BrainCast · Sussex Neuroscience Society

Pannel Q&A: Internships and research experience

·1 hr 4 min·4 clips

Show vulnerability and also what you're passionate about without being too robotic.

BrainCast brings together five undergraduate neuroscience students for a Q&A panel. They have all recently completed the Junior Research Assistant program at Sussex or other neuroscience-related summer internships. The conversation is shaped by listener questions. It stays practical, student-led, and focused on advice for applicants. Francesca introduces her Unique Plus research internship at the University of Oxford. She describes it as a seven-week program, with six of those weeks spent in a lab. She also notes that some versions of the program can lean more toward data analysis, while others center on a systematic review instead. Her own project focused on Parkinson's disease, specifically mitophagy and autophagy. She explains those processes as the degradation of misfolded proteins and dysfunctional organelles. The panel then turns to online internships. The answer depends on the project itself. Lab-based work usually requires being there in person, while more literature-based projects can sometimes be done online. The students also suggest looking for opportunities closer to home if travel is the issue, including universities or labs in your own city or area. Those roles may be paid, but some may also be volunteer or unpaid. Francesca adds that the JRA team may have training-day requirements, so it can be worth asking directly before applying if you are hoping to combine programs or work around specific dates. The episode ends with reassurance that feeling overwhelmed does not mean you are not capable. The advice is straightforward: stay curious, apply anyway, and remember you got into your degree for a reason.

As heard by us

A practical, reassuring look at research internships from students who have just done them.

Five neuroscience undergraduates compare research internships, and the appeal is how plainly they talk through the work behind the opportunity.

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Why you'd press play

Hear five neuroscience students unpack research internships, online options, and what the application path can actually look like.

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