Science Presenter PhD Intern

This internship is an opportunity to build your confidence in presenting to a group of young people in an engaging educational environment.

One of staff engaging with a child in the lab
Katherine Leedale

Location: 21 Albemarle Street, London

Contract Type: 3-month full-time internship for PhD students – 35 hours per week.

Duration: May to July with flexibility for the right applicant

Payment: by stipend from university, DTP, Research Council. Please check funding with your DTP before applying

About the role

Since 2009, the L’Oréal Young Scientist Centre at the Royal Institution has been delivering a programme of inspiring science workshops to young people aged 7 to 18. Our workshops range from investigating acids and alkalis while making bath bombs with primary aged children to using micropipettes, restriction enzymes and gel electrophoresis with secondary aged students to determine who may have committed a fictional crime.

This internship is an opportunity to build your confidence in presenting to a group of young people in an engaging educational environment, to receive regular feedback and training in science communication and to design content for use on Ri social media.   

You will:

  • Present hands-on science workshops to young people in the LYSC.
  • Research and develop hands-on science experiments for Ri social media content.
  • Work with the YSC team to develop content for other Ri activities.

Who are we looking for?

This placement would be ideal for anyone interested in education outreach and science communication. Experience in science communication or working with young people is not essential, but the following experience is highly desirable:

  • Experience in presenting science to a range of audiences.
  • Experience in working in a laboratory.
  • Knowledge of the UK national curriculum in Chemistry, Physics or Biology.

About the Ri

For over 200 years, our building has been home to some of the most eminent scientists in history, who have used our building to communicate scientific developments and discoveries with our audiences. Throughout our history we’ve been harnessing technological innovation to help us engage the public with science, and since May 2020 we've been livestreaming all our public events, featuring world-leading scientists and thinkers, online for free.

The Ri provides science education and heritage activities for people of all ages and backgrounds across the UK and around the world. These activities include the world-famous CHRISTMAS LECTURES public talks from the world’s greatest thinkers in our historic lecture theatre (currently via Livestream); a national programme of Masterclasses for young people in mathematics and computer science; science workshops in our L’Oréal Young Scientist Centre; animations and films from our YouTube channel (which has over 1 million subscribers) and the preservation of our scientific legacy through the Faraday Museum and archival collections.

Interested?

The internship will ideally cover a 3-month period from May to July 2022. We are open to flexibility for the right candidate.

Please review the full job description and person specification (downloads below), and send your CV and a supporting statement (no more than 500 words) explaining why you are interested in the placement and how you meet the criteria set out above to recruitment@ri.ac.uk by 9 am on Tuesday 12 April 2022.

We plan to hold interviews on 26 and 27 April.

We ask applicants to complete and return the recruitment monitoring form along with their application. The Ri is committed to equality of opportunity at all stages of the recruitment process. The information supplied in this form will be treated in strict confidence and not form part of the selection process. You may choose not to disclose some or all of the information requested in the form, and this will not affect your application in any way.

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to PhD students who are eligible to undertake an internship as part of their studentship and receive a stipend from their Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) in order to do so. Please check your eligibility with your university placements officer or  DTP to ensure funding is available before applying for this internship.

Participating Research Councils include (but may not be exclusive to): BBSRC, NERC, MRC, AHRC, EPSRC, ESRC.

Please note there is no formal agreement in place between RI and UKRI, and each placement will be reviewed by the grant holder and approved at their discretion.

You will need to obtain the grant holder’s written permission to undertake the placement, outlining any funding arrangements, before a position can be offered

Please note, the Ri is unable to assist with accommodation costs; applicants need to be able to arrange accommodation in London or the South East for the duration of the three months. Some assistance with travel costs may be available.