The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s Internship Challenge is a workforce development program focused on enhancing the talent pipeline for life sciences companies in Massachusetts while providing interns with practical, “hands on” experience that prepares them to step into the workforce ready to meet the job requirements of life sciences employers. The program is providing paid summer internships to undergraduates, graduate students, and recent college graduates from 46 different colleges and universities.
Nearly all of the interns selected for the Internship Challenge were hired for a 12-week work period, earning a $15/hr stipend. Host companies and institutions commit to providing a dedicated mentor and a meaningful internship opportunity related to the academic focus of eligible students. The Center established a web-based interface where students could post resumes, as well as cover letters highlighting their experience, and where host companies can match skills with their needs. Host companies contacted and interviewed candidates, selected interns for their programs, and notified the Center of their desire to provide an internship to a qualified student.
Objectives of the Life Sciences Internship Challenge include expanding the pool of prospective employees who have practical experience, enhancing opportunities for mentoring, enabling more students to explore career opportunities despite the challenging economic environment, and providing to students interested in working in the life sciences a peer network through educational and informational exchange events.
The focus of this year’s Internship Challenge, while student-oriented, was to provide smaller companies with the opportunity to grow their businesses in this tough economic climate. All of the companies that are receiving reimbursement of student stipends are companies with 100 or fewer employees. Life sciences companies with more than 100 employees and research institutions were able to recruit students from the Center’s database, but are not being provided with subsidies to hire interns. Companies hosting interns represent a broad spectrum of the life sciences industry, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, and contract research organizations.
“The Life Sciences Internship Challenge is a key investment in the strength of our life sciences workforce in Massachusetts,” said Dr. Susan Windham Bannister, President and CEO of the Center. “We have listened closely to life sciences employers and academic leaders throughout the Commonwealth regarding the workforce needs of the life sciences community, and the importance of internship programs has been mentioned repeatedly. This program is allowing life sciences companies and research institutions to mentor students and provide on-the-job experience, while expanding the pool of qualified applicants for jobs in the life sciences all across the state.”
“Having graduated college, my job opportunities seemed slim to none with the current job market, but the Massachusetts Life Science Center’s Internship Challenge has allowed me to get my foot in the door to greater opportunities,” said Enget Dang, a marketing major and recent graduate of UMass-Amherst, who is interning this summer at PharmaHealth Clinical Research Services in Fairhaven, MA. “It is important to jump on opportunities like the Internship Challenge because it allows you to build and develop new skills and interact with professionals, and gives hope to those students who believe that job opportunities are scarce. The Internship Challenge is a stepping stone towards my future, and is the best graduation gift any graduate could ask for.”
“It is a great benefit to have the opportunity to work for a small company that, without the Center’s funding, may not otherwise have had the opportunity to bring on interns,” said Kevin Goggins, a senior and biomedical engineering major at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, who is interning this summer at SemiNex Corporation in Peabody, MA. “I have had the opportunity to work within a large organization in the summer prior to this; however, I am delighted that I now have the opportunity to experience a completely different corporate structure. I think this program offers a phenomenal opportunity for students in the already very promising life sciences field.”
"We are grateful to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center for their support of this internship program,” said Dr. Barbara Fox, CEO of Avaxia Biologics, Inc. Located in Burlington, MA, Avaxia Biologics, Inc. is hosting a student this summer from Bridgewater State College. “By providing funding for students to work with small life sciences companies, the Center is both strengthening the biotech industry in Massachusetts and providing an important educational and work experience for talented local students."
“The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s Internship Challenge Program turned out to be a great vehicle for bridging the gap between local colleges and our company,” said Endodynamix CEO Pavel Menn. Endodynamix, located in Salem, MA, is hosting two students this summer, one from UMass Amherst and another from Northeastern University. “This program is extremely helpful, as it gives students opportunities to gain real life experience in development of medical instrumentation and makes them valuable contributors that we intend to hire.”
