Berkeley Lab | ASPIRES Internship Program
Advancing STEM Pioneers in Research in Energy Sciences (ASPIRES)
Program dates: June 3 - August 9, 2024
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has partnered with the Institute for STEM Education’s Career Awareness and Preparation (CAP) Program in launching a nine-week paid summer internship for students in CSU East Bay’s College of Science. The Advancing STEM Pioneers in Research in Energy Sciences (ASPIRES) internship program provided 12 undergraduate students exposure to Berkeley Lab’s vast scientific network and shined a light on many potential career paths available with a degree in biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and environmental sciences, engineering, math, physics, and statistics.
The CAP Program and Berkeley Lab have worked together to make ASPIRES more accessible to students by removing both the GPA and lab experience requirements to encourage historically excluded students to apply. Throughout their nine-week fellowship from June 3th to August 9th, 2024, Berkeley Lab generously compensated each ASPIRES intern with a $5,400 stipend and an additional $3,000 housing support allowance. Interested students were supported by the CAP Program team through a series of workshops to improve their resumes and cover letters as part of the application process.
During the nine-week program, each ASPIRES intern worked alongside a scientist from Berkeley Lab’s Energy Sciences Area (ESA) and were assigned a project focusing on scientific disciplines spread across ESA’s four divisions; two user facilities, the Advanced Light Source and the Molecular Foundry, and two science divisions, the Materials Science Division and the Chemical Sciences Division. The ASPIRES cohort were then required to present their research and findings to an audience of ESA mentors, Berkeley Lab scientists, and fellow interns at a Poster Session towards the end of the program.
Projects
Interns: Vinh Pham & Bryan Ochoa
The Advanced Light Source is a specialized particle accelerator that generates bright beams of x-ray, extreme ultraviolet, and infrared light for scientific research. The light is directed through about 40 beamlines to numerous experimental endstations, where scientists from around the world (“users”) can conduct research in a wide variety of fields, including materials science, biology, chemistry, physics, and the environmental sciences. As a DOE national user facility, the resources of the ALS are available to scientists around the world and attract more than 2,000 researchers annually.
Berkeley Lab Interns (Summer 2023) at the ALS Tour
Interns: Anthony Asher, Alexis Esguerra, Elizabeth Magallon & Adam Oliver
The Chemical Sciences Division is the home of fundamental research in chemistry and chemical engineering. CSD's work provides a basis for new and improved energy technologies and for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of energy use. To fulfill its vision and mission, CSD pioneers an integrated research portfolio in fundamental chemistry that seamlessly spans broad length and time scales and closely couples theory and experiment.
Chemicals Sciences Division interns working in the lab
Interns: Eugene Vuong, Emily Wen & Angela Wei
The Materials Sciences Division advances the fundamental science of materials within the context of global energy-related challenges. MSD scientists develop experimental and theoretical techniques to design, discover, and understand new materials and phenomena at multiple time and length scales. MSD's core programs and research centers cultivate a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to materials research and help train the next generation of materials scientists.
Intern Emily Wen working with one of her Berkeley Lab mentors
Interns: Christain Smith & Prince Kanukwa
The Molecular Foundry is a nanoscale science research facility that provides users from around the world access to cutting-edge expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. The Foundry’s broad spectrum of capabilities allow users to increase the scope, depth and impact of their research. The Foundry is made up of seven closely coupled facilities that specialize in nanomaterial synthesis, characterization, theory and fabrication.
ASPIRES Poster Slam • August 9, 2023
