Internships for PhD students
The Careers Service has launched an innovative internships programme, ‘Employ.ed for PhDs’, to create more part-time on-campus work opportunities for doctorate students.
The programme has been designed to help students to balance their study with gaining work experience on campus while allowing schools, departments and support services to benefit from their talent.
Staff are encouraged to consider recruiting PhD students to undertake any challenging projects that could be completed on a part-time basis.
Terms and pay
The Careers Service has agreed with Human Resources that interns on Employ.ed for PhDs will be paid by the school, department or support service at a Grade 5 entry point (currently £11.72 an hour).
The internships:
- should be fixed-term contracts of four to 12 months
- can take place at any time of year
- typically would be six hours a week. (The University recommends that PhD students work no more than six hours a week, unless agreed by their PhD supervisor.)
Support
The Internships Team at the Careers Service offers support with recruitment including developing a job specification, advertising the position and shortlisting candidates.
Examples of recent successful internships include:
- Distance Education Internship: providing support to a major Senate Task Group
- Applicant Experience Internship: planning, implementing and evaluating tools to better communicate the University’s admission requirements
- Conference Internship: planning, organising and running a conference.
The programme gave me valuable insight about working in a large organisation. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the work environment, and would warmly recommend it to anyone.
Managers interested in hosting PhD interns should contact Internships Coordinator Sigrid Fischer on 0131 651 5119 or by email.