5 answers
Anthony
Student
South San Francisco, California
4
Questions
Asked
1136 views
Is it possible to find an internship in biology and research without any prior experience
I'm a 3rd year in college and a Psychology major, but lately I have been wondering if I should switch. Biology, research, and medicine seem to interest me. Is there any possible way where I could find an internship in this field and get acquainted with it with no prior experience? #internship #biology #medical #medicine #research
Login to comment
5 answers
Ashley Garcia, MPH
MPH Epidemiology/Medical Student
23
Answers
Updated
Ashley’s Answer
Hi Anthony,
I hope all is well. You can most certainly gain an internship without prior experience. You can start by asking your professor's if they know of any and if they have a lab you can ask to volunteer at to gain experience. In terms of internships, it will be wise to check for unpaid internships and then transition to paid experiences. I believe the Pre-Health Office at your school, advisor, and/or mentor (professors), would be an excellent guide to search for some. Here are some sites you can check and affiliate with your school:
1) https://www.indeed.com
2) https://www.joinhandshake.com/
Lastly, most colleges have Honor Societies and/or Professional Fraternities that you can be a part of. These societies/clubs can be a tool to gain experience and learn information on possible internships.
Best of luck on all of your endeavors!
-Ashley G.
Ask to be a volunteer in lab.
Check Indeed & Handshake.
Research Honor Societies / Professional Fraternities .
I hope all is well. You can most certainly gain an internship without prior experience. You can start by asking your professor's if they know of any and if they have a lab you can ask to volunteer at to gain experience. In terms of internships, it will be wise to check for unpaid internships and then transition to paid experiences. I believe the Pre-Health Office at your school, advisor, and/or mentor (professors), would be an excellent guide to search for some. Here are some sites you can check and affiliate with your school:
1) https://www.indeed.com
2) https://www.joinhandshake.com/
Lastly, most colleges have Honor Societies and/or Professional Fraternities that you can be a part of. These societies/clubs can be a tool to gain experience and learn information on possible internships.
Best of luck on all of your endeavors!
-Ashley G.
Ashley recommends the following next steps:
Thank you so much! I've been looking up things on indeed and other sites, but as of right now it is very difficult to get in touch with my university about everything due to the lockdown but I will keep trying remotely!
Anthony
Abhinav Janappareddi
College student
25
Answers
Bothell, Washington
Updated
Abhinav’s Answer
Hi Anthony, you can definitely get into biology research without any prior experience. I actually was able to work in a neuroscience research lab during my freshman year of college. I simply just emailed out my resume along with transcript to a few PI's in the area. A couple who were interested emailed me back. To increase the likelihood that you hear back I would suggest you find an area you are interested in and then state specifically about what aspect of the project intrigues you. This could mean talking about specific experimental techniques you would like to learn or something general about the area of research. Hope this helped!
Thank you for answering! How do I find PIs or resources to help me connect to them and also I have never taken a biology class in my underclassman years.
Anthony
No problem! You should be able to find PI's by looking at the different schools in your area. Since you are in San Francisco this could be UCSF, USF, UC Berkeley etc.This could be in the psychology department, biology department etc. They should have a description of their project when you search up the department for the school and included is their email as well. I would send out your resume and any relevant coursework you have done to prepare yourself. I would advise you to email as many PI's as possible in areas that you are interested to increase your chances.
Abhinav Janappareddi
Mahriah Swanson
Dancer 💃
5
Answers
Chehalis, Washington
Updated
Mahriah’s Answer
Since you are already a third year student, you have basic classes required for graduation down that will apply to any degree. I encourage you to pursue your interests! Try checking internships.com, www.savvypremed.com, GlaxoSmithKline Undergraduate Internship Program, as well as Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Secondary Questions are a great study aid. When you talk to your college counselor you obviously have to let them know your new interest so you can redirect your classes.
Best of luck with your future!
Best of luck with your future!
Thank you so much I will look further into the site and those other programs if they are available in my area.
Anthony
Alyssa K. Cole, M.A., CPRW
College Advisor | Career Consultant
18
Answers
Washington, Washington
Updated
Alyssa’s Answer
Hi Anthony,
I hope all is well. I think this is a great question. You absolutely can find an internship in biology and research without prior experience. One of the common positions I have seen students or recent graduates apply to is research assistant roles at colleges and local hospitals. If you have a specific area or department of interest, I recommend reaching out via email directly to those departments expressing interest while having your Resume attached just in case they would like to take a look. LinkedIn also is a great tool to find people who work in these departments and can be a great platform to start an initial conversation.
I hope that this helps, I wish you well on your search!
Alyssa Cole
I hope all is well. I think this is a great question. You absolutely can find an internship in biology and research without prior experience. One of the common positions I have seen students or recent graduates apply to is research assistant roles at colleges and local hospitals. If you have a specific area or department of interest, I recommend reaching out via email directly to those departments expressing interest while having your Resume attached just in case they would like to take a look. LinkedIn also is a great tool to find people who work in these departments and can be a great platform to start an initial conversation.
I hope that this helps, I wish you well on your search!
Alyssa Cole
Thank you for taking your time to answer my question. I did not know that it was possible to directly reach out to the hospitals and labs themselves about if they have any internships! I thought that you always had to go through recruiting centers and hiring pages.
Anthony
Gabriella Fiorino
Scientist
4
Answers
Orlando, Florida
Updated
Gabriella’s Answer
Hi Anthony,
There are internships available for those without prior experience. I am more knowledgeable about the research end of things, so I would suggest emailing some labs to ask if there are openings in to become a research assistant. Some labs will not require experience, but others will so all it takes it emailing and asking. During your emails, be sure to check out the details of the exact research being conducted so that the PIs will know that you are genuinely interested in what is being done in the lab. This goes for both psychology and biology labs.
If Biology research is what you are interested in, for example, go to the undergraduate biology page of your school's website to see what labs are available.
Some universities also have portals through which you can become matched with research opportunities at the school. I'd suggest checking the office of undergraduate research, if your school has one, and they should be able to connect you to an outlet for more info on which labs are available.
There are internships available for those without prior experience. I am more knowledgeable about the research end of things, so I would suggest emailing some labs to ask if there are openings in to become a research assistant. Some labs will not require experience, but others will so all it takes it emailing and asking. During your emails, be sure to check out the details of the exact research being conducted so that the PIs will know that you are genuinely interested in what is being done in the lab. This goes for both psychology and biology labs.
If Biology research is what you are interested in, for example, go to the undergraduate biology page of your school's website to see what labs are available.
Some universities also have portals through which you can become matched with research opportunities at the school. I'd suggest checking the office of undergraduate research, if your school has one, and they should be able to connect you to an outlet for more info on which labs are available.
Thank you for taking your time to answer my question. I already have looked on the major advisement page of my school unfortunately I could not find a section where it posted anything about labs or available internships.
Anthony