In partnership with the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, India, the University of Cambridge has agreed an internship programme that will provide Cambridge students with the opportunity to work for a summer project at one of the labs at NCBS. Places are available for up to 4 students to spend 8 weeks at NCBS in July and August. Internship places will be offered on a competitive basis and successful applicants will be allocated an appropriate project associate with an NCBS faculty.

Eligibility:

The internship programme is open to Year 2 undergraduate and first year PhD students from any department in the Schools of Biological Sciences, Clinical Medicine, or Physical Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Application Process:

To apply for the internship programme, an application should be submitted with the following information:

• a CV
• a transcript of your academic performance
• a letter of support from your Director of Studies (for undergraduates) or course director (for Masters students)
• a short statement indicating the research labs (2-3) in NCBS you are interested in interning in.

Applications for summer 2015 should be made by email, with the appropriate documents attached as Word or pdf files, by Friday 1 May 2015 to:

• Dr Mani Shankar Narayanan ([email protected])

(Applicants are requested to include their name in the Subject of the email)

All applications will be reviewed by a panel consisting of faculty from the University of Cambridge and NCBS. Shortlisted candidates will be informed of the outcome of their application between 4-6 weeks after the closing date. Successful applicants will undertake their internship project at NCBS in Bangalore, India between July - September.

Research Project Selection:

Internship projects will generally be available in all areas covered by the research activities at NCBS. Applicants are encouraged to review the ongoing research programme at NCBS from their website and indicate their preference for research groups with which they would like to be affiliated as part of the internship programme.

Upon successful selection to the programme, the student will liaise with Prof Satyajit Mayor, Director, NCBS to discuss the project selection and develop a programme of work for the internship.

Funding:

Successful candidates will be responsible for international travel related costs. The main anticipated expenses include, return flights to India, airport transfers, visa and medical insurance. Assistance will be provided to ensure that the successful candidates can secure support to cover expenses for their international travel. NCBS will cover the cost of local hospitality including the following:

• Boarding and lodging at student accommodations at NCBS
• Domestic travel costs in India, and
• Per diem allowance for incidental costs

Post Internship:

All students are expected to submit a report of no more than 4 pages within 30 days of completion of the internship project. The report should be submitted to the academic leads at Cambridge (Prof Azim Surani) and NCBS (Prof Mayor) and should cover the following:

• Summary of the project work undertaken
• Key outcomes from the research
• Experimental and other research methods used and learnt
• Additional activities including seminars attended/presented and visits to local companies and other research institutions

In addition, the report should also comment on the programme in general with specific suggestions on what worked well and areas for improvement.

About the Internship Programme

The University of Cambridge and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) signed an agreement in January 2008 to put in place an internship programme for undergraduate students from Cambridge to spend 8 weeks during summer at a lab at NCBS. The agreement was signed by the previous Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, Professor Alison Richard and the then-Director of NCBS, Professor K VijayRaghavan.

About the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)

The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and is located in Bangalore. The mandate of NCBS is basic research in the frontier areas of biology. The research interests of the faculty are in four broad areas ranging from the study of single molecules to systems biology. In addition interactive initiatives, such as the iBio, have been developed and new ones in other areas, for example those that promote clinical interactions, are envisaged.