Arc AIxBio Fellows Program for Undergrads

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization based in Palo Alto, California, founded in the pursuit of scientific curiosity. As a leader in AI and biotechnology, we’ve launched projects such as the virtual cell model STATE, the DNA biological foundation models Evo 1 and Evo 2, and the Virtual Cell Challenge.

At Arc, we believe transformative discoveries emerge from creative collaboration and technical ambition. Our mission is to accelerate discovery, uncover the root causes of complex diseases, and close the gap between scientific breakthroughs and real-world impacts.

We are committed to nurturing the next generation of life scientists and are inviting undergraduate students interested in AIxBio to propose open, exploratory projects they can work on at their home institutions in partnership with Arc researchers for 6-12 months.

In 2026, the Arc Research Fellowship program will support 2-4 teams of 2-3 undergraduate students. Student teams can be pre-formed or we will assemble applicants together based on related proposals and complementary skillsets.

Over the course of their projects, Fellows will work with dedicated mentors from Arc's research teams with the goal of generating tangible outputs: code, models, analyses, and ideally publications or conference submissions. This is a part-time (~10 hours a week) and remote position intended to coincide with your coursework.

Mentorship Dedicated guidance from Arc investigators, postdocs, and staff scientists through weekly Zoom meetings and dedicated Slack channel support

Resources A stipend as well as access to Cloud and GPU compute to accelerate your research, plus onboarding support to get started quickly.

Recognition Co-authorship opportunities on publications, presentations at Arc or scientific conferences, and pathways to future internships or collaborations

• Teams of 2-3 undergraduate students, formed independently within or across institutions
• Strong technical skills and demonstrated curiosity about AI and life science
• Commitment to open, reproducible research and collaborative science
• Ability to dedicate 6-12 months to the project
• Be based in North America (no citizenship restrictions)

• Proposal Deadline: Friday, February 27, 2026 at 5 pm PDT
• Selection Process: Wednesday, April 15, 2026
• Projects Begin: Monday, May 18, 2026
• Duration: 6-12 months

To accommodate different stages of project development, we are accepting applications through two distinct tracks:

Track 1: Project Teams (Pre-formed teams)
For teams of 2-3 students who have a specific research idea. Please submit a brief, 1-page proposal outlining:

• Your research idea and approach
• The training goals you hope to achieve
• Expected outputs (e.g., code, models, analyses)

Track 2: Teaming & Matching (Individuals)
For individual students with strong technical backgrounds (e.g., AI/ML, computational biology) who do not have a specific project in mind. Instead of a proposal, please submit a statement of expertise detailing your technical skills and interests. Selected applicants will be matched with other students to tackle projects proposed by Arc mentors.