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The Internship Office was established in 2012 to provide research and professional work experience placements exclusively to Oxford students, with adjunct funding and support.
It now runs a range of highly successful internship programmes to support Oxford students in securing useful, exciting work experience opportunities throughout the year, in the UK and across the globe.
The Internship Office’s main programmes are:
If you are an employer and would like to offer an internship on any of our programmes, please see our Hire an Oxford Intern page.
The Summer Internship Programme provides access to hundreds of summer internship opportunities. These are offered by our international alumni, by multi-national corporations, by world-leading NGOs, by cutting-edge research institutions and many other organisations. All are exclusively available to Oxford University students.
Since the programme’s inception, students have undertaken internships in over 40 countries and have gained valuable work experience while travelling to exciting and exotic locations. The Summer Internship Programme also gives students the chance to explore work experience options in a variety of sectors in the UK.
The programme is open to all current Oxford University students, undergraduates and postgraduates, including those in their final year of study. Please note that visiting students are not eligible to apply.
Internships take place in the long vacation (between June and September), are 2-12 weeks in duration and are advertised from the beginning of Hilary term each year.
The Micro-Internship Programme provides students with convenient, short-term work placements based in Oxfordshire and Greater London. The programme offers a large volume of placements across a full range of sectors, taking place in the week after the end of every Oxford term. (Find term dates on the Oxford University website).
Placements can be research-based or professional and in a range of sectors, including think tanks, international development, consultancy, start-ups, charities, arts and heritage, or within the University (colleges, faculties and departments). Indeed, many of the projects interns assist with combine skills and experience from numerous sectors, such as consultancy or marketing in service of charities and not-for-profits.
Each placement provides an excellent snapshot into the workings of the organisation and its sector, as well as valuable transferable experience for your CV.
Crankstart Scholars (formerly known as Moritz-Heyman Scholars) are encouraged to gain work experience during their time at Oxford, and funding and support are available to help them do so. Crankstart Scholars can receive advice and guidance at any time with a view to undertaking a work placement in one of the vacations. Scholars can also apply to be a part of the Crankstart Careers Mentoring Programme, which matches selected scholars with industry professionals in their area of choice. The Crankstart Programmes include:
This programme is only open to Crankstart Scholars.
The Laidlaw Undergraduate Research & Leadership Programme was launched at the University of Oxford in 2016, building upon Lord Laidlaw’s visionary commitment to supporting undergraduate student development and education.
The Laidlaw Programme equips undergraduate students with research and leadership skills to help them pursue their academic and professional aspirations beyond their current course of study.
The Programme comprises two mandatory elements:
Successful applicants will receive a stipend of up to £6,000 to facilitate their research project. Students undertaking placements at research institutions outside the UK may claim up to a further £2,000 towards travel-related expenses. Additional funding (up to £1,000) is also available to meet lab-based research expenses that cannot be covered by the host institution.
If you are an HSBC, Galactic Unite, D. H. Chen Foundation or Carpenters’ scholar you are encouraged to gain work experience during your time at Oxford, and you can apply for funding to support your internship. The awards vary from £200 to £2,500 depending on the location of the internship, the remuneration and living arrangements. As an HSBC or Galactic Chang Rajii scholar, there is no limit to the number of internship bursaries you can apply for, however, you may not exceed the maximum contribution of £2,500 overall. As a D. H. Chen scholar you are limited to one internship bursary during your time at Oxford University. However, should you wish to split the internship award across multiple years, please send your enquiry to internships@careers.ox.ac.uk.
Please note that we will confirm your placement with the host organisation before a bursary is paid out.
Be aware that funding will not be allocated for fee-charging internship schemes, or those organised by a third-party internship recruitment company.
To apply for funding, please email your Internship Bursary form to the Internship Office Finance Officer, internships@careers.ox.ac.uk.
Like all students, you can also receive advice and guidance from the Careers Service at any time. Discuss undertaking an internship in one of your vacations by booking an appointment to see a Careers Adviser. Our Careers Advisers offer free, impartial, confidential careers guidance based on your individual needs. They will also check CVs and cover letters.
Please join our mailing list in order to receive information and updates about our internship programmes and their opportunities. To do so, just fill in the form below!
Please see the Careers Service Privacy notice for details on how the personal data you enter on to this form is stored and used.
You can also keep updated with our programmes by keeping an eye on the Careers Service blog. Relevant posts can be accessed by clicking on the Related News tab at the top of Internship Office web pages.
The weekly Careers Service newsletter also highlights any important news about our office featured on the blog.
We regularly post news about the Internship Programme on our dedicated Facebook page, so please “like” the page to stay up to date!
Each year we run a competition for The Summer Internship Programme interns’ photographs of what they saw and experienced during their placements. To read about this year’s competition, please click here.
Here some of our favourite entries from previous competitions.
OXFO L.E.V8 (Elevate) at the Oxford Foundry is the University of Oxford’s most diverse accelerator. The programme takes in up to 12 high potential ventures a year and is designed to support and nurture early-stage start-up teams affiliated to the university.
Oxford students, staff and alumni can get six months free support to build their venture. This includes mentorship, masterclasses, and access to the Foundry’s global network of investors and partners including Biz Stone, Cofounder of Twitter and Medium, Jenny Tooth OBE, UK Business Angels Association, Professor Bill Aulet, MIT, Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, and Robin Saunders, Managing Partner at Clearbrook Capital.
Ventures also get support to build a team – many ventures have met their cofounders through the Foundry, along with leadership and resilience skills support, financial, business, pitching, product-market fit, customer development and legal advice.
To date, the Foundry has supported 19 start-ups who have raised £7m, created 70 jobs and are having a global impact across sectors including retail, medtech, energy, publishing, fintech and more.
The accelerator is based in our Oxford Foundry building on Hythe Bridge street and runs from 18 November 2019 to May 2020.
“The Foundry has accelerated our growth by providing a space devoted to entrepreneurship, giving us access to people with diverse talents and expertise, and to its network of investors. It has been incredible. Such growth wouldn’t have been possible without the Foundry. We are now focused on raising capital and sales and marketing. We want to sign ten new clients by the end of the year.” Jason Lacombe, CEO, Veratrak.
We welcome solo founders and teams and it’s a fantastic chance to be part of a supportive and expert community. The programme is equity-free.
Apply online on the Oxford Foundry website. Deadline: 30 September 2019.
AstraZeneca have joined forces with BBSTEM to provide an opportunity for university students and recent graduates of an African or Caribbean heritage to visit AstraZeneca and learn about their Early Talent opportunities.
BBSTEM is a non-profit organisation campaigning for balance and representation of Black individuals in science, technology, engineering and maths. They are offering this event specifically for University students from 2nd year Bachelors/Masters to Post-Doc, who are currently studying a STEM subject on track to receive a 2.1 or equivalent.
The event will be taking place in Granta Park, Cambridge on Wednesday, 16 October. Apply through the Eventbrite form.
Spaces at this event are limited to 40, first come first served. When you apply you will need to submit a 100 word paragraph about your interest in the pharmaceutical industry and the benefit this day will bring for you.
Mewburn Ellis are running an open day at their Bristol office on 1 November for students who are interested in finding out more about life as a Patent Attorney. The day will include talks from their current trainees and attorneys, as well as practical exercises.
Primarily these days are aimed at those studying STEM subjects at any level, intending to join us as a trainee patent attorney in 2020.
Book your place now by going to their online registration page.
Places fill up quickly so sign up soon to avoid disappointment.
Qualifying as a Barrister can be a very expensive business; barristers’ chambers don’t offer the same sponsorship opportunities as law firms. However, the four Inns of Court (Middle, Inner, Gray’s and Lincoln’s Inn) offer over £5 million in awards, scholarships and bursaries to aspiring barristers.
Applications for scholarships designed to support your BPTC (the Bar Professional Training Course) year, from all four Inns, open on Friday 20 September and close on 1 November. Previous stats show that roughly one in three applicants are awarded a scholarship on average. Find out more at the the individual Inns’ websites:
The Fast Stream application window will open for 4 weeks only, from 26 September to 12:00 (noon) on 24 October for:
The Fast Stream offers the opportunity to contribute to fast-paced work that touches the lives of everyone in the UK. See the Fast Stream career pages and FAQs for comprehensive details of all 15 ‘streams’, check eligibility criteria and learn about the application process. Keep up to speed and hear daily from current fast streamers via social media – this year all brought under one umbrella via the Fast Stream Social Wall.
Oxford’s recently updated Government and Public Admin briefing provides our latest insights and advice about preparing for Fast Stream applications – and offers ideas on other routes into the UK civil service and public sector careers in general.
Check details on CareerConnect for events throughout Michaelmas Term, including:
Week 1:
Week 3:
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
CareerConnect
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