Internships

All MMB students are required to complete a 160-hour (minimum) internship in the summer between their first and second years. Students secure their own internships, which are hosted by an off-campus company to provide students with relevant industry experiences. Students must submit an internship portfolio and give an oral presentation in the fall semester after the internship.

Past internships have included lab work, report writing, technology assessments, market analysis, database management, and fermentation analysis.

Internship Requirements

• Hosted by an off-campus (unless otherwise approved) industry company
• Be a new experience (i.e., internship responsibilities must differ from those students had in prior industry-related experiences)
• Relate to the student’s academic program and career interests
• Students must submit an internship portfolio that represents the internship experience. Materials used to secure the internship, a written report, and evidence of networking activities must all be included in the internship portfolio.

Dedicated to Your Success

Our staff is here to help you through the internship process, including resume writing, developing interview skills, and networking. 

“I had a fantastic summer at United Therapeutics working with their Global Medical Strategy team. The hiring manager and my two mentors immediately saw the value in the multidisciplinary MMB program. […] I completed several independent projects over the summer and had the chance to observe many more initiatives within our department. I believe that the real-world experience that my cohort and I gathered from our internships made us into better team members and resulted in improved project deliverables for our company sponsors in the fall. At the end of the summer, I was offered a part-time position to continue working with United Therapeutics, which I accepted. I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world!”

– Abigail Nails, MMB Graduate (2019)

Over the years, students have interned at over 80 companies in RTP and across the country, including:

“As a microbial resources intern at Indigo Agriculture, I managed the planning and execution of several research projects at the RTP site. […] This internship allowed me to learn data management and visualization tools such as RStudio and TIBCO Spotfire®, and conduct several personal interviews with a senior director and product managers. These interviews were invaluable as I aim to apply my current business and academic experiences to a future role as a product manager within a biosciences organization. Moreover, my internship reaffirmed the importance of networking and taught me that company culture travels, even to small research outposts. One of the defining strengths of the MMB program is that it exposes students to many different markets within the broader biosciences industry. Along with practicum projects, the summer internship is a fantastic opportunity to gain industry experience and develop new skills that can be leveraged upon graduation from the program.”   

– Christopher Carlin, MMB Graduate (2019)