In March, MIT quickly became a virtual community in response to Covid-19, and the spring semester and summer that students had planned was upended. MIT students faced a great deal of ambiguity around whether summer internships or research opportunities would continue, move to a remote format, or be cancelled altogether. In addition, soon-to-be graduating students were also hearing that their job offer start dates were being delayed, or worse, jobs were being rescinded.  

Kate Trimble, senior associate dean and director of OEL, assembled the Summer Opportunities and Resources Team (SORT) led by Michael Bergren (UROP), with staff from across the Institute to help identify existing and new summer opportunities, help experiential learning programs transition to a virtual format, and ensure students can easily identify what’s available. One of the many new initiatives and projects from SORT is the newly created MIT Summer Opportunities and Resources page.

The Summer Opportunities and Resources page, housed on the MIT Student Resources site was quickly designed taking a cue from the MITii’s Covid-19 Rapid Innovation Dashboard. The site offers an easy way for students to filter and sort opportunities by a number of different criteria such as deadlines, eligibility, and type of activity. Opportunities include internships, research opportunities, volunteer work, projects, and more. Content is updated daily with experiences submitted by members of the MIT community, and there have been thousands of visitors to the site since its launch in April. 

Please help us spread the word about this new resource and share opportunities for MIT students this summer by submitting new opportunities and resources through the online form. 

Special thanks to the MIT community members who helped developed this new resource and collected student feedback to help it continue to evolve and improve as a resource.   
Rosheen Kavanagh (UPOP), Tamara Menghi (CAPD), Ellen Reid (OEL), Halley Kamerkar (PKG Center), Chris Mayer (Edgerton Center), Chelsea Truesdell (OFY), Sara Nelson (UROP), Seckin Ozdamar-Tasan (MIT Sandbox Innovation) and Elizabeth Durant (OVC).

— Tamara Menghi, CAPD,  and Rosheen Kavanagh, UPOP