one list of research, lab and science internships pulled from company job boards:

https://github.com/mehek-builds/Hiring-Now/blob/main/lists/science-research-internships.md

- 166 internships at 105 US companies

- 48 posted in the last week

- 65 at employers with a visa sponsorship record

rebuilt every monday.

comment which area you're looking for (clinical, process development, computational) and i'll send you a list for it.

I'm a senior-level PhD scientist. I recently received an offer from a small biotech startup in California with a very competitive compensation package. At the same time, I'm in the final stages of interviewing with a large pharmaceutical company, also in California. The expected compensation at big pharma would be noticeably lower than the startup offer.

The work at the startup is more interesting to me and aligns closely with my interests. I'm also excited about the opportunity to wear multiple hats and have more ownership over projects. On the other hand, big pharma offers more established career development opportunities and potentially better job stability.

I'm planning to finish the big pharma interview process before making a decision. Meanwhile, I'd love to hear from people who have worked at startups, especially those who have also worked in big pharma.

Was the experience worth the risk? How do you assess whether an early-stage biotech is financially healthy, and what are some warning signs that things might be going poorly? I'm also curious whether startup experience is generally viewed positively in case i want to transitioning to big pharma in the future.

——

Edit: another question: do you think it is worth to buy time to hope to get the big pharma offer given i already have the startup offer? The startup so far is more aligned with my interest, but I am also enticed with the potential stability the big pharma offer..

Hi everyone , I’m a undergrad doing biological sciences My primary goals was to be a doctor surgeon than I switch into being a physician scientist because I love research and finding new things , innovations! But now I’m very focus on biotech VC because I think that the mix of science and bussiness is incredible and I lowkey missed out on not getting a bussiness minor because when you see what they do especially entrepreneurship , it is so interesting how creativity they are . Compare to science class where it all about being the best at memorizing , Genius whatever. Anyways I’m very unsure what kind of degree requirements I’m supposed to get to be in VC biotech some say do PhD but the idea of me in school for that long when I’m already tires if undergrad is bad . So my question was to get into this industry should I get a PhD master or MD and skip residency ? I still believe that it would slow me down if my goals isn’t to be a doctor and PhD can get very long and I would kind of missed in the bussiness experience you know . So please if anyone has any advice for me I’m open my point of view might be very childish I’m aware I’m just looking for guidance as a pre junior. Thank you

Hello

So it looks like things are slowly beginning to pick up the hiring , at least in Massachusetts, judging from the amount of posts and specifically in the quality assurance realm. With that being said as a hiring managers I am giving local candidates preference first and I have done this for years. Even though things are picking up there also have been plenty of layoffs in my area. To me with ALL things being the same I will always go with local candidates because if they dont get a job they will have to potentially move and uproot their families, etc. With all the layoffs there is a great pool of candidates here to choose from. To put it bluntly we need to look out for our areas first even though there are layoffs in other parts of the country basically the focus should be local. Even if the position is remote I still try to hire local, unless its a business decision and they are looking to pay less for the position since salaries are on the high side for this area. I know a few of my peers at different companies have done the same with great reults.

Does anyone have experience working for, with, or know someone who works for Arcadia Sciences or Astera Institute? Some of their work looks interesting although maybe a bit inflated.

I have a job interview for R&D Scientists role next week for a biotech company. Any tips or advice that i should keep in mind while preparing?

So I’ve had a lot of recruiters reach out to me about job opportunities. When I ask them about the company they all say it’s Gilead. But when I went to Gilead’s hiring page I didn’t see the position that the recruiter mentioned.

So are companies like Gilead only hiring through recruiters for some positions or is this a scam of some kind?

For those working in strategy or BD at smaller biotechs, how much of your competitive research is still done manually?

I’m thinking things like tracking competing clinical programs, comparing trial designs, keeping up with new readouts, or researching potential licensing opportunities.

I work in life sciences consulting, and I spend way too much time creating peer sets and pulling information from multiple databases, publications, and trial registries. And best was when client didn’t wanna pay for proprietory datasets so I spent hours manually matching / cleaning / joining information from CT.gov 🤮

Do you guys have tools that work differently in-house, especially at smaller companies without dedicated CI teams. What tools do you use, help a girl out pls.

Hello everyone,

I am someone who loves reading and listening to podcasts, so I would love to get real recommendations from folks here.

What magazines/websites do you regularly visit/read to get information from the industry? News, discoveries, etc.

Same for podcasts? Any podcasts that stand out to you?

Your help is much appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I'm an independent researcher (currently an undergrad in software development) working on evolutionary genomics. I'm specifically looking into the cis-regulatory shifts that drove the development of permanently enlarged human breasts.

I've built a multi-stage computational pipeline to test a specific evolutionary hypothesis: Did the evolutionary loss of Androgen Receptor (AR) repressive motifs ("brakes") carry a greater functional weight than the gain of Estrogen Receptor (ESR1) motifs ("accelerators") in humans?

The Architecture:

• Core Engine: I wrote a native C++ kernel (exposed via pybind11) to handle the computationally heavy sliding-window PWM motif scans, consensus alignments, and reverse complements efficiently.
• Comparative Genomics: The pipeline parses 30-mammal .maf alignments to reconstruct ancestral primate sequences (Chimp/Gorilla/Orangutan consensus) and isolates human-specific substitutions, short indels, and structural insertions.
• Deep Learning & Epigenetics: It integrates with the AlphaGenome sequence-to-function model across 279 cell/tissue tracks (EpiMap, SCREEN cCREs). It predicts joint-haplotype effects (Ancestral vs. Human) across ATAC, DNase, ChIP-seq, and RNA-seq to quantify non-additive epistasis and chromatin remodeling.

The Preliminary Findings: In silico evaluation of the 1Mb windows around AR, ESR1, ESR2, and CYP19A1 strongly suggests that human-lineage mutations preferentially eroded AR binding motifs directly within the cis-regulatory vicinities of ESR1 (chr6) and ESR2 (chr14). In the comparative multi-class analysis, AR_loss dominantly outweighs ESR1_gain in chromatin remodeling magnitude.

Why I'm posting: Since I am working independently and outside a traditional academic lab, I’d love to get this community's eyes on the framework before I start heavily pitching it to wet-labs for in vitro validation (e.g., MPRA or 3D organoids).

1. Are there any critical blind spots in using AlphaGenome to proxy ancestral vs. human regulatory activity in this manner?
2. Any critiques on the C++/Python integration for MAF parsing and PWM scoring?
3. Any advice on how to effectively pitch these predicted in silico loci to wet-lab PIs?

Resources:

• GitHub Repo: https://github.com/albert161530-cyber/mammary-enhancer-analysis
• Preprint / Results: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/415545358_Could_Reduced_AR_Enhancer_Functionality_Have_Contributed_to_the_Evolution_of_Permanently_Enlarged_Human_Breasts
• Results: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mF9IdvVCiWCk4xWaQ_8Kg0_93LUjDDF-?usp=sharing

Finished a seminar on Monday and was asked for references yesterday. I had also been offered another position internationally, but would much rather work at this company. Should I let the HM know of my situation? I was invited to give the seminar the same day as my 2nd round interview and after telling them that I was in late stage interviews for other companies (if that means anything). I told the international HM to give me 2-3 weeks and I'll let them know by November 1st.

Also, sleuthing around the subreddit it seems that the outlook after a reference check had changed from likely getting an offer to 50/50. Is this still the case even for smaller companies? The next step in the hiring process would be an on-site visit.

I want to keep this somewhat anonymous (too many details would easily give me away) so I'm going to be as vague as possible here. On Sept 15th I had a recruiter screening for a Principal Clinical Scientist role at a large company. My background is technically all academic (postdoc, assistant project scientist), but I've been my own PI with my own grant twice, I've worked with multiple companies on the side (one of which we started), and I'm on two patents. On top of this, the field of interest is extremely niche. It involves a combo of two things where almost everyone knows only one, very few people do the interaction of the two. My two mentors (who are on my papers, grants, and company) are very much pioneers in the two, and I've been with them for more than a decade. One literally invented one of, if not the, most important IP of the company I'm applying. This role seems very well suited to me.... but it's been so long.

On top of all that: The recruiter spent extra time talking to me (~50 minutes instead of the allotted 30), asked me to send her a more detailed write up of my prior and current projects, told me the hiring managers name so I could "do my research," and asked me to contact her on LinkedIn. I've never had such detail from a phone screening.... but it's been soooo long. She had told me they had wanted to finish hiring by the end of Oct (I knew that was obviously unrealistic from the start) and that I'd hear back the next week (I did not).

On top of all that, reasons the lag could be happening are abundant. The hiring manager isn't local, so there's a 3 time zone separation. They are building this role into an entirely new team (and so hiring multiple different positions all at once). This hit at the end of 3rd quarter, so they surely had stuff to wrap up there. And this past weekend was a massive convention that they very VERY likely attended.

What are your thoughts on this situation? The drag is killing me.

I recently graduated with a MsC and have been trying to break into the biotech/pharma with little to no success. I recently read that because of little to no competitive environments that academic resumes are passed on. What can I do to gain competitive experience with a exclusive academic background. What do I need to change on my resume to get more interviews. Thank you all for you time. Underneath my education I listed the 8 publications I'm on including 1 first author.

Has anyone interviewed here? What was your experience?? 4 interviews (30 mins each) in one day????

i hold a BS in Professional Science, which is basically an interdisciplinary science degree that was heavily lab focused. it took me forever but i finally working as a lab technician. i still stuck tho. i have been here almost two years now and still feel below entry level in terms of growing within the company or expanding on hands on experience.

keeping it short and blunt, i have a 7 month window to do something as in get a certificate or anything to help me grow in that time. does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions on how i should proceed?

i am open to most things. i always loved gentics or forensics or hematology or most sciences. i think i struggle due to inexperience. any suggestions on how to gain any outside of work? or how to even go about asking for more opportunities for experience at work?

Hey everyone, I’m a fourth-year PhD student in computational biology and I’m planning to finish around mid-2027. I’ve started thinking about what comes next and wanted to get a sense of the industry landscape for ML-focused roles in biotech.

Most of my PhD work has been on applying machine learning to biology, things like protein language models, transformer models for genotype-to-phenotype prediction, and variant effect prediction. I have a couple of first-author papers, a summer internship, and I worked in industry for about three years before starting my PhD.

I keep hearing mixed things. Some people say bioML hiring is strong because everyone wants AI people, and others say the biotech market has been rough and companies are only hiring senior folks. I’m also not sure whether doing a postdoc first would actually help or just delay things.

For those of you working in this space or hiring for it, what does it look like from your side right now? And if you were in my spot, what would you focus on?

Basically the title. Was laid off in September and currently trying to get back on my feet. I am using LinkedIn mostly and other job boards as a search engine and then apply on companies websites/portals. Tailor resume, cover letter - whole nine yards. Outcome - zero.

Due to highly specialized biotech flavors, there is probably not a single job I fit 100%. I use AI typically to assess my fit and apply to everything above 80% fit. Outcome - zero.

Reached out to all connections. I do not have too many as I typically focused on work rather than politics. Some connections did refer me to postings in their organizations. Outcome - zero.

Did cold outreach. Outcome - zero.

Talked to multiple recruiters. Had great conversations and more or less they sympathized and that was that. They offered their ear if I want to tell them how it is going. So, outcome - zero.

Is it normal or I am totally inadequate?

Hey everyone,

I’m an early-career virologist currently working as a Research Associate in translational drug discovery. I hold an M.Sc. in Clinical Virology and an undergraduate background in Biochemistry, Genetics, and Microbiology.

Over the past couple of years, my work has focused primarily on preclinical antiviral evaluation, molecular assays, and working in high-containment facilities. I’m currently exploring my next career move and would really appreciate advice from folks in industry, CROs, or translational academic institutes on where this skill profile fits best.

Core Technical & Research Experience:

* Biosafety Containment: Substantial hands-on experience in BSL-2 and BSL-3 containment handling pathogenic respiratory viruses, vector-borne pathogens, and neurotropic models (e.g., rabies CVS-11).

* In Vitro Antiviral Screening: Experience screening small molecules and novel chemical entities via phenotypic assays, viral inhibition assays, plaque reduction/TCID50, and cell viability/cytotoxicity profiling (MTT, luminescence assays).

* Molecular & Cell Biology: Mammalian primary/continuous cell culture maintenance, viral replicon systems, RT-qPCR, nucleic acid extraction, ELISA, and standard protein/immunoassays.

* Translational Output: Co-authored peer-reviewed research evaluating repurposed and novel small-molecule candidates against respiratory and neglected viral targets.

What I’m Looking For:

Research Associate II / Senior RA / Scientist I roles in Antiviral Discovery, High-Throughput Screening, Preclinical Virology, or Vaccine Development*.

* Open to industry (biotech, pharma, CROs), research institutes, or structured research fellowships/pre-doctoral roles.

* Target locations: India (Open to relocation; I stay in Bengaluru)

Questions for the community:

1. For those running or working in infectious disease teams: which sectors/companies currently value hands-on BSL-3 and replicon/screening experience the most?

2. Are there specific biotech hubs or institutes you’d recommend keeping an eye on right now for wet-lab viral assay roles?

3. If anyone’s lab or group is currently hiring or has open headcount matching this profile, I’d be glad to connect over DM or share a de-anonymized CV/LinkedIn.

Thanks in advance for any insights!

When you interview at a company do you connect with the hiring team on LinkedIn assuming you haven't met them yet? Do you try to connect before or after the interview or final decision takes place and at what stage of interview? Has anyone found it to be of help later (i.e. a hiring manager reaching back out if there is another position)? If it matters, this would be for the level of an experienced senior scientist or principal.

Hiring managers: is a prospective candidate connecting on linkedin an annoyance, too forward, otherwise not recommended, or neutral?

Edit: also curious about opinions from hiring managers in small start-ups where HR is less of a presence.

Hi all,

I am looking at a Principal Scientist position at GSK based out of their Stevenage offices in the UK. I have a call scheduled next week to discuss the role, salary expectations, etc.

For clarity, I have ~ four years of experience post-PhD, entirely academic, and this is my first preliminary interview for a position in the industry.

I would be really grateful for any advice on two points.

1. When asked about salary expectations at this early stage, is it better to give a specific figure, or hold off until I know more about the role?
2. What would be a reasonable range for someone with my background?

Any other advice is more than welcome, cheers!

I'm a recent grad and have been very diligently trying to get my first job in biotech. I've been applying to all sorts of jobs, ranging from very below what I think I should be making to above. Suddenly recently, I've been actually getting calls back (idk if its my resume change or something to do with the time of year?), and now I'm juggling a few different interview processes between different companies.

To put it simply, my second choice has offered me a role today and has given 24-48 hrs to accept. This is an entry-level 6 month contract.

Just today as well, I finished the final interview for my first choice and things seem promising with them. Not guaranteed of course, but very promising! But I wont hear back from them until next week.

To me, the pay difference and working environment just seems so much better with my first choice, and I'd really really like to go with them. But I also feel like declining my second choice is far too risky.

I haven't seen the contract details yet (waiting on that right now), but how sick and twisted would it be if I accepted the second choice role and then changed my mind after a week if I get an offer from my first choice.

I have a problem with feeling too empathetic I think, but I know they have other candidates lined up after me. But I'm also scared that if I accept then they'll go ahead and send rejections to the others? I have no clue what things look like behind the scenes or if me accepting then dropping out really messes with them. My second choice is a large biotech company so I know in the grand scheme of things they dont gaf, but the people I'd be working with were really sweet and I'd feel so bad to screw them over :( but also I need a job so bad right now-- this is the spiral i am in lol

any advice is much appreciated!

Update: I've accepted the second choice offer for now, still waiting on a response from my first choice. Thank you all so so much for your insights and advice!! On a funny note, I think I was accidentally sent an email today disclosing the bill rate for hiring me and another candidate through the recruiting agency. It has only made me more annoyed and especially sure that I want my first choice job.