Undergraduate Research Opportunities — Internship

The Matter to Life Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program is run by the Max Planck School Matter to Life. It places enrolled bachelor’s students in a Matter to Life faculty laboratory in Germany for a ten-week project supervised by local researchers. Host labs are located in Aachen, Bayreuth, Dortmund, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Erlangen, Göttingen, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Jena, Magdeburg, Mainz, Marburg, Münster, Munich, Potsdam, and Saarbrücken.

Interns choose a preferred lab and work on a research question connected to that group’s focus. The program covers interdisciplinary research spanning physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, materials science, engineering, and related fields.

Benefits & funding

Travel to and from the intern’s home country is covered.
Accommodation is covered.
A monthly allowance supports day-to-day expenses; the official page does not state the amount.
Each intern receives local supervision and training for a ten-week research project.

Eligibility

Applicants must remain enrolled in a bachelor’s degree before and throughout the internship and may graduate only after it ends.
Applicants must have completed at least 1.5 semesters when applying and at least two semesters when the internship begins.
Applicants must show above-average academic performance meeting the program’s stated minimum GPA of 1.7.
Relevant fields include physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, materials science, engineering, bioengineering, and related disciplines.
Prior research experience, German proficiency, official English-language proof, and recommendation letters are not required.
The published eligibility rules state no nationality, residency, gender, or age restriction.

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Bachelor Enrolled

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Application process

1
Create an account in the Max Planck Schools online application portal.
2
Select the Matter to Life URO program in the general Max Planck Schools portal.
3
Provide a preferred Matter to Life laboratory and the period when you can complete the internship.
4
Upload a CV of no more than two pages, a current university transcript, and a one-page personal statement in Times New Roman 12 with 1.5 line spacing explaining your motivation for the chosen lab.
5
Submit the application by 1 October 2026.

Program timeline

Applications open.
1 August 2026
Application deadline.
1 October 2026
Applicants should receive results by email.
February 2027
Each selected applicant completes a self-scheduled ten-week internship within this window.
June–November 2027