LSM Summer Internships
The LSM program integrates real-life experience into the academic curriculum through two paid summer internships after the sophomore and junior years. One internship takes place in a science lab, the other in a business setting. The business internship may be at a large pharmaceutical or agrochemical corporation, small biotechnological startup company, non-profit organization, venture capital firm, investment banking house, or consulting group that specializes in health care, biotechnology, or environmental issues. There, students gain direct experience in the identification, assessment, and promotion of promising business opportunities in the life sciences. The science internship can be completed in a commercial, government, or academic laboratory.
These LSM internships are offered by employers across the United States, some of which have offices abroad as well as domestically. In applying for internships, students receive help from the LSM program directors, who can guide them toward opportunities in keeping with their academic and career interests.
The internships are important in several ways. First, they allow students to put their LSM education into action, and to see how the issues they study at Penn play out in the “real world.” Second, the internships help students hone analytical skills that they will use in the LSM senior capstone course, when they go through the challenging process of devising a business plan for a scientific project. And ultimately, the internships give students a leg up in exploring possible career options and figuring out how they want to apply their LSM education after graduation.