Joining the lab as a researcher

As a high school student

Unfortunately, the Saxe Lab does not accept volunteers or research internships for high school students. If you’d like to work on research projects at MIT, we encourage you to look opportunities through Leah Knox Scholars program in biology, the Research Science Institute, and PRIMES. Saxe Lab is not affiliated with any of these programs. You can also learn about programs at MIT through tracking outreach.mit.edu.

As a non-MIT undergraduate student

We don’t have internship positions. If there is an institutional or external program available, we will list it here. We are open to hosting sophomore and junior college students through MSRP. If you applied to MSRP and would like to work with us, please write to our lab manager through email or the contact form below to let us know that you applied and detail your interests in related projects.

As an MIT UROP

We sometimes list available UROPs at the UROP office, but students can also contact our lab manager to ask if there is a position available. Please include a description of your interests and goals when writing to us.

Typically we ask UROPs to work for credit for their first semester in the lab, while they are mostly being trained. Many of our long-term UROPs are funded by either the UROP office or our grants. UROPs who stay in the lab more than two semesters often get to play significant roles in research projects, and some have earned authorship on published papers.

As a post-baccalaureate student

We accept post-bac students (a two year program prior to PhD applications) through the Post-baccalaureate Research Scholars Program in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. This is a fully-funded, non-degree two-year program for underrepresented students who are interested in neuroscience and cognitive science. If you are interested in working at the Saxe Lab during this program, please reach out to our lab manager for more information.

As a graduate student

1. Potential graduate students should apply through the BCS graduate program application.

2. Professor Saxe is open to taking graduate students for Fall 2025 entry.

3. Applicants do not need to email Professor Saxe directly before applying to the BCS program. Also, Professor Saxe is not available to meet one-on-one with applicants, outside of the BCS interview process. However, people who are specifically interested in Saxe Lab should say so (and why) in their application essays.

4. Consider this list of questions when considering joining.

5. Graduate students who have already been admitted to the BCS PhD program can inquire with Professor Saxe about the availability of rotation projects, by emailing her directly.

6. Many graduate students are co-mentored by Professor Saxe and another BCS PI. Students interested in this arrangement should email Professor Saxe about it.

Some things to note before applying:

  • You are welcome to let Professor Saxe know that you plan to apply, but she does not meet with potential applicants before the written applications are evaluated.
  • To get a sense of Professor Saxe’s current research interests, please view our research page.

As postdoctoral researcher

1. Potential post-docs can write directly to Professor Saxe, describing their training and interests.

2. We are currently not recruiting new post-docs.

3. Consider this list of questions when considering joining.

Contact Us

To get in touch, send us a message that will go directly to our lab manager.

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Our Location

Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex
43 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA 02139

We are located in the Brain & Cognitive Sciences department on the
MIT campus, room 4021 in building 46.