High school coding internship and research fellowship
This high school coding internship lets students in Grades 9 to 12 design and build small tools for environmental field work, with a mentor who reviews their code and design choices. You prototype a survey form, a data entry screen or a simple dashboard, then test it with classmates, family or your housing society.
For school students who take IB Computer Science, IGCSE ICT or Design Technology and like building things other people use. Online, with field work near home and a parent or guardian present at every self-guided activity. The fellowship is paid because every student receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why coding matters for sustainability
Cleanups, plantation drives and surveys all produce records, and someone has to collect and check them. Paper forms go missing, and the same entry often gets typed twice. A simple app lets a volunteer save a record in a minute, with a photo and a location attached. A clear dashboard then shows a housing society or a city office what is changing, so people can act on it.
The Earth5R app records photographed, geo-tagged field data for waste audits, cleanups, tree plantation geotagging and household surveys. A field tool like this has to work on an ordinary phone, outdoors, in the hands of people who are busy. As a fellow you watch how people use tools like these, find one step where they struggle and build a prototype that makes it easier. Your mentor reviews each version before you test it.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 9, Industry, innovation and infrastructure and Goal 11, Sustainable cities and communities.
Available projects in this high school coding internship
Each project fits around school work and takes place near home. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
Household survey form
Design a phone form for household surveys on waste or water use, test it with family and neighbours, and fix the questions or screens that slow people down.
School or society waste dashboard
Build a simple dashboard that shows your school or housing society how much waste it segregates or composts each month, and check that people can read it without help.
Cleanup data entry tool
Prototype a faster way to log items and brands during a waste audit, then time classmates logging items from audit photos with and without your tool.
Usability test of a field app
Watch family members or classmates record data on a field app, note every point where they get stuck, and design and test changes that make each step clearer.
What you do in the field
- Talk to the people who will use your tool before you build it
- Sketch screens on paper before writing any code
- Build prototypes with HTML and JavaScript, Python or a no-code builder
- Store test data in a spreadsheet or a simple database
- Run user tests and note where people get stuck
- Demo your prototype in a research conversation and explain your choices
Skills you build
On a high school coding internship, you collect your own data near home with a parent or guardian, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How a high school coding internship fits your school programme
For IB, IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE students. Your school decides what counts towards its own requirements.
IB CAS
Building a tool that a school club or housing society uses to track its waste can support a CAS project with a service element. Your CAS coordinator decides what fits.
Extended Essay and IA
A tool built for a real user and improved after testing can support a Computer Science IA or Extended Essay. Your supervisor and school approve the topic.
MYP, IGCSE and CBSE projects
A working prototype with user tests can fit the MYP Personal Project and project work in IGCSE and CBSE Computer Science or ICSE Computer Applications.
University applications
A prototype, user test notes your mentor reviewed and a verified record give you a specific project to describe in a computing or engineering application.
How the high school coding internship works
Every student moves through four phases. Your mentor checks each phase before you move on, and sessions pause during board exams.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near home, with a parent or guardian, and collect primary data for your project in Coding and App Development.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on slategray-wombat-459075.hostingersite.com.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
University courses this leads to
- BSc in Computer Science
- BEng or BSc in Software Engineering
- BSc in Computing or Information Technology
- BSc in Human-Computer Interaction or Interaction Design
- BEng in Computer Engineering
Careers in this field
- Software developer
- Mobile app developer
- Web developer
- UX researcher or designer
- Product manager at a technology company
Universities to aim for in Coding and App Development
Software engineering and computing admissions tutors look for students who have made something, put it in front of users and changed it based on what they saw. A high school coding internship with FIELDWORK gives you a working prototype, test notes your mentor reviewed and a record admissions teams can check. Students use a high school coding internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
USA · Computer Science Department, School of Computer Science
The Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon teaches the bachelor’s programme in Computer Science within the School of Computer Science. Research areas listed by the department include programming languages, systems, security and artificial intelligence.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
USA · Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)
MIT EECS undergraduates can major in Computer Science and Engineering (6-3) or in Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science (6-14), among other options. Programming Languages and Software Engineering is one of the department’s research areas, alongside Human-Computer Interaction and Systems and Networking.
USA · Computer Science Department
Undergraduates in Stanford’s Computer Science Department can take a Bachelor of Science or a minor. The department’s faculty research areas include programming systems and verification, operating and distributed systems, computer security and human-computer interaction.
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
USA · Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS)
Berkeley EECS offers a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering, and students can also take a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science. Its Programming Systems area covers language design, program analysis and software testing.
USA · Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
The Allen School offers a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Computer Engineering, and majors can add a Data Science Option. Its research areas include Software & Hardware Systems, Human-Centered Computing and Artificial Intelligence, with a stated aim of developing solutions that benefit people, society and the planet.
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
USA · College of Computing
Georgia Tech’s College of Computing offers undergraduate degrees including the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and the Bachelor of Science in Computational Media. Its Threads curriculum lets students pair core computing classes with an application area such as People, Media or Modeling & Simulation.
Canada · Software Engineering programme (Faculty of Mathematics and Faculty of Engineering)
Waterloo’s Software Engineering programme awards a Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) and is supported by both the Faculty of Mathematics and the Faculty of Engineering. Students gain up to two years of work experience through co-op and complete a capstone design course.
UK · Department of Computer Science and Technology
Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology teaches undergraduates through the Computer Science Tripos. Programming Languages, Semantics and Verification is one of its research themes, along with Systems and Networking and Human-Centred Computing.
UK · Department of Computing, Faculty of Engineering
Imperial’s Department of Computing teaches the BEng/MEng Computing and the BEng/MEng Joint Mathematics and Computer Science. Software Engineering is one of its research sections, next to Programming Languages, Analysis and Verification, and Artificial Intelligence.
Switzerland · Department of Computer Science (D-INFK)
At ETH’s Department of Computer Science, the Bachelor’s programme starts in German and moves more and more into English from the second year. Second-year courses include systems programming, computer networks and databases. Systems and software engineering is one of the specialisation areas students can choose in the third year.
This list is for guidance. These universities offer undergraduate study in Coding and App Development. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Students get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The Multi-Year Fellowship can run from Grade 9 to Grade 12, with more scope each year.
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
High school coding internship: common questions
Which languages will I use in this high school coding internship?
That depends on your level and your project. You might use HTML and JavaScript for a web tool, Python for a dashboard or a no-code builder for a first prototype. Your mentor helps you choose.
Who will my child test the app with?
Students test their tools with classmates, family and neighbours they know. Any testing outside the home takes place near home, with a parent or guardian present at every self-guided activity.
Can a beginner who has never coded join?
Yes. Beginners start with a no-code builder and learn HTML, JavaScript or Python step by step with their mentor. A clear problem and a willingness to test with real users matter more than past experience.
Is the high school coding internship paid?
Yes. FIELDWORK is a paid, mentored programme. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can my child do this high school coding internship online?
Yes. Mentoring sessions run online, and field work takes place near where you live.
Is a parent or guardian present during field work?
Yes. A parent or guardian is present at every self-guided field activity. Online sessions are for students.
Does FIELDWORK pause during board exams?
Yes. Sessions pause during board exams, so the fellowship fits around school work.
What do students get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on slategray-wombat-459075.hostingersite.com, where universities can check the work.
Related subjects for school students
Already at university? See the Software and App Development internship fellowship for university students.
Apply for a FIELDWORK fellowship in Coding and App Development
This high school coding internship is for students in Grades 9 to 12. Work on a live Earth5R project with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
