4. Accept. SULI offers run about 3 February to 14 April 2027; a commenter says you get 10 days to accept.
For Pathways and the Student Experience Program, apply through USAJOBS or Handshake as listings appear.
What Students on Reddit Say
Discussion centers on the lab programs; none of the threads covers a DOE headquarters internship.
A self-described former SULI and CCI program runner said some labs assign mentors to applicants while others let researchers review and interview, that most spots fill in the first one to two weeks of the offer period, and that missing letters or unredacted transcripts drop you from the pool. Identity unverified.
A CCI intern at a national lab said mentors match interns to projects on interest and fit, that CCI can be 10 weeks full-time or 16 part-time, and that they stayed on as a longer-term lab intern afterward.
A 2023 SULI intern at SLAC said the day depends on your mentor: one weekly check-in, a self-managed schedule, weekly site lectures and weekly progress reports.
How Do You Stand Out for a Department of Energy Internship?
First, pick the route that fits your major instead of searching for one DOE internship. Second, use DOE's free SULI events: the 4 November workshop and December office hours, and ask your recommenders to attend. Third, for Pathways, set a USAJOBS saved search for the Students hiring path and write a federal-style resume with hours per week for each role. DOE publishes no class size, acceptance rate or conversion rate for these routes.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
Students targeting the Department of Energy often also look at other federal science employers and the national labs.
- NASAfederal science agency with spring, summer and fall internship sessionsGuide →
- NIHfederal research agency with summer programs for studentsGuide →
- Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryDOE Office of Science lab on the SULI and CCI calendarGuide →
- Idaho National Laboratorynuclear and clean energy research labGuide →
- National Laboratory of the Rockiesrenewable energy lab formerly known as NRELGuide →
For more federal options and USAJOBS timing, see our government internships summer 2027 guide.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 Department of Energy internship?
No. The summer 2026 SULI and CCI window closed on 7 January 2026. Open now for summer 2027: SULI and CCI, due 6 January 2027, and the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship, due 8 January 2027. There is no open undergraduate Pathways internship on USAJOBS today.
How do I get a paid internship at the Department of Energy?
Three routes pay: SULI and CCI at the national labs ($650 a week), the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship ($7,500 for undergraduates) and Pathways internships on USAJOBS at federal pay. The Student Experience Program is unpaid. Pathways announcements are rare right now, so apply to SULI first.
When is the SULI summer 2027 deadline?
SULI and CCI summer 2027 applications are due 6 January 2027 at 5:00 PM Eastern, and opened 14 October 2026. DOE says offers begin around 3 February 2027 and finish around 14 April, with all offers contingent on funding. These dates are tentative and subject to change.
When is the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship deadline?
Applications are due 8 January 2027 at 11:59 PM Eastern. The 10-week program runs 7 June to 13 August 2027, and notification is in April 2027. Undergraduates receive a $7,500 stipend. You need a 2.8 GPA, U.S. citizenship and sophomore standing or higher in a STEM degree.
Are there Department of Energy internships on USAJOBS right now?
Not for undergraduates. On 16 October 2026, DOE's 52 open announcements included one student announcement, a law-student trainee at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Set a USAJOBS saved search for the Students hiring path, because announcements run only one to three weeks.
What is the Student Experience Program?
It's an unpaid student volunteer program at DOE, run in fall, spring and summer terms of 8 to 16 weeks. You apply on Handshake. Participants must be enrolled at least half-time with a 2.0 GPA and complete fingerprinting and a background investigation. DOE doesn't provide housing.
Who is eligible for SULI?
Full-time undergraduates, or graduates within two years, with a 3.0 GPA who are 18 or older and U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. You need 6 STEM credits and 12 total credits by the deadline. Appointments are onsite, because DOE says remote participation isn't available.
Is the Power Up Program an internship?
No. DOE posted "Power Up Program Internship" announcements in August and September 2026, but they were two-year term appointments at GS-5 to GS-11 that can't convert to permanent jobs. They closed on 4 September 2026 and weren't student internships. Use the Students hiring path on USAJOBS instead.
SULI and CCI close on 6 January 2027 and the Mickey Leland fellowship follows two days later. Pull your transcript and recommenders together now, and if you want a finished project to point to, a remote Externship fits around classes at 5 to 10 hours a week.
About the Author
Bifei Wang has spent 17 years focused on human flow and the growth of young professionals, spanning international education, career training and coaching, and recruitment process outsourcing. Over 7 years at Extern, he has had one-on-one sessions with thousands of students exploring careers in consulting, finance, tech, marketing, and data, giving him a firsthand view of how the job market has shifted for early-career professionals and what it actually takes to break in.
