Life Sciences Summer Institute

Internships/Externships

Internships are short-term, supervised work experiences. They are a great way for students to gain valuable experience and to explore career choices, and for employers to begin training the future workforce.

Externships are opportunities for educators to gain exposure to the life sciences industry. Teachers gain resources and teaching tools to help expose other teachers, and ultimately the student body, to science and math education and opportunities in the life sciences industry

Life Sciences Summer Institute Programs

Special Thanks to:

In collaboration with the San Diego Workforce Partnership, BIOCOM has developed a program to help give students and teachers exposure to the life sciences industries.

With support and leadership from Biogen Idec and The Southern California Biotech Community College the LSSI kicked off in the summer of 2005.

Summer 2009 is the fifth year for the program, which is open to upper-level high school, university and community college students as well as high school teachers.

LSSI Teacher Externship Program

*Please note that this is a highly competitive process.

Teachers will gain exposure to the industry through hands-on laboratory curriculum training, company externship experiences, curriculum integration, along with sharing and networking among peers.

12-Day Company Experiences and Curriculum Connection:
The 12-day paid program, includes one week of industry introduction and laboratory curriculum training using the AMGEN Bruce Wallace Biotechnology Laboratory Program curriculum, followed by one week of half-day industry externship experiences and half-day curriculum connection and implementation workshops. Compensation for completion of the institute will be paid in the form of a stipend distributed weekly by a temporary staffing agency, covering worker's compensation and liability. Continuing education credits may also be available for qualified applicants through Cal State San Marcos Continuing Education.

Requirements:
Applicants must be teaching lab-based courses in the biological, chemical, or physical sciences at a public or private high school or community college within San Diego County. Applicants must show interest in continuing their own education and in bringing new information and ideas to their students. Applicants must be able to commit to 40 hrs/wk for the duration of the two-week program. Applicants must be able to provide their own transportation to Biogen Idec each day of the program.

Application and Selection:
Applicants are required to send all pieces of their application to us in one envelope. Once your completed application is received, copies will be submitted to the LSSI Teacher Applicant Selection Committee to review and score each application.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be teaching lab-based courses in the biological, chemical, or physical sciences at a public or private high school or community college within San Diego County. These teachers will receive a stipend from the Institute. The 2009 LSSI High School Teacher Externship Program will be a 12-day program.

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LSSI High School Internship Program

*Please note that this is a highly competitive process.

For further information and application download, please visit www.matsc.org

The High School Student Research Program, a part of the Life Sciences Summer Institute (LSSI) Student Internship Program, has been developed to help increase awareness of the life science industry and related fields of research to students in the San Diego region. Students gain exposure to career options, hands-on laboratory experience, work readiness skills, and mentoring by a company or research scientists.

Throughout the eight-week program, which includes one week of non-paid pre-internship training followed by a seven-week paid internship, students are involved with a full-time research project as well as enrichment activities. Students learn how to formulate and test hypotheses, prepare experiments and draw conclusions from those experiments. They also learn to maintain laboratory notebooks and take part in regular lab meetings and group discussions. At the end of the program, students present their research projects to their mentors, lab members and families. In addition, students will develop scientific posters reflecting on their summer experience and highlighting their research and future career goals. Posters will be displayed during a culminating event.

The one week Biotechnology "Boot Camp" training prior to the internship will provide attendees with hands-on training in basic lab skills used in biomedical research. Lecture topics will include an overview of the life sciences industry, an introduction to the drug discovery process including regulatory issues (GLP, GMP, FDA) and safety training. Interactive modules will provide soft skills for work readiness.

Students may obtain an internship position (through an interview process) at one of San Diego's world-renowned scientific research institutes, including: Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies or The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). All students selected to intern at a research institute will be awarded $9.00 per hour (not to exceed 40 hours/week) during their internship. Further information regarding each research institute and specialized program components can be found in the application. In addition, some students may be selected to intern at a company within the life sciences industry.

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be San Diego County residents and have completed their most recent semester at a public or private high school within San Diego County.
• Applicants must be at least 16 years of age by June 2009.
• Applicants must have successfully completed at least one year each of high school level chemistry and biology.
• Applicants must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale)
• Applicants must be able to commit to 40 hours/week, five days per week (daytime) for the duration of the program.
• Applicants must be able to provide their own transportation.

Selection:

A special emphasis is placed on identifying and recruiting students from groups that are historically underrepresented in the sciences (i.e., African-American, Hispanic, Native Pacific Islander, or Native American students).

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Let Us Find and Train Your Interns

Through the Life Sciences Summer Institute (LSSI) you can gain exposure to prospective future hires, have the ability to influence curriculum taught in local high schools and provide mentor and managerial experiences for current employees. A partnership between the San Diego Workforce Partnership and BIOCOM, LSSI's mission is to provide students and teachers with real, meaningful experiences within the life sciences industries.

The LSSI internship program connects upper-level high school, community college, and university students with the life sciences industry. Students identified by the LSSI have been pre-screened and will attend a one-week pre-internship training program designed to introduce them to the inner-workings of the biotechnology industry, providing them with relevant hands-on laboratory skills, as well as soft skills development by industry volunteers.

Already have your interns identified? Let us train your Interns. Send your pre-identified interns to the one-week pre-internship training program so they are industry ready prior to the start of their internship.

If you are planning on hiring interns this summer, let us help. There is no cost to participating businesses other than the wages paid to the students. For more information on how your company can participate in the Life Sciences Summer Institute and take advantage of its programs and resources, please contact Ashley Wildrick Ashley@workforce.org.

For More Information

For more information about the Life Science Summer Institute, please contact:

Erika A. Aranguré

ErikaArangure@workforce.org

Industry/Education Coordinator

Life Sciences Summer Institute

Direct: (619) 228.2920

The Life Sciences Summer Institute is made possible by a grant from the US Department of Labor under the President's High Growth Jobs Training Initiative.

Please Note: BIOCOM does not collect resumes, recruit, or perform any other hiring-related functions on behalf of member companies. BIOCOM also does not maintain its own databases of available jobs, or internships.

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