Be the first to know about all the professional development opportunities on offer for UNSW Science students. This includes science work placements, research internships and co-curricular professional development programs, events and webinars. Getting hands-on industry work experience gives you insights beyond the lab and lectures. It also enhances your CV and may earn you credit towards your degree.
You can see previous opportunities HERE.
Ideal for: Students studying natural sciences, computer science, mathematics, or engineering
At this online event designed for high school leavers and undergraduate students, you can learn how to study your way into this emerging industry. We'll explore the quantum study opportunities available at Sydney Quantum Academy partner universities (UNSW Sydney, UTS, Macquarie University and the University of Sydney).
Learn more about:
Date: October 27th 2021
Time: 5:00pm - 6:30pm
5:00-6:00 pm - Quantum Educators Panel chaired by Dr Eser Zerenturk, Education Manager, Sydney Quantum Academy, featuring:
6:00-6:30 pm – Q&A on the Student Experience
Careers in Science Week is four-day festival co-hosted by the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Health and Medicine and UNSW Employability. While there is a focus on careers in life and health sciences, all science areas are covered – everything from data science to physics and aviation! The festival will provide an open forum for you to raise questions and explore ideas about how to carve a meaningful career with a science degree.
Throughout the week, there will be a range of events specific to you and your potential career pathways.
Exploring Careers in Science
Career Development
You can register your interest here. Once you’ve registered your interest in the festival, registration links for specific session will be sent to you closer to the time. Make sure to register for specific session to secure your place.
We hope to see you there!
Ideal for: This Hack is available to all UNSW students, alumni, and staff.
The hackathon is a 2.5 day event (15-17 October) and students will work on solutions for climate change, be mentored by experts, learn new techniques, collaborate with other students, pitch your ideas and have the chance to win cash prizes!
Schedule
We’ll also offer you different workshops you can attend during the hackathon, such as Creativity & Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping, and Pitching an Idea. You will become a super star at designing and communicating your solution for Climate Change!!!
We also have great sessions for you before the hack!
The UNSW Circular Economy Hackathon: Positive Communication for Climate Change asks participants to reimagine the existing approaches and channels for communicating climate change and in doing so bring new life and hope to the delivery of the climate action narrative. Proposed solutions should be underpinned by circular economy principles and should also consider opportunities to reduce waste, activate space, and promote positive social and economic change.
Registrations for the hackathon are open on Eventbrite.
Opportunity Type: Science or free elective (Science Work Placement 6 UOC).
Ideal for: science students studying Ecology, Biology, Geography and Environmental Management who are interested in research, conservation or community engagement careers.
Deadline: 11:45pm, Monday 22nd of November
Para La Tierra is dedicated to the conservation of fragile habitats in Paraguay through scientific research, community engagement, and environmental education. They are based in the beautiful city of Pilar - The City of Birds - and work across Southern Paraguay, from the expansive Ñeembucú Wetland Complex to the endangered Atlantic Forest.
Para La Tierra specializes in training students and graduates in the skills they need to take the next step in their career, either towards higher education or into the job market. Over the past decade, they have hosted over 1,500 interns, each of whom has made a tangible contribution to the conservation of the fragile species and understudied ecosystems of Paraguay.
This summer, Para La Tierra is offering the opportunity to undertake one of three projects, depending on your career goals. All three projects will be conducted remotely, with full support from the Para La Tierra team. Spanish language skills are not required.
3 projects are available. Interns may choose the project they would like to work on, depending on their interests.
Cost: $500-$550 USD (UNSW will offer scholarships to cover this cost).
This includes weekly one-on-one coaching through the project development process, through emails and Zoom meetings, access to a short-list of relevant scientific literature, co-authorship on any publication arising from your work, a certificate of completion and a contribution to PLT’s conservation and education projects.
Course fee: Normal tuition fees for a 6 UOC course will apply for enrolment into the Science Work Placement Course (Standard international or domestic CSP rates).
Applications are open to science students studying Ecology, Biology, Geography and Environmental Management. Students must also meet the below requirements for the Science Work Placement course:
- have completed a minimum of 48 units of credit;
- have a credit WAM (65 or above);
If you have any questions about the above eligibility requirements, please contact science.industry@unsw.edu.au.
Please submit your application via this online form. You will be asked to submit a brief Resume and Cover Letter. The Cover Letter should be no more than 1 page and address the following questions:
- Why are you interested in this opportunity with Para La Tierra?
- What do you hope to gain during the work placement?
- What relevant skills and experience do you bring to the internship role?
You will also be asked to select your project preference and academic term that you'd like to undertake this work placement.
The UNSW Careers Team also provides lots of resources to help you with job applications.
APPLICATIONS CLOSE 11:45pm Monday 22nd of November 2021
Opportunity Type: Science or free elective (SCIF3199)
Ideal For: Students currently studying or about to graduate from a science discipline e.g. Agriscience, Biotech, Chemistry, Enviro Science and Food Science students.
The Evolution program will assist in placing science students into employment with industries relevant to your degree, over the summer term. You will gain valuable experience, which can lead to a job within the company you are working for or give you that much needed job experience to gain employment elsewhere when you graduate. If your answer is yes to any of the below questions, be sure to keep reading.
💥Are you currently studying a degree in Science?
💥Have you just completed your Science/Engineering degree and don’t know where to start with your job search?
💥Are you interested in kick starting your career during the summer holidays with potential to work on-call during uni semesters?
💥Are you an enthusiastic and reliable student eager to gain lab and manufacturing support experience across a range of industries?
You can find out more information about these opportunities and apply at the link below.
https://www.evolvescientific.com.au/science-jobs/science-interns/3328206
For students interested in completing this as a SCIF3199 6 UOC elective course, please head to the below link for more information or contact the Science Education Team at science.industry@unsw.edu.au with any questions.
Deadline: 11:45pm Sunday 7th of November.
Industry projects are available for the following science programs/majors:
For more information, check out the internship 'Program Guide'.
For more information on this program, please visit our Malaysia Work Placement site below.
Applications close 11:45pm Sunday 7th of November.
Every summer, CSIRO offer around 100 research placement opportunities to high-achieving penultimate (second-last year) undergraduate students across a range of science disciplines.
Students receive a stipend for the duration of the placement. The location of the placement could be at your local CSIRO site, one of 50 locations other across the country or conducted virtually, depending on the project you'll be working on.
The program takes place over the summer break and placements typically take 8-12 weeks. All placements are full-time. Any UNSW Science students interested in applying should contact the designated project supervisor to ensure flexible start/end dates can be arranged to accommodate Term 3 exams and/or the start of Term 1 2022. Students may contact science.industry@unsw.edu.au if they have issues with course clashes.
Application Deadline: Wednesday August 4th
For further information on projects, eligibility and how to apply, see below.
Relevant For: Environmental science, marine science, biology, ecology, and food science students
Opportunity Type: 12 UOC science elective
Deadline: Applications EXTENDED to Oct 18th
The ACICIS Virtual Agriculture Professional Program (APP) provides students with a unique opportunity to gain professional experience and establish international networks in Indonesia. Further, it will help you to build invaluable workplace skills and diversify your CV!
This six-week, 160 hour virtual program covers the of fields of agriculture, food science, environment and resource management from the unique perspective of Indonesian experts in Agribusiness. Environmental science, marine science, biology, ecology, and food science students are encouraged to apply, with $3000 scholarships available for eligible students.
The Agriculture Professional Practicum program gives students the opportunity to understand cultural, commercial, and governmental factors shaping Indonesia's agriculture industry via virtual fieldtrips, seminars and intensive Indonesian language classes, alongside a supervised professional work placement with an agricultural, agribusiness, or resource management organisation based in Indonesia.
Successful applicants may apply for 12 units of credit as science electives towards their science degree, as cross institutional credit.
For more information on the Practicum Program, please click HERE.
To apply for the January-February 2022 program (January 3rd - Feb 11th), submit an online application to ACICIS by: 18 October 2021
Opportuntiy Type: Potential for SCIF3199 enrolment and 6 UOC free elective or science credit *contact science.industry@unsw.edu.au for more information
Ideal For: Penultimate or Final year Chemistry, Materials Science or Engineering students
Deadline: Monday 30th of August 2021
James Hardie is the global leader in the production of high-performance Fibre Cement and Fibre Gypsum building solutions. We employ a diverse global workforce of approximately 4,900 employees across operations in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
About the Program:
James Hardie is offering the option of a 3-6 months paid internship program beginning late November, which will give you the opportunity to work alongside industry leading experts, follow latest research and work with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.
During your program you will:
About the Ideal Candidate:
In this fast-paced and agile environment, James Hardie are looking for smart, real and driven individuals with a high propensity for learning and an inquisitive mindset.
They are seeking individuals who:
NOTE: Any UNSW Science students interested in applying should contact the designated project supervisor - Alicia Tan (Alicia.Tan@jameshardie.com.au) to arrange flexible start/end dates to accommodate Term 3 exams and/or the start of Term 1 2022.
Students may contact science.industry@unsw.edu.au if they have issues with course clashes.
The following documents will need to be supplied upon your application.
“What does innovation mean to you and discuss an example of innovation you admire in your chosen field?” (Maximum of 500 words)
Opportunity Type: Science or free elective
Ideal for: Any undergraduate 2nd, 3rd year or postgraduate (coursework) ecology / environmental science students, including international students.
Deadline: 11:45pm, Monday 22nd November
The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) is a statutory (NSW Government) not-for-profit body established under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, which commenced operating in 2017. The BCT is within the portfolio of the NSW Minister for Energy and Environment, and is the primary organisation delivering private land conservation in NSW.
A key project of the BCT is the Ecological Monitoring Module (EMM). The EMM seeks to measure state and change in biodiversity on BCT agreement and control sites across NSW, in order to evaluate conservation outcomes and inform adaptive management. The EMM methodology uses vegetation integrity as a surrogate for biodiversity value and is centred around the Biodiversity Assessment Method.
Internships will involve fieldwork implementing the EMM at a variety of agreement and/or control sites within a particular BCT region (see map below); undertaking plot-based vegetation surveys under the supervision of a BCT ecologist. Each project will also include an independent research component, where interns will collect and analyse data on a complementary biodiversity value (e.g. bird or reptile diversity) at the same set of sites.
Opportunities for internships over the next 12 months occur during the following timeframes:
Specific dates are to be negotiated on a student-by-student basis with the relevant BCT regional staff.
The internship is unpaid, though the BCT will cover all costs (e.g. travel and accommodation) associated with undertaking fieldwork in different regions. Students must complete the internship as part of a work-integrated-learning elective course.
If you have any questions about the above eligibility requirements, please contact science.industry@unsw.edu.au.
Please submit your application via this online form. You will be asked to submit a brief resume, academic statement and cover letter. The Cover letter should be no more than 1-2 pages and address the following relevant selection criteria.
The Student Academic and Career Success Team provides lots of resources to help you with job applications.
APPLICATIONS CLOSE 11:45pm Monday 22nd November
Ideal for: Undergraduate and postgraduate students (preferably in their penultimate year of study at the time of application)
Deadline: November 14th 2021
The RACI Mentoring Program offers students and early career chemists a wonderful opportunity to gain unique knowledge and insights from industry experts, and develop their careers. This includes candidates from chemistry majors to forensics, nanomaterials, medicinal and biochemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, physical chemistry and more.
The program will match mentees with a one-on-one mentor in their field of interest: to develop their career readiness, to build the skills to go out and find great jobs quickly, and to build their critical professional network that will support them throughout their early careers. Mentees will gain access to their mentor's network and experience through communication with their mentor.
Please note, the mentor is not expected to find their mentee employment but will offer the benefit of their advice and experience to them. Historically, around 90% of our active student mentees graduate with a job waiting for them.
If you'd like to find out more about the program before applying, join the below information session for free.
This session is a chance for any interested student, early career chemist or potential mentor to have a chat with Dave Sammut, founder and coordinator of the program, to learn more about participation.
Please email the Mentoring Team with any questions.
Opportunity Type: Paid and AHEGS accredited student role
Ideal for: Domestic and international undergraduate students.
Deadline: Sunday 24 October, 2021
The UNSW Student Ambassador Program is aimed at current university students who have a passion for UNSW and would like to share their knowledge, enthusiasm and experiences with prospective students, parents and teachers. You'll also promote the University across a range of recruitment activities including school visits, campus tours, careers markets and Open/Info Days.
Ambassadors are provided with extensive and ongoing training in order to prepare them for the role and keep their knowledge up to date. Student Ambassadors develop important communication and interpersonal skills and gain valuable work experience, which will boost their career prospects.
In addition to being paid, this program is also accredited by UNSW Advantage as eligible for recognition on your Australian Higher Graduation Statement (AHEGS).
For further information on the position description and how to apply, please head to this link: https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/ambassadors
For further information please contact Bianca Gaspar:
Opportunity Type: 6 UOC general education credit for eligible science students
The UNSW Engineering ChallENG program offers, real-world, project-based learning initiatives for UNSW students! This multidisciplinary educational approach connects students, academics and industry enabling students to develop the essential technical and professional skills so they will thrive in their future career.
VIP extends project-based learning beyond a single semester. It allows time for students to gain a deeper insight into their field of study and is a wonderful opportunity in a safe environment to develop sought-after professional skills. Through VIP, students interact with the academic’s industry partners (potential employers) and receive course credit.
There are 30 vertically integrated projects available for you to apply for in 2022! You can explore them here.
Some relevant projects for Science students are below;
Throughout your project, a seniority will also provide you with leadership, management, and mentorship roles that will help prepare you for the workforce.
The application process for these projects is as below;
Note: Most UNSW students can apply to a VIP project in their first year and begin in their second year at UNSW.
More information on eligibility, prerequisites, assessment and more can be found here.
If you have further questions about this opportunity, please contact the ChallENG Program Team below;
Phone: (+61) 2 9385 5000
Email: challeng@unsw.edu.au
Application Deadline: Friday 27th August 2021
Start Date: Term 1 2022
Scholarship 1 - Australian Research Council PhD scholarship: Understanding lateral ocean transport at small scales
UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics offers a fully funded PhD scholarship and top-up scholarship in the area of ocean dynamics. The scholarship is funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Proposal DP210102745 “Understanding lateral ocean transport at small scales”, a collaboration between UNSW Sydney, the University of Western Australia, the Australian National University, and the French Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer). The outcomes of this project will contribute to the future NASA-CNES Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite mission, to be launched in 2022.
Scholarship 2 - NSW Defence Innovation Network PhD Scholarship: Kelvin wake fingerprinting for submerged vessels
UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics and the NSW Defence Innovation Network (DIN) have partnered with Naval Group, a world leader in maritime defence, to offer a fully funded PhD scholarship and top-up scholarship to grow local Australian skills and support Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) career pathways in Defence. This project has been co-developed by Naval Group engineers and researchers at UNSW Sydney and Macquarie University and will be part of Naval Group’s long-term commitment to Australian defence research.
More information on both projects can be found here.
Applications are invited from domestic PhD candidates who are enrolling on a full-time basis. Applicants must have a Bachelor degree with first class honours, Master of Philosophy or Master of Research, or equivalent. The candidate must be eligible to enrol in an accredited Research Doctorate at UNSW. Applicants for this scholarship will not be considered if they do not meet the minimum UNSW requirements for doctoral candidature. Please first check the requirements for admission, at: https://research.unsw.edu.au/higher-degree-research-programs.
This scholarship is available to Australian citizens only. Successful applicants will be asked to provide a police clearance before commencing the project.
Eligible candidates interested in either project, should first contact Dr Shane Keating at s.keating@unsw.edu.au to discuss their interest and suitability for this project.
These opportunities are available all-year round!
Gain valuable career skills and experience through short term, company-backed virtual internships provided for free through Forage (previously known as InsideSherpa).
Opportunity type: Co-curricular Program
Ideal for: all science students, particularly those interested in expanding career opportunities into consulting, tech and finance industries, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Deadline: No deadline – get started whenever you like!
Forage is an online platform that provides virtual internship programs from a wide range of top companies.
These short programs (which take 5-6 hours to complete) will give you a glimpse into a variety of careers and companies that recruit STEM graduates. You’ll work on tasks that mirror the day-to-day work of employees at the organisation and receive training in a variety of practical professional skills that you can add onto your CV and LinkedIn profile. There’s even a Virtual Work Readiness program that will help you to navigate the work of virtual work.
If you are:
these short virtual internships are a must!
For more information and to register, please visit: https://student.unsw.edu.au/insidesherpa
Gain transferrable professional skills and insights into a variety of graduate roles with these short virtual experiences.
Opportunity type: Co-curricular Program
Ideal for: all science students, particularly those interested in expanding career opportunities into consulting, tech and finance industries.
Deadline: No deadline – get started whenever you're ready and work at your own pace.
In partnership with a range of graduate employers, GradAustralia is now offering a series of on-the-job learning modules and hypothetical tasks drawn from real-world examples of what it’s actually like to work in an organisation as a junior employee.
These virtual experiences are ideal for students who are:
Opportunity type: Co-curricular Program
Ideal for: All science students
Deadline: No deadline – get started whenever you're ready and work at your own pace.
STEM Career Launchpad is a new career management program specially designed for science students. It’s a co-curricular AHEGS accredited program that you can do alongside your academic courses; it will essentially guide you through the career planning process and give you the tools and skills you need to make informed career choices.
Career planning can be particularly confusing for science students whose STEM skills are highly valued by industries outside of the science industry and have more diverse opportunities to consider in addition to a traditional research career path.
This program will help to alleviate the confusion around integrating career development into the student journey by providing an award-based ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ style careers program tailored for science students. You’ll collect professional development badges and earn awards that will help you to prepare for your career, explore different STEM careers and expand your professional network. And importantly, you’ll gain relevant work experience and access to other current opportunities before you graduate.
Registrations are now open. Just head to the below link to read more about the program and register your interest.
https://www.science.unsw.edu.au/stem-careers-launchpad
For further enquiries, please email stemcareerlaunchpad@unsw.edu.au
Leverage your electives to gain relevant work experience and professional development skills.
This 6 UOC science elective gives you the opportunity to gain genuine work experience in a science or technology-related workplaces via an internship program.
These 6 UOC science elective courses are designed for science students interested in a research career. They involve a short theoretical or experimental research project (related to the student's major) that is supervised by a UNSW Science academic staff member. The internship may encompass project planning, literature review, project development, fieldwork, experimental work, statistical analyses and oral and written reporting.
BEES2051 is a specialised work placement course that allows students to work at a partner organisation in an area of Biological, Earth or Environmental science.
This 6 UOC general education or free elective course provides valuable career management training for undergraduate students. It covers:
This 6 UOC general education or free elective course provides the opportunity to work in multidisciplinary teams of students on real-life projects supervised by industry partners. Previous industry partners include The Australian Museum, GML Heritage and NTT.
Science communication skills are crucial for all science graduates regardless of their chosen science major. These science or free elective courses are a great opportunity to develop science communication skills or prepare for a career in science communication.
BEES2680 Introduction to Science Communication
BEES6800 The Science of Science Communication
This Real-world Industry Engagement and Employment Skills course is linked with external agencies, industries and businesses who provide projects to teams of students to work on.
