Internship opportunities for trainees
GPS & Bio-Techne Summer Internship Program (SIP)
This pilot summer internship program provides doctoral students in Medical School graduate programs at the University of Minnesota an opportunity to engage in a 10-week summer internship with lead investigators at Bio-Techne. For the summer of 2024, there will be four (4) full-time research positions available within the four broad areas of Proteins, Antibodies, Cell and Gene Therapy and Immunoassays at Bio-Techne. Full job descriptions are below in the next section.
Register now to apply for the Bio-Techne internship opportunity.
Summer interns will work under direct mentorship and supervision of Bio-Techne lead investigators and staff scientists. The chief aim is to provide an immersive experiential learning opportunity for students strongly interested in pursuing a career in biotechnology-related industries. Students will leverage knowledge gained from their academic studies in research applications towards that of an industry environment. It is anticipated that participation in bench science at Bio-Techne will be in conjunction with team meetings, review of current product portfolios and discussions of new directions that biomedical research applications are shifting towards in industry settings.
About Bio-Techne
The publicly traded company Bio-Techne, headquartered in Minneapolis MN, is a life sciences company that develops reagents, instruments and services for research, diagnostic and bioprocessing. Several recognizable brands within their portfolio include R&D Systems, ProteinSimple and Novus Biologicals. The company is a leading supplier of high quality and innovative tools for life sciences research. With over 3,000+ employees and 500,000+ products in the company’s portfolio, Bio-Techne is a leading biotechnology company that continues to grow and innovate. With strong midwest origins, the company has a strong reputation with empowering diversity in their workforce and a desire to strongly recruit talented life science researchers.
Eligibility criteria
The following students are eligible to apply for this year's Bio-Techne-UM Medical School SIP:
- Doctoral graduate assistant in Medical School graduate programs currently in the following job codes: 9521 and 9529*
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident**
- Passed/completed program-specific preliminary (written/oral) examinations
- Satisfactory academic progress
- Approval by the graduate program director
*Student non-employees in the fellowship job codes of 9561, 9562 or 9566 (i.e. recipients of NIH NRSA F31 or are participants in T32s) are not eligible at this time for participation in the internship program due to special rules of extramural funding agencies.
**International students on a F1 VISA are ineligible to receive wages from non-University entities, as sponsorship is to the University of Minnesota, and thus can not receive pay from our partners.
Diversity and Inclusion
Applicants from all diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Bio-Techne and the Medical School at the University of Minnesota are committed to supporting individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been underrepresented in biomedical research, have disabilities and/or have been disadvantaged by life circumstances that have negatively impacted their educational opportunities.
Students will be paid wages directly by Bio-Techne. The Medical School will pause stipends for the time engaged in summer internship and restart immediately upon completion of the program. (This will all be handled on the backend with no added work by the student; PIs will not pay for the student on extramural awards during summer internship). Bio-Techne will coordinate with the intern for parking and building access to the job site.
Health benefits: There will be no disruption to your student health; the Medical School will ensure all participants maintain health coverage through the University of Minnesota.
Career Development: To acknowledge the support of PIs as mentors, the Medical School will provide an additional $2,500 per awardee in a career development fund to the student recipient of the internship. This will defray future costs provided by the PI to support student travels to scientific conferences and other professional development activities.
Before You Apply
This opportunity is largely designed for doctoral students who have an immediate interest in pursuing a biomedical research career in industry. This program affords highly motivated students an experiential learning opportunity to help determine if a career in industry is most desirable.
The decision to participate in the Medical School’s SIP program with Bio-Techne should be discussed with your faculty mentor and Director of Graduate Studies. Their approval for your participation is required. It is also strongly encouraged that you view the recorded info session seminar discussing the program in its entirety held by Bio-Techne and the Medical School on February 22, time to be determined.
You are encouraged to read more about Bio-Techne as a company here. Also, the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in the Medical School, who supports the program operations on the backend, is available to further address any and all questions about this SIP opportunity. Please contact gps-office@umn.edu.
How to Apply
There are two stages to applying. First, interested students are required to complete the pre-application registration form. This registration form is an intent to apply. The form will be reviewed by the Medical School graduate programs to confirm eligibility.
You may submit your pre-application registration here.
Full link: https://forms.gle/VhjBurot3KZs9G8S6
After submission of intent to apply and confirmation of eligibility, the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will notify you of successfully passing the eligibility checklist for applying to the program. Your name will then be forwarded to Bio-Techne and you will receive a direct link to apply to the internship position at the Bio-Techne website.
At this stage, your application will then be reviewed by the hiring managers at Bio-Techne. Top ranked applicants will be invited for an interview with the hiring managers. Those individuals who received the internship will then be notified and preparation will begin for their summer internship to start in early June.
- February 22: Informational “open house” webinar with UMN students - more information to come soon
- February 22 -March 14: Application window opens
- March 14-April 12: Application review and interviews
- April 15-April 22: Offers extended
- June 3: Internship start date
- July 14: deadline to submit first progress report
- August 23: Internship end date
- September 7: Deadline to submit final progress report
Bio-Techne Internship Position Descriptions
Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Applications group
Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Applications (click for PDF)
Position Summary:
Bio-Techne is seeking an intern in their Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Applications group. The intern will work with application scientists to help create marketing material using Bio-Techne’s CGT products. The project may support either immune cell therapy reagents (primarily CAR T or CAR NK cell workflows) or regenerative medicine reagents (iPSC culture with differentiation). Products that may be supported include specialty media, cytokines, non-viral gene editing reagents, or assay development.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design and execute experiments under the direction of application scientists
- Analyze data and prepare data packets in support of product flyers or application notes
- Communicate results in group meetings
- Collaborate with product development teams and product managers to understand product uses and requirements
Program Requirements:
- Must be a currently enrolled student pursuing a graduate-level degree in a field relevant to the internship
- Must be able to work full-time during the duration of the internship program
Experience Qualifications:
- Cell culture experience, preferably with T cells, NK cells, or iPSCs
- Experience with analytical methods such as flow cytometry, ddPCR, ELISA
- Ability to work independently, stay organized, and execute against project timeline
- Knowledge of gene editing including transfection and/or transduction
- Outstanding written and oral communication
Machine Learning/AI Guided Antibody Design
AI Machine Learning Antibody Design (click for PDF)
Position Summary:
Machine Learning/AI Guided Antibody Design: The graduate internship is an excellent opportunity for students to develop novel antibodies using machine learning and AI based tools. This position will involve tuning existing ML programs for Ab design so that wet lab data can be integrated for developing precisely engineered antibodies with desired properties.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop novel strategies and optimize existing ML programs to enable input of wet lab data for better predictability.
- In collaboration with our wet-lab scientists use design-build-test cycles to develop functional antibodies
Program Requirements:
- Must be a currently enrolled student pursuing a graduate-level degree in a field relevant to the internship.
- Must be able to work full-time during the duration of the internship program.
Experience Qualifications:
- Strong understanding of statistics and machine learning fundamentals
- Practical experience developing deep learning models from scratch, and tuning existing ones
- Fluency in Python and commonly used higher-level language for model training
- Fluency with Unix environments, AWS, and GitHub
- Hands-on experience in protein/Ab design by applying machine learning and AI algorithms
Protein Development Department.
Protein Development Department (click for PDF)
Position Summary:
This graduate internship provides an excellent opportunity for the candidate to be an integral part of Bio-Techne’s Protein Development Department. The intern will explore a wider area of molecular biology, cell culture, and protein purification. You will collaborate with many different departments to investigate the protein expression level from different cell batches and learn ways to improve the product yield through molecular modification and the culture conditions. This is a fantastic opportunity for an individual to gain problem-solving and troubleshooting experience in a collaborative lab environment.
Key Responsibilities:
- Day-to-day responsibilities involve hands-on work in the laboratory to perform molecular cloning, transformation, E. coli culture, colony selection, and running SDS-PAGE to validate target protein expression.
- Set up and conduct the experiments, document results, analyze data, and make adjustments for the following assay.
- Collaborate with other departments and labs as needed.
Program Requirements:
- Must be a currently enrolled student pursuing a graduate-level degree in a field relevant to the internship.
- Must be able to work full-time during the duration of the internship program.
Experience Qualifications:
- This internship requires the candidate enrolled in a graduate degree program and demonstrate a working knowledge of the recombinant protein expression in the Escherichia coli system.
- Working knowledge of Excel is required and able to perform basic statistical analysis.
- Must have strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated, driven, and team-oriented graduate student preferably with some experience in cell culture and molecular biology.
Simple Plex immunoassays for the Ella platform
Simple Plex immunoassays for the Ella platform (click for PDF)
Join the team that develops Simple Plex immunoassays for the Ella platform! Ella is an automated benchtop immunoassay platform that runs high-performance assays for biomarker detection in under 90 minutes. This internship will focus on the optimization of assay conditions for critical analytes. You will assess the influence of individual components and investigate assay performance under varying conditions.
These efforts will contribute to the development of Simple Plex assays for challenging, clinically relevant targets.
Key Responsibilities:
- Handle and prepare biological samples
- Perform Simple Plex assays on the Ella automated immunoassay system
- Design and prepare assay buffers
- Analyze data, draw conclusions, and make decisions for next steps
- Troubleshoot assay performance
- Discuss lab findings and provide recommendations for future experimentation
- Present data reports and findings to cross-functional teams
- Propose and discuss creative new ideas
Program Requirements:
- Must be a currently enrolled student pursuing a graduate-level degree in a field relevant to the internship
- Must be able to work full-time during the duration of the internship program
Experience Qualifications:
Background knowledge in the following areas would be especially beneficial:
- Protein and antibody biochemistry
- Assay troubleshooting and optimization
- Familiarity with neurological proteins and samples
General Internship Logistics
The GPS Office classifies two types of internships. The first (1) is one that is facilitated by our office through a joint partnership of the Univ of Minnesota Medical School with a given company. The second (2) type is internship opportunities that are independently provided by a given company.
In both scenarios the GPS Office can assist trainees with the internship opportunity. This includes: covering tuition and stipend, working with the graduate programs and faculty advisors to receive approvals, providing travel and housing financial support and ensuring adequate healthcare coverage (i.e. no lapse), among other way to which the GPS Office can facilitate.
Providing these resources to the trainee, for both situations, ensures that the priority is placed on the experiential learning opportunity. As such, the GPS Office works to alleviate the logistical and financial burdens that may dissuade trainees from participating in these invaluable experiences.
Eligibility criteria for students:
- Good academic standing (i.e. not on probation)
- 3rd or 4th year students are eligible.
- 1st, 2nd or 5th year students are NOT eligible
- Successful completion/passing prelims
- Approval of graduate program DGS and Faculty Advisor
The GPS Office will support the travel and housing for the internship position. Stipends will continue to be covered with no lapse, albeit monies will be paid by the GPS Office during the 8-12 week internship (as opposed to your faculty advisor or graduate program paying stipend). There will be no lapse in student health insurance.
Note: as the employers/businesses can operate differently with respect to Human Resource restrictions/rules, there may be some noticeable changes within how a trainee will be classified at that company. The GPS Office will work with the company/employer to coordinate all backend financial and logistical hurdles on behalf of the approved trainee.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can the GPS Office help with internships
The GPS Office team members can provide:
- work with trainee to identify, apply and onboard for internship positions
- provide ancillary financial support for housing and travel
- cover tuition, stipend and healthcare
- provide logistical backend support for transitioning into the internship position
- work with the company to assure eligibility status criteria are met
Are postdoctoral scholars eligible?
Yes. Although less frequent as most postdocs desire transition into academia, there are opportunities and slots available for postdoctoral scholars to participate in internships
Can the internship opportunity be extended beyond the 8-12 weeks?
No. Internships facilitated by the GPS Office have a maximum allowable of 12 weeks. Graduate students chief role is training in their mentor(s)' research laboratories and remaining on track towards graduation. Any longer than 12 weeks of internship is believed to negatively impact the training.
Can a trainee participate in several internships over the course of their graduate or postdoctoral training career?
For graduate students, the general answer is no. The GPS Office does not support multiple internship opportunities. However, there are unique opportunities and circumstances that warrant such activities. These circumstances will be assessed by your independent graduate program and research mentor for allowability. However, the GPS Office will not provide funds to support multiple internships of a given trainee.
For postdoctoral trainees, the GPS office will fund only one internship opportunity.
Internship Opportunities
The Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office provides opportunities for both graduate and postdoctoral trainees to engage in internships within the biomedical sciences. Graduate students who identify a reputable internship opportunity for the summer are eligible for funding through the GPS Office to help defray costs from participating in the experiential learning opportunity. In addition, the GPS Office will help to facilitate backend logistics that ensure covered health benefits, housing and travel costs, as well as work with your graduate programs and faculty mentor to support the summer experience.
In addition to external internship identified by the student, the GPS Office has established partnerships with both industry and government agencies to provide unique 8-12 week internship programs. To accomplish these specific internal internships, the GPS Office works closely with the University of Minnesota's Corporate Engagement Center to connect and create opportunities with various business partners within the biomedical research enterprise. This program is set to launch in the 2025 AY. Please check the website back often and reach out to us if you have any questions: gps-office@umn.edu