The Iowa Institute of Human Genetics (IIHG) is offering a Summer Internship in Bioinformatics for undergraduate students interested in a career in bioinformatics and personalized genomic medicine. The 8-week internship, intended for undergraduate students and recent college graduates, is an excellent opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience in informatics. Interns will work under the direction of a faculty member at the University of Iowa.

Individuals from a disadvantaged background as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are encouraged to apply, (https://www.era.nih.gov/commons/disadvantaged_def.htm).

The IIHG Summer Internship is open to students interested in informatics with preference to those who have computer science experience. 

Network connections

The IIHG provides students with:

  • Full-time, hands-on projects in informatics
  • Immersive experience in a research laboratory (not bench science)
  • Enrichment activities, including seminars and workshops on graduate school and careers
Mental health

The IIHG will provide assistance with the following:

  • Stipend, Payments, and Reimbursements
  • Orientation
  • Off campus housing suggestions

    ***International students are welcome to apply, however the IIHG is not able to assist financially with moving or Visa expenses.

The IIHG Bioinformatics Division provides several services to the scientific community including exome re-sequencing, expression studies and other analyses such as CHIP-seq and methyl-seq. All of these analyses capitalize on data output from high throughput sequencing. Our group helps investigators move from the initial ‘sequence-read data’ to answer important questions of biological significance. The scope of available projects range from straightforward expression analysis using commercial software to projects that are much more speculative. For the more speculative projects, current best approaches are often not defined or are in a state of change. Work in our group offers a challenging mix of projects and analyses offering broad exposure to typical bioinformatics analysis.

Selected interns will receive a cost of living stipend of $5600.

Selected interns will present two 15-20 minute talks during their summer experience, focusing on the work they are doing. All interns are required to attend and participate in orientation, intern presentations, and selected seminars throughout the period.

The 2024 internship will be 8-weeks in duration, Monday, June 3 through Friday, July 26; Monday through Friday, from 8:00am-5:00pm. If absent, interns will be required to make up hours with the approval of the internship director. If selected for the internship, interns must request any vacation days at the time of acceptance into the internship.

A complete internship application includes:

  • The electronic application form
    • The electronic application form will automatically email two persons you have identified to provide letters of recommendation. If your letter writers are not able to upload their LOR to the application portal, they may send it to iihg@uiowa.edu. Do NOT request letters of recommendation to be submitted prior to the application window.
  • Official college academic transcript(s) - sent from your most recent college of university, either electronically to iihg@uiowa.edu or by regular mail. Transcripts send directly from the applicant will not be accepted.
    • IIHG Summer Internship Program
      431 Newton Road, 117 EMRB
      Iowa City, IA 52242-1078

This program seeks to improve diversity in the biological sciences. Disabled students, minority students, and disadvantaged students (economically or first in family to attend college) are especially encouraged to apply.

The application window is closed for summer 2024 internships. 

The IIHG is a statewide resource to promote clinical care, research, and education that focuses on the medical and scientific advances around the human genome. Established in August 2012, the IIHG seeks to integrate activities in human genetics through multi-disciplinary research, education, and clinical care that is focused on the medical and scientific significance of variations in the human genome.

Selected interns will participate in IIHG events and work to complete a bioinformatics project with a University of Iowa faculty member.

Iowa City gets consistently high ratings from national indexes of great places to live, combining the community atmosphere with a cosmopolitan flair. It offers an abundance of cultural, historical and recreational opportunities similar to those in a large city. The downtown area has a pedestrian mall with unique shops, restaurants and live music, and hosts yearly events such as the Jazz Festival, bike and road races, and several art festivals. In addition, Iowa City is an active community with many hiking/biking trails and parks to explore. The IIHG Summer Internship program encourages students to take advantage of the many opportunities Iowa City has to offer in the summer.

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