Information for Current Students

An opportunity to gain professional experience, professional skills, insights into a different operational context and a new set of contacts in a non-academic setting before your graduation.

A student in an EASTBIO hoodie stands on the side of a boat looking at a mountainous shoreline

The UKRI BBSRC-funded scheme 'Professional Internships for PhD Students' (PIPS) offers current students the opportunity to gain a unique professional experience outside their PhD project that is linked to their own career ambitions and objectives. As part of their training requirements, all funded students must complete a 12-week internship in a non-academic environment before the end of their third year.

Internships can be in any field or sector, including industry; publishing; policy; clinical development; teaching; communications; business; management; marketing; law and finance.

We offer students support throughout the planning and completion stages via a comprehensive process, induction and follow-up sessions, updated guidance, including relevant forms and resources.

EastBio PIPS Guide

For information on the PIPS scheme, see the EastBio PIPS Guide (reviewed annually).

PIPS Guide 2025 (216.47 KB / DOCX)

Q&A Sessions

EastBio Placements Q&A session 2025

Online, 3 February 2024, 10:00-11:30 and 12:20-15:30

Placements QA - Summary.docx

Placements QA 2025_Slides.pptx

The QA sessions are mandatory for all students who started their PhD in the autumn of 2024; supervisors are welcome to attend.

Before Your PIPS

Engage with the process as described in the PIPS Guide and be certain of what the expectations and support is.
Attend the mandatory EastBio Placements Q&A Session & student presentations.
Explore local training to help you with skills you may need for the placement, whether on transferable skills (interview mock ups, writing a personal statement, project management), methods for a specific sector (programming languages), or mental health (managing transitions, resilience, coping skills).
Complete your online PIPS Planning Form by the end of your first year of study for approval.
Reach out to potential PIPS hosts. If you plan to approach a new contact in an organisation for the first time, consider using this template How to approach a PIPS host.docx.
EastBio will also share internship opportunities on the website and the monthly newsletter.
Use the Active Planning Section B of the PIPS planning form to guide discussion with potential hosts.
Once your internship project is agreed by the host, all parties must complete the PIPS Agreement (MOU) and send to placements@eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk for final approval.
Request an Absence of Leave from your host academic institution so that you can carry out the placement full-time (as relevant in your case).

During Your PIPS

We ask students who are on PIPS not to attend any training or events associated with their PhD (including EastBio-run events) so as to allow them to focus on the PIPS project fully and make the best of their 3 months on their internship.
Make sure you have regular meetings with your PIPS Supervisor and be proactive in discussing your progress through the programme; maximise the support you're receiving and recognise early any challenges that need action.
Maintain contact with your PhD supervisor(s) and/or the EastBio team to seek advice, identify ways to manage any difficulties and ensure that the outcome will be overall positive and to your best interests.
Contact the EastBio Manager asap if you
Consider keeping a journal during your PIPS to record and reflect on your experience and progress, such as this template developed by EastBio: PIPS log.docx

After Your PIPS

Using your PIPS log, complete the student feedback report for EastBio, including feedback to be uploaded on the EastBio website.
Ask your Supervisor at the PIPS host organisation to complete the PIPS Host Organisation Feedback form. You may include the PIPS Advert template, and ask if they would be interested in hosting another PIPS internship. Note that we don't request feedback in order to assess your performance but to help build a long-term relationship with them so as to continue offering placements in future.
Prepare a short presentation on your PIPS experience for the next Placements Q & A event and/or the EastBio Annual symposium.
Plan training to help you get back onto your PhD project, whether this is a refresher on methods and techniques, career skills consolidation, or training to help you better manage your mental health and well-being.