Matthew C.

Internship in Social Immunity Research Group
Happy to mentor
Happy to be contacted

About me

Matthew C.
Biology
Biology
Undergraduate
Constantine
2018
United Kingdom

My employment

Internship in Social Immunity Research Group
Austrian Institute of Science and Technology
Austria
Science and research
Large business (250+ employees)

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A day in the life of a Internship in Social Immunity Research Group in Austria

Opportunity to take part in front line research summer internship at the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology

How I looked for work

Simply Googling biology internships brought up some really interesting options. As well as this, I read through emails with career advice and internship positions provided by the university and biology department.

How I found out about the job

Employer's website

The recruitment process

I applied around about Christmas prior to the summer of the internship - the exact deadline is on the employer's website each year. The recruitment process involved looking at the various research groups in the institute, and selecting two or three of particular interest. An application letter detailing why those groups were of interest to me had to be submitted, along with my CV, university transcript, and two academic references.

What I do

Worked on my own research project in a social immunity research group, under the guidance of a Postdoctoral researcher, studying the behavioural responses of ants in the presence of a virus.

Skills I use and how I developed them

I was largely working independently throughout the internship, so relied a lot on self organisation and time management. Thorough planning and troubleshooting was also required to ensure the project ran as efficiently as possible. My lab skills and creativity were particularly improved during the internship, often having to develop novel approaches in terms of experimental setup in order to achieve the desired results.

What I like most

Whilst I was working with a predetermined research question, I was given a large amount of freedom and independence in the direction my project took. Combining this with being involved in front line research made for a really interesting and fulfilling internship, with a sense of genuine worth to my project.

What I like least

As is often the case in science, there would be periods of time where aspects of the project would not be as successful as hoped, which was frustrating!

What surprised me most

How welcoming and relaxed the research group I was involved in were. Despite the members of the group all being involved in their own research, everybody was interested in my work and willing to offer help.

Next steps...

If you like the look of Matthew’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Matthew a message to find out more about their career journey.

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