Internships - For Alumni and Employers | Career Resources for Biomedical Trainees

Welcome to Johns Hopkins’ BCI Internship Program!

The Biomedical Careers Initiative (BCI) PhD Internship Program partners with companies and organizations in the greater Baltimore region and across the country to create a pipeline of superbly trained, exceptionally bright PhD trainees and Postdoctoral Fellows to serve as interns with our establish host site partners.

Since BCI’s inception in 2013, 35+ BCI employer partners have hosted 106 PhD-level interns in fields ranging from biotech and pharma, data science, science policy and communications, consulting, patent law, government, and more. 71% of BCI interns transitioned into full-time roles within their internship industry as their first professional destination after Johns Hopkins.

Benefits for BCI employer partners include:

Establishing a pipeline of highly trained, motivated, and goal-oriented Johns Hopkins PhD trainees and Postdoctoral Fellows to serve as interns
Infusing your group with new perspectives, ideas, and energy
Screening for potential employees
Gaining mentoring experience
Promoting your company’s brand with Johns Hopkins talent
Reducing the administrative burden related to hosting interns (as most administrative support is executed by BCI)

Please contact us to learn more! Dr. Amy Braun, the BCI Program Director, is happy to meet with you to discuss how PhD-level internships can support your hiring goals.

How does the BCI Program work?

BCI facilitates full-time and part-time internships for Johns Hopkins PhD trainees and Postdoctoral Fellows lasting 3-9 months. The program offers one annual recruitment cycle spanning November-January, with host sites receiving tailored resume books the first week in February. Internship start dates are flexible throughout the remaining calendar year. We also offer ad hoc internship placements upon request and on a rolling basis.

BCI handles all administrative oversight for internships, including facilitating partner agreements, visa management, etc. We also offer support for any questions that arise for your team or the intern at any point during the application or onboarding process, as well as throughout the internship.

After the internship’s conclusion, your team will complete a survey evaluating the BCI program and the intern’s performance.

How can my team participate in BCI’s Annual Recruitment Cycle?

Contact Dr. Amy Braun to discuss your organization’s hiring goals and eligibility to participate. You can contact us here.
Email BCI an Internship Description by October 31^st. Dr. Braun is happy to provide an internship template for your team to use, and can assist with additional internship paperwork. You are also welcome to use your own internship template, including the following information:
- Internship Name + Company
- Preferred populations sought ( PhD trainees and/or Postdoctoral Fellows in Biomedical, Public Health, Engineering,etc)
- Description of the tasks to be performed
- Preferred Skills and Qualifications
- Dates for the internship
- Whether the internship will be full-time/part-time
- Internship Location + Remote / Hybrid / In-Person Preferences
- Work authorization requirements (US citizenship, visa holder, etc)
Review Resume Books: BCI will email your team tailored resume books submitted by the applicants the first week in February. You will then select top candidates to interview and schedule the interviews. Dr. Braun is happy to assist with interview scheduling upon request.
Internship Offers & Onboarding: Your team will email an offer letter to the selected candidate outlining the internship details (start/end date, tasks performed, etc), cc-ing Dr. Amy Braun. Depending on interns’ availability, internships can start as early as 4 weeks after the internship offer has been accepted. Start dates are flexible throughout the calendar year.

How does BCI prepare PhD-level Interns for the application process and internship?

Between November through January, Dr. Braun provides 1:1 and group coaching for all BCI applicants in the areas below.

Aligning career interests to internship opportunities
Resume development
Cover letter creation (provided for opportunities requiring cover letters)
Professional networking training for BCI’s in-person/virtual recruiting events
Interview preparation / Mock interview support
Training for success on Internship Day 1

This coaching allows your team to interact with top internship candidates with specialized professional development training on all stages of the internship process.

Which PhD programs does the BCI program partner with for talent?

BCI frequently recruits PhD-level talent from the four Johns Hopkins schools below. Participating in the the program allows your team access to talent in each of the following programs and departments:

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Epidemiology | Health Economics | Biostatistics | Toxicology | Virology

WHITING SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

KRIEGER SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

The BCI team is also happy to market opportunities to each of the programs listed here or facilitate targeted outreach to individual programs upon request.

Feedback from Our BCI Partners

“We really enjoyed our experience with transitioning [the PhD Intern] from an intern to a full-time hire. The BCI program was instrumental in creating a natural progression for both miRecule and [the intern] to evaluate a potential role at the company.” – miRecule Inc.

“FASEB’s science policy internship, in partnership with the BCI program, is an invaluable opportunity to advance FASEB’s mission while cultivating the professional development of the next generation of scientists. The FASEB Office of Public Affairs relies on interns and their research skills to monitor policy and legislative developments at the federal agency and Capitol Hill levels. Additionally, interns have a chance to oversee an individual project that aligns with their policy interests and career goals, an essential step in facilitating the transition to a non-academic career. Together, we are deeply appreciative of this partnership and all the ways it will continue to both fulfill FASEB’s duty to our 26 scientific member societies and promote awareness of science policy careers.” – Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)

"Working with the BCI program at JHU to recruit an intern was a pleasure! The BCI program team helped us navigate each stage of the recruitment process, ensuring that we always had the necessary information. Because of their seamless process, we will be welcoming our first intern starting in Fall!" – Coalition for Aligning Science (CAS)

“The experience with the internships through BCI program has been exceptional.” – Vita Therapeutics

"(Our BCI intern’s) performance was outstanding and resulted in measurable and significant outcomes. As a result, he became the first and the only intern so far who was awarded the Certificate of Outstanding Performance in our company’s history!"

"I think [the BCI program] is a wonderful opportunity for senior graduate students to experience opportunities and working conditions outside of the laboratory. We really enjoyed having our BCI intern with us, and I think our organization got as much out of the internship as she did."

Thank You to Our Partners!