Internship projects for PhD students

This program is open to PhD students employed at KI and that are or have been enrolled in the doctoral course Career skills for scientists (2463).
Career Service offers up to 15 internship positions per term (1 month with a financed salary) at a company or organization within both private and public sector.
This program is financially supported by the Committee of Doctoral Education (KFU) at KI.

Next announcement: Spring 2025

Application opens: Feb 2025
Internship information webinar: March 2025
Mingle with companies: TBD
Application deadline: April 2025
Internship performed during: May 2024 - Nov 2025

For updates: Check this page or follow our newsletter. Stay tuned!

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply you need to:

Be a PhD student during the time of application
Be employed at KI (as PhD student or otherwise) during time of internship
Have taken the course Career Skills for Scientists
- in parallel with the call
- at any point prior to the call, as long as you haven't done an internship through the program yet
Get consent from your supervisor and HR responsible

General procedure

In short, the organizations provide us with project proposals and the projects will be announced by KI Career Service. There is a company mingle where you can ask questions, and you can apply to up to three projects. The organizations proceed with interviewing the candidates and make a final selection. KI Career Service announces if you get an internship offer.

Graphical overview of the internship process for PhD students organized by KI Career Service Photo: KI Career Service

Application process

Get permission from your supervisor and the HR responsible at your department and fill out the confirmation Supervisor Letter (see below, under "documents")
Save the document with your NAME: Firstname-Surname_Confirmation.pdf
Tailor your CV(s) and Cover Letter(s) for the project(s) you want to apply to (max 3). Save them with your NAME: Firstname-Surname_CV_Company.pdf and Firstname-Surname_Cover-Letter_Company.pdf
Upload your documents to the relevant project in the section "Current internship projects":
- Your supervisor confirmation under "Supervisor Confirmation Letters ..."
- Your CV(s) and Cover Letter(s) under the project you want to apply for
  
  Late application will not be considered, and we advise you to apply well in advance.
You can look at or amend your applications afterwards by logging in to the recruitment system.

If you encounter problems, please email career-service@ki.se.

Current internship projects

You can apply to maximum 3 projects.

***Important:
Find the link to upload the Supervisor Confirmation Letter in the list of the projects below

Extended deadline: March 29th

Note: Make sure you apply to the right one applicable to you; PhD Students (1 month) or to Postdocs and Researchers (3 months).

You can sort the projects by clicking on the "Internship" column header, so they are grouped by target group.

Also, don't forget to upload your supervisor confirmation in the separate "Internship" in the list below.

There are many projects, so note that you can scroll down! (Change device/browser if it wouldn't be visible)

Very important: Please download the project descriptions you apply (max 3). The offered project descriptions will not be available online after the application deadline! Thus, it will be very important to have the projects saved in case you, as an eligible applicant, get invited for an interview!

Q & A for applicants

Eligibility

Q: Can I apply without a confirmation letter?
A: No. KI Career Service needs to know that your supervisor agrees on you spending time on the internship project.

Q: My supervisor is away traveling and cannot sign the confirmation letter before the deadline. What should I do?
A: Ask the supervisor to sign electronically. If that is not possible then ask them to confirm their support for your application in an email to career-service@ki.se, and send in the fully signed version when they are back. Always ask your HR to sign the confirmation letter regarding your contract situation.

Q: Can I submit a confirmation letter that is signed electronic?
A: Yes. You can find information on how to e-sign documents

Q: I will defend my thesis before the potential internship starts. Can I apply for the internship projects anyway?
A: Yes, if your supervisor signs the confirmation letter and you still have a contract at KI during the time of the internship, meaning that the last date of your current contract stretches well beyond your defense and could include an internship period, or your supervisor ticks the box “If selected for an internship, the contract/stipend will/can be extended”. Also have a look at the internship program for postdocs.

Q: I took the course in recent years but wasn’t selected for an internship. Can I apply again?
A: Yes. If your supervisor agrees and signs a new confirmation letter, and you fulfill the other requirements listed above.

Application

Q: Should I send my internship application directly to the company?
A: No. You need to apply through the application system and KI Career Service will check that you are eligible to participate in the internship program.

Q: Does the current system mean that we can apply to up to three internships, without showing first, second and third choice at the current stage?
A: That is correct. If you are selected as top candidate by more than one company, KI Career Service will contact you and ask which one you rank first.

Matching and internship

Q: When will the selection be finished?
A: The process is usually finalized within four weeks after application deadline. You will get the information from KI Career Service.

Q: The company offered me the internship directly (not through KI Career Service), should I accept it?
A: You can, and should inform us in that case, but your decision will be final, and you won't be able to see how the other companies you applied for ranked you. We advise that you wait until you hear from us and have all the information before committing to a project.

Q: Could some of the internships be performed from my "home office" instead of on location?
A: It is possible, and some projects will literally mention this option. However, it might be good to have a chance to see the offices and colleagues, so you can take advantage of the networking possibilities. It will also help you to respect your internship time, and avoid working 100% for multiple jobs (e.g. internship and PhD) at the same time. For these reasons, we recommend you to work on location if you can, even if working from home is a common reality for certain jobs.

Reimbursement

Q: Will my supervisor get reimbursed for all costs, including also INDI?
A: Yes.

Q: How will my supervisor get reimbursed?
A: Your department admin (usually HR staff) fills in the form on the page Reimbursement of funding for internship for doctoral students and sends it to Career Service.

Other internships

Q: I have found an internship on my own. Can I get reimbursed by KI Career Service?
A: No, the application needs to go through us and there needs to be open competition for the internship position.

Q: I have an internship suggestion for a new company that would be of interest to many PhD students. What should I do?
A: You can suggest a company to KI Career Service and we reach out to ask if they are interested in collaborating with KI.