Science Internships and Cooperative Education
The goal of the Science Co-op/Internship Program is to provide students with work experience which enable them to explore potential career interests, help defray the cost of education, improve chances for permanent employment, develop professional work habits, and improve human relations skills, returning to the classroom with renewed interest in course work.
Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Biology, as well as those anticipating such enrollment, may take advantage of the ECU Co-op/Internship service by completing a cooperative education application form and attending a Co-op Information Seminar.
Students enrolled in the Science Co-op/Internship Program, work in various ways in a variety of areas. Some elect to alternate a semester of full-time study with semesters of full-time work assignments. Others choose to attend classes concurrently with local part-time assignment, and some opt for full-time or part-time summer internships or work assignments. Alternating co-op programs with local, state and national industries and with federal and state government agencies provide opportunities for students to acquire new skills and to apply those learned in the classroom on a full-time basis. Laboratories in our Medical School and in local industry provide opportunities for science students to gain practical, part-time experience, assisting with research projects and with the daily operation of industrial, medical and research laboratories. For those students who prefer to work only during the summer, many opportunities exist, including state government internships, summer career-related jobs with federal agencies, and summer employment in related industries.
Participating students work with companies such as Glaxo-Wellcome (both in Greenville and the Research Triangle Park), Mercke, Sharp & Dohme, and Ciba-Geigy; with federal agencies such as the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and with state government agencies through the NC State Government Summer Internship Program, the NC Model Cooperative Education Program, and through individual agency agreements. Opportunities are available also for qualified students to apply for internships with companies located in the United Kingdom.
In addition to these programs, the Biology Department also provides opportunities for qualified students to gain practical experience in the application of biotechnology training through the Molecular Biology/Biotechnology Internship Program. This program places qualified undergraduate and graduate students in research internships of from six months to one year with biotechnology industries or agencies in the United States and the United Kingdom.
