Strengthening the region and helping its students thrive
The Laboratory offers its own K-12 STEM education outreach and student internship programs, and also supports education-related nonprofits and organizations with technical assistance, volunteers and financial assistance.
Laboratory education programs
Bradbury Science Museum STEM education
The Laboratory’s Bradbury Science Museum’s dedicated educators provide themed hands-on STEM experiences at the museum, in your classroom, or online during an interactive virtual field trip to support NGSS.
- At the museum: Bring your students to Los Alamos for an immersive experience inside the Bradbury Science Museum.
- In your classroom: Can’t make the trip? With our Science on Wheels program, our team can come to you with the same high-quality, hands-on learning.
Every program is designed to spark curiosity, deepen understanding and bring science to life.
Challenge: Tomorrow mobile STEM outreach
Challenge: Tomorrow is the Laboratory’s innovative mobile STEM outreach initiative. Designed to spark curiosity and inspire future careers in science, technology, engineering, and math, this traveling experience brings hands-on exhibits and real-world science directly to students and communities across New Mexico. Covering topics like outer space, material science, and bioscience, two traveling trailers highlight the Lab’s research and work environments in a safe, immersive way, led by friendly Laboratory staff.
Summer Physics Camp
The free two-week annual Summer Physics Camp – now in its tenth year – invites young students to dive into the exciting world of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through hands-on experiences and real-world exploration. Participants will learn alongside leading STEM professionals—including scientists and engineers from Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory—while discovering, creating, and innovating.
Laboratory internship and scholarship opportunities
High School Internship Program
The High School Internship Program provides qualified Northern New Mexico high school seniors the opportunity to develop skills and gain work experience at the Laboratory, while receiving exposure to a variety of career fields. Internships are available in both STEM and other career fields including administration, business and finance, operations support, and communications.
LANL Foundation Scholarships
Since 1999, LANL Foundation in partnership with the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund (LAESF) has awarded scholarships to students from Northern New Mexico. Scholarships support Northern New Mexico students in all fields of study – not just STEM – to attend local and out-of-state colleges and universities. Awards are offered in two categories: 4-year undergraduate scholarships, and Career Pathways scholarship for two-year degree programs or certificate programs. Funding for these scholarships comes largely from Laboratory employees and Laboratory operator Triad National Security.
Support for education-related organizations
We partner with a range of nonprofits and organizations to help their programs and initiatives succeed. These include LANL Foundation, STEM Santa Fe, Twirl, Hour of Code, Santa Fe Children's Museum, DOE Science Bowls and the Governor’s STEM Challenge.
We also work with regional schools and school districts including Carlos Vigil Middle School, McCurdy Charter School, and schools in Cochiti, Rio Rancho, and Chama Valley.
The support can take several forms:
Grants and sponsorships
To support the range of K-12 STEM education activity carried out by the Laboratory, Triad National Security – the Laboratory's operator – provides grants and sponsorships to local nonprofits as part of its Community Commitment Plan. The awards are typically valued at $5,000 or less, with online applications reviewed four times a year. More information is here.
Volunteers
Are you a local Northern New Mexico school or nonprofit that is searching for Laboratory professionals to provide expertise or support for your education-related activities? The Laboratory supports a variety of K-12 STEM education events and programs with employee volunteers. Start an inquiry here.
Technical assistance
The Community Technical Assistance (CTA) program at the Laboratory makes available the assistance of scientists and engineers that can work on short-term, limited assistance to regional entities (including nonprofits and school districts) facing technical hurdles that overlap with LANL capabilities. This assistance is provided at no cost to the organization seeking assistance and the scope of work provided varies based on individual project needs. One CTA project is the Community Data Sprint, an annual week-long event which pairs local nonprofit and social good organizations with a small team of LANL data scientists to solve data-related problems to benefit Northern New Mexico.