Host a student industry intern

Industry placements internships offer you the opportunity to host some of Queensland’s brightest young scientific minds.

Students obtain valuable practical experience as industry interns and gain credit towards their degree, and your organisation benefits from an extra team member.

By hosting a student intern, you can:

trial potential future employees with minimal direct costs
take on additional projects cost-effectively
access current UQ technical knowledge and expertise
inject fresh ideas and innovation into your organisation.

Sign up as a host

To register your interest, or for more information, contact the School Manager, Mark Starkey.

How it works

Depending on the student’s level of study, projects typically involve them solving a technical or operational problem and producing a report of their findings.

An academic supervisor from our School will support your intern throughout their placement, and UQ provides insurance coverage.

Placements are typically unpaid, but you can provide a stipend if you feel it’s appropriate.

If required, you can co-sign a formal agreement with the student to cover confidentiality and intellectual property concerns.

Internship types

Higher degree by research (eg, PhD) students

Under the UQ Graduate School's Career Development Framework, HDR students are encouraged to consider sourcing an industry or government placement and working with the Graduate School to facilitate it.
If you are interested in hosting a HDR student, read the advice given to students and make contact with the Graduate School.

Postgraduate coursework (master's) students

Compulsory, one semester (up to 13 weeks) industry placement/internship – full-time or part-time.
Undertake a technical research project, often focusing on product or process imperatives, or undertake work that involves any aspect of the industry partner’s operations and can be paper-based (review of the regulatory landscape around a new product) or hands-on (process optimisation).
Students typically have a biotechnology or biological sciences background (occasionally chemistry).

Honours students

Compulsory, one-year research project.
Generally technical in nature; paper-based projects with a commercial or management focus are also possible.
Must be suitable as preparatory training for research higher degree studies and have the potential to lead to publication(s) or be the foundation for further collaborative research.
Students come from a range of science backgrounds.

Undergraduate students

Optional internship (120-160 hours) for second- and third-year students.
Available in the winter break (June/July) or in summer (November to February), full-time or part-time.
Undertake technical or paper-based projects, with a focus on research and development, depending on the needs of the company.
Students come from a range of science backgrounds.