Biochemical Society Announces Paid Internship Scheme for MLSFF26 Delegates

The Biochemical Society is offering five paid internships exclusively for attendees of the Minoritised Life Scientists Future Forum 2026 (MLSFF26). These internships provide an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience, develop new skills, build connections, and work on projects that support the Society’s strategic goals.

Each internship be paid at the London Living Wage, and will run for either four weeks full-time or eight weeks part-time. Exact dates can be arranged with successful applicants, but all internships must be completed within 2026.

Interns will have the opportunity to work across a range of projects supporting different areas of the Society’s activities and operations (see Appendix One). These projects contribute to the Society’s wider mission to support the molecular bioscience community, promote research excellence, advocate for the discipline, and foster a more inclusive scientific community.

To apply, please submit:

• Your CV
• A supporting statement (maximum 500 words)

Your supporting statement should outline:

• Why you are interested in the internship
• What you hope to learn or gain from the experience
• What you feel you could contribute

If you have a preference for one or more of the projects available, please include this in your statement.

Applications should be submitted via email (as Word or PDF attachments) to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 15 May 2026. Applications will be reviewed and shortlisted candidates will be invited to an informal interview from w/c 1 June 2026.

Please note that the Biochemical Society is a fully remote organisation and as such you will also be working remotely (from home or another suitable location).

If you have any questions about the internship opportunity or the application process, please contact [email protected].

APPENDIX ONE: INTERNSHIP PROJECTS

Marketing and Communications (1 position)

Work will cover content generation (images/video/copy) for the Society's social media channels and member newsletters, under the guidance of the Marketing and Communications Manager and team, in line with our communications strategy. Topics may include journal promotion, membership, and generating content for our other activity areas such as events and training. In addition, the student will have the opportunity to work on updates to some of our career resources. The Marketing and Communications team is an exciting and fast paced team to be part of; work is varied and front-facing, and links into projects being undertaken across the organisation. You will have the opportunity to see how communications are structured and planned for different audiences, how science is communicated to the wider public, and how the Society engages with its members.

Publishing (1 position)

This position will offer the opportunity to gain an inside view of academic publishing at an independent Society publisher (Portland Press – owned by the Biochemical Society). The publishing team are responsible for our scientific journals, working with international editorial boards to commission content for publication. There will be the opportunity to get involved in several projects (date dependent):

• Identifying suitable reviewers for papers, working on reducing timelines for those that are backlogged to gain expertise on how the peer review process works

• Supporting a refresh of the Biochemical Journal editorial board member tier, reporting on diversity (gender, geography, career stage, scientific subject area), and working directly with the board to identify potential new candidates

• Testing our new publishing system and looking at the suitability of messaging and the overall user journey to ensure we can offer the best possible experience for our authors and reviewers

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) (1 position)

Work will be focussed on the recently launched EDI Community; a Society initiative to bring together partner STEM organisations working in the EDI space. We are looking to develop the community throughout 2026 and establish it within the sector. You will work with the EDI team to identify potential new partners to join the community and to generate ideas for a community event, liaising with a wide variety of stakeholders and staff to finalise an event proposal. The EDI team is placed at the centre of the wider organisation and is passionate about creating an inclusive and accessible Society for all. You will have the opportunity to directly contribute to our EDI commitments, understand how principles inform strategy and meet with others working in the EDI in STEM space.

Outreach (1 position)

Work will support the Society's outreach activities, working with the Grants, Awards and Outreach Manager. Our outreach activities and resources aim to engage young people and diverse communities with molecular bioscience in exciting and interactive ways; the work is front facing and has a direct impact. You will support the work of the team, which may include reviewing current resources, identifying opportunities to innovate and update our offerings and how we can communicate and share these with our membership community. You will have the opportunity to see how complex science concepts are broken down for wider communication, directly input into plans for future activities and resources, generate content (image/video/copy) and see how we encourage our communities to get involved with communicating science to the general public.

Conferences and Events (1 position)

This position will provide an overview of event planning and delivery, joining a dynamic and fast paced team who work directly with our Society members and the wider science community. The team manage a large portfolio of international events and will welcome thousands of delegates, both online and in person, in 2026. There will be the opportunity to get involved in several projects (date dependent), all of which will provide a valuable inside experience of events and the dissemination of scientific knowledge and research, and may include some or all of the following:

• Helping onsite at a select number of Society events; running the registration desk, with the opportunity to attend event question and answer sessions

• Supporting the development of event sponsorship proposals; identifying potential targets for future approaches

• Developing events related marketing, considering new and innovative ways to drive engagement and registrations