Most of the following are aimed at undergraduate and masters students, those who want to see what real-life research is like, and dip their toes into a field they think that they might like to pursue.
[For non-research opportunities see the IAU Outreach Visitor Program in Japan and the science journalism internships at the European Southern Observatory in Germany. Both cover travel and accommodation and come with a stipend.]
For Europe and the UK click here.
For Canada and the US click here.
See below for the rest of the world.
[Last updated: 10th May 2020]
Australia
Swinburne – Vacation scholarships at the Centre for Astrophysics and Computing, at Swinburne University of Technology. Mostly for Australians and Kiwis, however exceptional international students may apply. Usually over summer (i.e. winter for most of us), 6 – 10 weeks, A$500 per week.
Asia
TAU – Scholarships are available to go to Israel and carry out research for 8 months, for those with a BSc. For research ideas/contacts take a look at The Raymond & Beverly Sackler School of Physics & Astronomy at the Tel Aviv University. There is also the Nella and and Leon Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and not forgetting Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology.
JAXA – Internships available at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Japan.
JSPS – The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science has a two month summer programme.
UTRIP – An intensive summer research programme at the University of Tokyo.
OAO – [New!] The Office for Astronomy Outreach offers 2-3 month internships in Japan.
ASIAA – A summer student programme in Taiwan.
Africa
OAD – Based in Cape Town, one has the chance to become a Fellow of the Office of Astronomy for Development. Flights, accommodation and daily subsistence covered!
Central + South America
ALMA – Internships often pop up, for roles such as Journalism, Graphic Design, and Computing. Located in Chile!
INOAE – [New!] 2-month summer internships in Puebla, Mexico.
International
YSP – [New!] The BMSIS Young Scientist Program is offering research space-related projects. Some projects can even be carried out online.
Summer of Code – If you like coding check out the ESA’s Summer of Code which will get you a nice €4000 (here’s one opportunity related to supernovae: TARDIS). Or alternatively, see Google.
SGAC – The Space Generation Advisory Council often has internships and volunteering roles available.
SSP – The Space Studies Program is a two month summer programme, with disciplines including space physical sciences; space engineering; space policy, economics and law; space management and business; space and the humanities; space applications; and human performance in space. In 2018 it will be in the Netherlands.
SH-SSP – The Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program lasts for 5 weeks, and will be in Australia in 2018.
See here for a list of even more opportunities which include more general Physics related topics, and here for further opportunities in the US.
Don’t however limit yourself to specific summer schools/internships if you feel like you are looking for something different. For example, you could volunteer. On the other hand you might want to work for someone at a particular university, and you may be able to find funding from a trust for example.
How to make an Astrophysicist 
In Italy every year there are:
1) the workshop in archaeoastronomy by A.L.S.S.A. [Associazione Ligure per lo Sviluppo degli Studi Archeoastronomici (Ligurian Association for the Developpment of the Archaeoastronomical Researches)], in Genoa, generally in spring;
2) the meeting of the S.I.A. [Società Italiana di Archeoastronomia (Italian Archaeoastronomical Society)], every year in a different Italian city, generally in autumn;
3) the meeting for archeologists, astronomers and archaeoastronomers “Time Measurement”, in Sassari (Sardinia Island), generally in December.
In Europe every year takes part the international archaeoastronomical meeting of the S.E.A.C
(European Society of Astronomy in Culture).
Hello – Hannah/Suzanne!
Thank you for this post (and this blog really!), I feel it is really helpful for undergrad astronomers, such as myself, to have a guide to the opportunities available to them. A lot of my classmates thought they didn’t want to take part in internships (takes too much work/time) and changed their minds this year…after I shared what it was like for me at Max Plank in Heidelberg. They had all forgone the opportunity for something incredible and to prevent it from happening again I also started making such a list:
https://www.overleaf.com/read/cnkzyspbknmj
There might be a few opportunities listed that aren’t mentioned here.
From what I read here you are enrolled in the AstroMundus programme – so if you are coming to Belgrade let me know – so me and my fellow students can give you a warm Serbian welcome. 🙂 I am currently in my third year of the bachelor programme at the Department of Astronomy in Belgrade and this summer I am heading to Yale, but I will be back by September. (if you already had your semester here, how did you like it?)
Cheers!
Hey hey hey! Thank you so much for your lovely message. It is so wonderful that you went out there and went for the internship, and persuaded others to change their minds too. 😀
Thanks for the list too, I added some to my list. 😛
And yes! I am coming to Belgrade! There will be five of us in total: two Brits, one Finn, one Ukrainian and a Mexican! We are very excited and can’t wait to meet you all. We arrive at the end of September. 🙂
No problem – happy to spread the word 🙂
Awesome! The more the merrier, as they say 🙂
We might be in a bit of an exam-crunch those last few weeks of September/first weeks of October, but I think we will be able to figure something out 🙂 and later on get some serious hangouts going 🙂
P.S. I don’t get here often, but I do check my mail often so e-mail me here 😀 vanja.sarkovic@gmail.com
Does anyone know about astronomy internships for undergraduate Indians
If u found some internships for us Indians please mail them to me too
Hi! I love your work here!
There is one summer internship at Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland:
http://tssp.umk.pl/taps2020/topics.html#topside
Thanks a lot 😀
Hi ma’am! This is an amazing page, compiling all the info at one place. I am new to this field and don’t really have anyone around to guide me. Hoping you could suggest some sources or people who could help me!
Hi Tanishq! What questions do you have in particular?
Also these might help:
http://www.astrokatie.com/solicited-advice
Hello ma’am, thank you for these articles, they are really helpful! I’ve sent you a mail at hannah.dalgleish@physics.ox.ac.uk, with my queries. It would be great if you could spare a few minutes to go through it 🙂