Students at Senior Military Colleges are invited to jumpstart their senior capstone or honors project while being fully immersed in leading-edge scientific research under the mentorship of the Military’s preeminent researchers in the Senior Capstone Immersion Program, or SCIP.
Shaping tomorrow’s Army through today’s innovation.
This six-week program matches talented undergraduate students with scientists and engineers in a direct mentor-student relationship that provides the student with instruction, firsthand research experience, and exposure to Army research laboratories. The purpose of SCIP is to prepare future military leaders, enhance the participants’ formal learning experience, and foster the desire to pursue higher education and training in STEM.
Within SCIP, students work alongside ARL engineers and scientists performing cutting-edge Army research within state-of-the-art laboratory facilities specializing in the following technology areas:
- Electromagnetic Spectrum Sciences (ESS)
- Energy Sciences (ES)
- Humans in Complex Systems (HCxS)
- Military Information Sciences (MIS)
- Network, Cyber, and Computational Sciences (NCCS)
- Photonics, Electronics, and Quantum Sciences (PEQS)
- Sciences of Extreme Materials (SES)
- Terminal Effects (TE)
- Weapons Sciences (WS)
* Not all competency areas are available every year.
Eligibility Requirements
- U.S. Citizen
- GPA of 2.8 or higher on a 4.0 scale
- Full-time rising junior or senior in good standing at a senior military college
- Majoring or minoring in a STEM academic discipline or a business discipline
- Letter of Recommendation
- Official Transcript
Selection Process
The SCIP selection process has four Stages. Stage 1 verifies the applicant’s eligibility, Stage 2 is application review and selection of student researchers by mentors, Stage 3 is final SCIP letter of intent, and Stage 4 is the completion of a background investigation. Applicants must pass all four Stages to be accepted to the program.
Available Opportunities
Alternative Fuel Power Generation and Synthesis
Causal Inference in Simulation Scenarios
Causal Structure Discovery from Multi-Modal Data with Missing Observations
Chemical and Electrochemical Energy Conversion Materials, Processes, and Devices
2026 Program Details
Application Details and Instructions
To complete the application, in addition to standard personal and academic information, applicants will need:
- Most recent transcript – formal or informal, in PDF format, that includes the applicant's name, the name of the college or university, your field of study, and GPA.
- Most recent resume – current 1–2 page résumé—PDF format—that includes name and contact info, education (institution, degree, major, expected graduation date), key skills, and relevant experience/projects.
- Letter of Recommendation – completed by the senior capstone or honors thesis advisor, or if one has not been selected, the academic advisor. Download the blank letter of recommendation here.
- List of all STEM or STEM adjacent courses that are relevant to the opportunities selected in the application.
- A thoughtful answer to this essay question:
How will a summer research experience with DEVCOM ARL align with your educational goals and research interests?
Once these items have been collected, use the APPLY NOW! button to proceed to the application.
All applications must be submitted by January 18, 2026, 11:59 PM (Eastern).
Any applications received after this date will not be eligible for consideration.
Innovate the future, apply to SCIP today!
