GalbraithLab Quantitative Biology / Biophysics (QBB) Internships
UPDATES:
December 2023 - Good News! Summer 2024 internships will happen. College undergraduate STEM majors are preferred, but high school students interested in quantitative science are welcome to apply as well.
Check back here for the latest info.
March 31, 2024—Internship applications are closed. Thanks to everyone who applied. We will review the applications and contact you shortly if it looks like a good fit.
The Quantitative Biology / Biophysics Internship in the Galbraith Lab within the Spatial Systems Biology Group and the BME Department creates opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to participate in quantitative biology and biophysics research.
Past projects covered a wide range of quantitative biology and biophysics, including image analysis, -omic analysis, super-resolution microscopy, photophysics of dyes, immunohistochemistry, and basic molecular biology. In the summer of 2024 the projects focus on the A-Mazing Cell Races. Students will have the opportunity to use nano-lithography to create cell-size mazes, image cells navigating the mazes, use machine learning to track cell movement, and develop a website to host results.
Interns meet with the PIs nearly daily; they are required to present weekly and are asked to read and analyze literature. In addition to seminars on campus, they are encouraged to view video cast seminars on websites such as iBiology and take online edX courses. All interns are required to keep detailed logbooks, verify reagents, back up data, and learn quantitative analysis. Interns are encouraged to take “scientific ownership” of their project and are asked to begin each week with a 2 min 2 slide presentation that describes 1) the “big picture” for the summer and 2) what part of the picture they were working on last week.
At the end of the internship program, interns are expected to present their work at the annual PacNoW meeting in Portland. PacNoW is the Pacific Northwest Quantitative Biology consortium that was co-founded by the Galbraith Lab at OHSU and the Applewhite and Ritz Labs at Reed. PacNoW is comprised of faculty from OHSU, Reed, Lewis & Clark, U of O, PSU, and OSU. An annual all-day symposium, which rotates between campuses, is held every year at the end of every summer. Quantitative biology students from all member institutions present their summer research.
Some students have continued their summer internships through the school year on a case-by-case basis. Many interns have leveraged their experience in college and graduate school applications.
To apply, please send a cover letter expressing your reason for interest in the program and your CV to galbraithlab@ohsu.edu. The deadline for applications is March 15th, 2024.