By combining the class room and the work place, a scientific internship in an industrial setting allows our students to apply skills which they are still in the process of mastering and reinforce their knowledge which they have just learned in the classroom. This real world experience also allows students to test their career goals, to build their professional foundations, and give them a competitive edge in the job marketplace.

At Rider University, we have established contacts and partnerships with many local chemical and pharmaceutical industries to facilitate the placement of students from our chemistry program through internships.

Internships can take two forms.

(1) An internship for college credit through the university
To get college credit for an internship, students register for the course BCH-491 Internship in Biochemistry or CHE-491 Internship in Chemistry.  Students intern in places such as the New Jersey State Crime Lab and Headwaters, Inc.  This course has a variable credit assignment of up to 3 credits per semester dependent upon the amount of contact time. A brief description for this course is as follows:

BCH-491 Internship in Biochemistry: A supervised research experience in an approved organization where qualified students gain real-world knowledge and utilize their academic training in a professional environment. Placement may be in private, public, non-profit or governmental organizations under the guidance of a mentor. The mentor and student will have regular consultation with the departmental intership coordinator to assess the student’s progress. Normally, 50 hours of internship per credit is required. The grade for the course will be determined by the students’ overall performance in their research work, a research paper documenting their work with their internship mentor and an oral or poster presentation at the end of the semester. Prerequisite: 2.5 GPA and permission of the instructor.

CHE-491 Internship in Chemistry: A supervised research experience in an approved organization where qualified students gain real-world knowledge and utilize their academic training in a professional environment. Placement may be in a private, public, non-profit, or governmental organizations under the guidance of a mentor. The mentor and student will have regular consultation with the departmental internship coordinator to assess the student’s progress. Normally, 50 hours of internship per credit is required. The grade for the course will be determined by the students’ overall performance in their research work, a research paper documenting their work with their internship mentor and an oral or poster presentation at the end of the semester. Prerequisites: 2.5 GPA and permission of the instructor.
 

(2) A paid internship through an individual company
The second type of internship is a direct internship with a particular company. These take two forms. Summer internships and part time internships during the semester. Local industrial laboratories such as Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Headwaters Inc., Wyeth-Ayerst and G.E. Betz Laboratories run summer internship programs for which students can apply early in the spring semester. Each summer many of our students readily find internship positions in these companies which pay reasonable wages for a summer job and provide a invaluable experience. Highly motivated and skilled students from our programs have been asked to stay on in their position in the company on a part-time basis during the semester. These positions are usually paid as well. We strongly encourage this for students who are able to continue in these positions during the semester and manage a full course load in excellent academic standing.

We find that students who have a taste for industrial science become even more motivated in the classroom. Finally, such partnerships with industry inform our faculty of the directions of industrial chemistry, which allows us to provide training in areas useful to industrial needs.

For information about internship opportunities, you may visit Career Services.