Undergraduate internship available through BIG-TCR

By Roman Petrowski, Office of Communications
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Applications are open for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Summer Undergraduate Internship, where outstanding undergraduate students can work closely with UTHealth Houston faculty to conduct cancer-related research.

Applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m., CST, Feb. 14, 2025. Candidates can find the application forms by clicking here. The internship will take place from June 6, 2025, until August 15, 2025 (tentatively).

UTHealth Houston recently was awarded a CPRIT research training grant, the Biomedical Informatics Genomics and Translational Cancer Research Training Program (BIG-TCR). The grant’s mission is to provide a highly interactive, innovative, and interdisciplinary training environment to train the next generation of researchers and leaders in the field of cancer research by leveraging UTHealth Houston’s top research programs in cancer biology, stem cell biology, pharmacology and drug discovery, genomics and other omics, data science, artificial intelligence, clinical informatics, and translational medicine.

Each intern will work closely with senior members in their mentor’s lab and actively communicate with mentors and other training program trainees. If the candidate works in Texas during the internship, a $6,000 stipend will be provided to cover housing, travel, and living expenses.

In addition to daily research activities, interns will also be invited to attend all summer career enhancement activities provided by the BIG-TCR program and a program completion retreat. These activities include:

  • The BIG-TCR summer seminar. Topics will cover state-of-the-art bioinformatics, genomics, artificial intelligence, translational sciences, and other cancer research.
  • Interns will participate and present their intern project at the annual BIG-TCR retreat, which will be held in the last week of the Summer Internship Program.
  • Experience sharing from senior CPRIT predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees about their own experience in graduate school application and current research life.
  • CPRIT Cores/Facilities tour to experience advanced basic/translational and informatics technology
  • Career development workshop.

To apply for the fellowship, applicants must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program within the U.S. and have completed the sophomore or junior year of study by June 2025. Additionally, applicants should be majoring in a field related to quantitative or biological sciences, including but not limited to biology, chemistry, physics, pre-med, statistics, mathematics, computer science, and bioengineering and must be able to live and work in Texas (in-person or remotely) during the internship to meet the stiped requirements following compliance with the CPRIT training program. If an international student, applicants must hold a valid visa throughout the duration of the program.

To learn more about the program, visit the BIG-TCR website. For questions regarding the application process, email [email protected].