BRITE Internships

All UBC masters and doctoral students who are primarily sponsored by a Biodiversity Research Centre affiliated Faculty member at the University of British Columbia are eligible to participate in a BRITE internship. Post-doctoral fellows are not eligible for internship funding. Graduate students who will finish their program of study are eligible to participate in the BRITE Internship program for the period immediately following their program completion. International students who will complete their programs should immediately apply for a Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) when they receive their certificate of completion. A PGWP is required in order to work and participate in the program. 

BRITE internships are expected to last from six weeks to three months of full-time equivalent work. Students are expected to make contact with prospective internship hosts, arrange position requirements, salaries, and start and end dates. Partner organizations will select among interested applicants and develop an Internship Application together with the student (please view the form in the Forms section below).

The purpose of the BRITE internship is to facilitate a career-related experience that is outside what would normally be possible in the context of a science graduate degree. Funds allow students to network or explore a dimension to their career that interests them but is slightly tangential to their scientific training. We expect the internship experiences of BRITE students to vary. The internship can be very closely aligned with the student's ongoing or future research, thesis or otherwise. It may also be unrelated to thesis research. In terms of timing, the internship may occur at any point during the student's degree including before the start of thesis research (and thus may be a catalyst for the research) as well as at the end of the research period (and serve as an opportunity to incorporate the results into policy).

Before the internship begins, a formal Internship Application outlining remuneration, period of employment, and other terms should be agreed upon and signed by all parties involved: the employing agency supervisor, the student, the internship coordinator (please view the form included in the Forms section below).

Funding decisions are made by a BRITE committee. In the application, it is important to convey specifically how the internship provides an opportunity or training not achieved by a traditional science graduate education, and how the host or training experience will support the intern in that experience. Applications that do not convey this are unlikely to be funded.

We expect interns to be paid for their work (not volunteer), either from UBC as a graduate research assistant or through the partner agency, as needed. The salary target is $1,291.67 per week for full-time employment or the equivalent. Up to $7,750 of that funding is available from the BRITE program per intern; the remainder is to be provided by the sponsoring organization. Accordingly, organizations should only propose internship projects for durations they can afford based on the salary target, the possible $7,750 from BRITE, and the funding the organization can offer. Matching funds from partner organizations are encouraged, but not required. The BRITE matching funds are provided in the form of salary from UBC. The student or the partner is responsible for travel and out-of-town living costs during the internship.

Internship proposals will be considered even if the partner organization cannot offer funding, but higher levels of partner funding, as well as in kind commitments, are viewed positively.

Organizations who have expressed interest in hosting and intern (along with their contact information) are provided in the BRITE Partner link. We welcome additional organizations that wish to be added to this list (please write to the coordinator).

Advise to students looking for a partner agency: The list of BRITE partner agencies is a great place to start, but you can develop an internship with any non-University organization. The best experiences tend to occur when the internship matches your skills and passions.  It is also valuable to intern at a partner agency where you might want to work in the future; if this is important, you might ask if job opportunities are likely to arise in the near future. Please speak with any member of the BRITE committee if you want help identifying a good match.

Depending on the partner organization, a MITACS Internship may be an additional funding opportunity that students and partner organizations may want to consider.

BRITE Committee Members will provide guidance to partner organizations and prospective interns.

Sally Otto, BRITE Committee Chair
otto@zoology.ubc.ca

Kai Chan, BRITE Committee member
kaichan@ires.ubc.ca 

Rise Sargent, BRITE Committee member
risa.sargent@ubc.ca 

Katie Beall, BRITE Coordinator
Katie will help with administrative and financial questions.

Internship Report and Evaluations, Internship Applications and Performance Evaluations should be sent to:

biodiversity.brite@ubc.ca

Students interested in a BRITE internship must first identify a potential partner organization, either from the list of BRITE partners or from an organization of interest to the student. Once the student has found a partner willing to host their internship, the partner organization and the student together fill out the Internship Application Form and submit to the BRITE coordinator for adjudication/approval.

Although applications will be accepted at any time, funding would be allocated to the suitable applications on a first-come first-served basis. To be considered in the first round of applications, Internship Applications should be submitted by March 1st.

There is a main annual competition announced the beginning of each year over the main Biodiversity Centre email list. Specific project ads will also be announced and posted to the BRITE slack channel for BRC (#brite).

The committee's criteria for selection are as follows:

1. Anticipated contribution of the opportunity to the student's career (how does this internship help the student achieve career goals?)
2. Importance of the project, to the partners and in general (why is the project worth supporting?)
3. Fit of student with project, ability of the student to do as hoped (how/why will the goals stated above be achieved?)
4. Expected quality of internship experience based on partner agency/supervisor
5. Financial considerations (matching funds are a plus; student need).

PLEASE ENSURE THAT THE APPLICATION FORM CONTAINS TEXT SUFFICIENT FOR THE COMMITTEE TO EVALUATE THESE FIVE CRITERIA.

Internship Application

Purpose: Formal application serving as a project description and agreement between the BRITE Program, the student, and the partner organization. The agreement should reflect the specific conditions of the internship and be completed prior to the start of the internship. The completed form should be submitted to the BRITE Internship Coordinator.

BRITE Internships Application Agreement - Fillable PDF

BRITE Internships Application Agreement - WORD

Performance Evaluation - Employer 

Purpose: Evaluation of the internship experience, to be completed by the employing agency supervisor at the end of the internship and submitted to the BRITE Internship Coordinator.

Performance Evaluation - online form

Word 

Internship Report and Evaluation - Student 

Purpose: A brief written report, describing and evaluating the internship experience. Guidelines for the oral presentation. Complete and give to BRITE Internship Co-ordinator within 1 month after completion of internship period.

Student Report - online form

Word