Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
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Zintellect is an online platform, powered by ORAU, where applicants search for research internships, fellowships and scholarships funded by government and private-sector organizations. Applicants create an account, find an opportunity, and submit an application with supporting documents and references; mentors at the sponsoring organizations review those applications. Details below were checked against the Zintellect and ORISE sites on 2026-10-29.
What Zintellect is and who runs it
The Zintellect home page states that the platform is “powered by ORAU” and that it offers access to hundreds of research internships, fellowships and scholarships. ORAU is the organization that manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); the ORISE home page describes ORISE as a DOE asset and says it is managed by ORAU for DOE.
Those three names are easy to blur, so here is how the sites relate them:
- DOE is the federal department for which ORISE is managed.
- ORAU manages ORISE and powers the Zintellect platform.
- ORISE runs internship, fellowship, postdoctoral and faculty programs, and its internships-and-fellowships page describes Zintellect as a searchable database of research and non-research internships and fellowships at national laboratories and U.S. government agencies.
The platform has two kinds of users. Applicants search and apply. Mentors can view the opportunities they are assigned to or that are open to their agency or department, review applications, and recommend candidates.
Eligibility: set by each opportunity
Neither the Zintellect home page nor the ORISE internships-and-fellowships page states one eligibility rule for the whole platform. Eligibility, deadlines and requirements belong to the individual opportunity listing, so the listing itself is the authority for whether you qualify. What the platform does tell you is how opportunities are organized. Applicants can search by keyword, academic level, discipline, organization or program.
ORISE groups its programs by career stage on its own pages: undergraduate, graduate and recent graduate internships and fellowships, postdoctoral fellowships, and faculty research opportunities. Choosing the academic level that matches your stage is the fastest way to narrow a search.
What an application requires
According to the Zintellect home page, applicants typically submit:
- a resume or curriculum vitae;
- an transcript or academic record;
- at least two references.
Some opportunities also ask for a writing sample or a thesis. The page adds two reference rules: family members cannot serve as references, and at least one academic reference is preferred. For how reference letters work in a different fellowship, see NSF GRFP reference letters.
Application steps
- Register. On the Zintellect site, choose Register and select your user type. Applicants use “Get Started” for applicant registration; mentors use “Request Access” for mentor registration.
- Search. Look for opportunities by keyword, academic level, discipline, organization or program. ORISE also lists an app, ORISE GO, that lets you search and apply for opportunities.
- Prepare documents. Gather your resume or CV, your transcript or academic record, and the names of at least two references, plus a writing sample or thesis if the listing asks for one.
- Submit. Complete the application for the specific opportunity you selected, following the instructions on that listing.
A worked example of a program that routes its applicants through Zintellect is covered in the CASRAI guide to the NASA Postdoctoral Program, which describes the account, the application and the advisor-match step in that program’s own terms.
Typical timeline phases
The platform does not publish a single timeline, and each listing sets its own dates, so no calendar dates are given here. The phases are:
- Registration and account setup.
- Searching and selecting an opportunity.
- Assembling documents and requesting references.
- Submission, followed by review by the mentors attached to the opportunity, who can recommend candidates.
The home page notes that some opportunities have no deadline and stay open until filled. Reading the deadline field on each listing is therefore the only reliable way to plan.
Common mistakes
- Naming a family member as a reference. The platform says family members cannot be references.
- Listing fewer than two references. Two is the stated minimum.
- Having no academic reference. At least one is preferred.
- Omitting a writing sample or thesis when the specific listing asks for it.
- Assuming platform-wide eligibility. Eligibility is set per opportunity, so a rule from one listing does not carry to another.
- Registering as the wrong user type. Applicants and mentors have separate registration paths.
Related programs
| Program or category | What the sites say | Further reading |
|---|---|---|
| ORISE undergraduate, graduate and recent graduate internships and fellowships | Listed by ORISE as program categories; opportunities are found through Zintellect | Research fellowship |
| ORISE postdoctoral fellowships | Listed by ORISE as its own category | Postdoctoral fellowship |
| ORISE faculty research opportunities | Listed by ORISE as its own category | ORISE internships and fellowships page |
| NASA Postdoctoral Program | Applications go through a Zintellect account | NASA Postdoctoral Program guide |
For a comparison of fellowship programs outside the ORISE system, see the major early-career foundation fellowships.
FAQ
What is Zintellect?
An online platform powered by ORAU for finding research internships, fellowships and scholarships funded by government and private-sector organizations.
Who runs Zintellect?
The site states it is powered by ORAU. ORAU manages ORISE for the U.S. Department of Energy, and ORISE points applicants to Zintellect for its internship and fellowship opportunities.
What do I need to apply?
Typically a resume or CV, an transcript or academic record, and at least two references. Some opportunities also require a writing sample or thesis.
Can a relative be my reference?
No. The platform states that family members cannot be references, and that at least one academic reference is preferred.
Is there a deadline?
It depends on the listing. Some opportunities have no deadline and stay open until filled; others set their own dates on the listing.
What is the difference between an applicant and a mentor account?
Applicants search and apply. Mentors view the opportunities they are assigned to or that are open to their agency or department, review applications and recommend candidates.
Sources
- Zintellect home page, https://zintellect.com, checked 2026-10-29.
- ORISE home page, https://orise.orau.gov/, checked 2026-10-29.
- ORISE internships and fellowships page, https://orise.orau.gov/internships-fellowships/index.html, checked 2026-10-29.
