Your project brief will help you define and develop the PhD internship opportunity. Asking these questions at the initial stages ensures that both you and your intern can get the most out of the internship. Expand all Collapse all Guidance when scoping an internship Consider projects that are important to your School/department, but may have been put on hold due to limited resources. Ideas could include, but are certainly not limited to: Time-constrained projects Critical analysis of project In-depth market research Review of current workload and processes, recommendation for improvements Support for research and development Development of technical solutions Identify projects which will: Give the PhD student ownership/responsibility for a particular project. Take advantage of the student’s network and research skills and provide them with an opportunity to further develop their own network and skill set. Equip PhD students with skills and experiences which will assist their future employability Help students to gain knowledge in a relevant work context Having the support of a PhD intern has meant that a project, which would not otherwise have been able to be taken forward, has been realised ahead of schedule. I was very impressed by the standard of the PhD students who applied for the internship and this reinforced my belief that PhD students are a hidden resource. Working with a PhD intern has been great as it has given me the benefit of a student perspective which I have not always had. Key considerations when developing your opportunity To enable you to get the most out of hosting a PhD student internship and to ensure that they are able to maximise their contribution to your School/department, we would recommend that your internship is: Project based A fixed-term contract over a 4 to 12 month period (can take place at any time of year) Based on 9 hours of work per week for full time PhD students as the University will employ fulltime PGR students for no more than an average of 9 hours per week across the academic year (as per its policy). We recommend that students discuss the internship with their supervisor, as well as with their employer, before committing their time. Find out who your SDA and HR contact are to help you with the People and Money processes It would be our suggestion to PhD internship hosts to have very specific and thought out projects that can be completed over a number of weeks which works well for the […] PhD internship programme. Skills, goals and objectives Does the PhD student need prior knowledge of the area of work? What skills, experience and knowledge does the PhD student need in order to complete the project? How can a research-focused PhD student contribute to your team? Which skills are essential and which are desirable? Desired outcomes What specific results do you want the PhD student to achieve and by when? How can he/she best deliver the project on a part-time basis? Do you envision any obstacles to achieving these objectives? How will you measure the success of these results? How do these outcomes fit with wider business objectives? Desired outcome What specific results do you want the PhD student to achieve and by when? How can he/she best deliver the project on a part-time basis? Do you envision any obstacles to achieving these objectives? How will you measure the success of these results? How do these outcomes fit with wider business objectives? Equipment and workspace What equipment does the PhD student need? Is there a desk available for them if they are working on Campus? Management time/mentor support Who is the designated line manager? Do you have a mentor/buddy in place to support the student on an informal basis with general day-to-day issues that may arise? What are the best hours for the PhD intern to work? Is there flexibility with this work pattern? Who will induct, supervise, feedback and review? How often does the line manager want reports (written or verbal)? Does the rest of the team understand what the project is about? Having a PhD intern who was interested in our work, and could bring a fresh perspective to our discussions was very useful. We would definitely consider a PhD intern again. The PhD intern’s experience and professionalism meant we could feel confident in the level of work and the tasks that we assigned him. Next steps After you have considered the above and developed your project brief, familiarise yourself with our Recruitment guide. If you have any further queries, please get in touch with the Internships and Work Experience Team via email (employ.ed@ed.ac.uk). This article was published on 2024-04-02
