Information for applicants

Key information for applicants:

• Eligibility

  Our internships for summer 2023 are open to all (current) Black students at UK universities and to Black candidates who have recently graduated from a UK university (2021 and 2022) with a Right To Work in the UK. (Please note that HDR UK cannot provide visas to any intern.)

  We welcome students at all levels – undergraduate, postgraduate diploma / Master’s / PhD and returning students.

  The programme is open to Black people of all academic backgrounds, but is ideally suited to individuals with a degree in maths, engineering or computer / data sciences, biological sciences, and medicine and healthcare-allied subjects.

  Whilst we are delighted our alumni often want to return to this internship, we are only offering this opportunity to those who are new to the programme and health data research, to maximise the benefit they receive from the wider training programme. To find out about upcoming HDR UK Training opportunities, please sign up to our newsletter here.

• International students

  International Black students who are currently registered at UK universities are welcome to apply. (Please note that HDR UK cannot provide visas to any intern.)

  Please note that if you are registered on a Master’s course, please check your eligibility to work full-time (if the internship dates fall within term-time for you, you are only eligible to work part-time (20 hours / week). There will be an opportunity to include this in your application to us.

• Application and internship dates

  Applications for the 2023 programme are now closed.

  Applications open: Wednesday 2 November 2022 – Sunday 8 January (midnight) 2023
  Webinar to find out more about the programme: Wednesday 7 December 2022
  Application sifting will conclude: Friday 3 February 2023
  Interviews with host organisations: Monday 13 February 2023 – Friday 24 March 2023

  The internship will be for 8-weeks on the following dates:

  Internships: Monday 3 July – Friday 25 August 2023
  Closing ceremony: Thursday 31 August 2023

  35-40 hours / week on a full-time basis, 20 hours / week on part-time basis.

• Application form

  You will be asked about the following in your application form to us:

  • Your contact details (name, email address, phone number)
  • Your eligibility to work in the UK (please note that HDR UK cannot support visas for this programme)
  • Any reasonable adjustments you may require for interview
  • Any preferences for host organisations*
  • Any preferences for internship format*
  • An up-to-date CV
  • Three personal-statement style questions on your experiences, skills and motivation

  *You may state a preference and we will do our best to honour this, however, this cannot be guaranteed.

  Please ensure that your university details (course, dates and university) are up-to-date to ensure proof of your eligibility for our programme. We would also recommend checking the contact details (phone and email) on your CV are current and match those in your application. After your application has been screened, we will invite you to complete the PAYE starter checklist.

  Please contact us by email if you need to withdraw your application for any reason.

• Applying via 10,000 Black Interns

  We are proud to be collaborating with 10,000 Black Interns on our programme.

  Any candidates applying for an internship with us via the 10,000 Black Interns Pinpoint recruitment system will be directed to our BeApplied application process. All details on what we ask during the application process is shown in the Application Form tab above.

• Recruitment process

  All submitted applications go through the following process:

  After the interview window has concluded (in May 2023), we will be in contact with unsuccessful candidates to let them know that they did not secure an internship with us for 2023. Those who pass the sifting process and are not successful at interview will receive feedback on their personal statement-style answers. All candidates who complete an interview within our scheme can receive feedback, regardless of outcome.

• Selection criteria

  We don’t expect you to have developed all these skills just yet or have previous experience, but some of the skills you should have include:

  • Sound quantitative skills and the ability to conduct analyse using data.
  • Competent pattern recognition and predictive modelling skills.
  • Passion for solving health data problems, no matter how big or small; and are strongly motivated to get things done.
  • Appreciation for our mission as the UK’s national institute for health data science to unite the UK’s health data to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives, and balance this with a collaborative mindset to prioritise your work.
  • Confidence in your verbal communication and presentation skills.
  • A willingness to learn and develop new skills, as well as tackle new areas.

  We will look for these primarily in the answers you give to the personal statement-style questions in your application to us.

• How will I be supported?

  All interns will be paid the minimum of the real London Living Wage regardless of where the intern or the host organisation is based.

  If you require a laptop, your host organisation will provide this for you.

  Each internship will be tailored to suit the environmental needs of both the intern and the host organisation – whether this is in-person, online or hybrid.