Internships

Kew offers three types of paid internships designed to offer practical work experience and training to undergraduates and recent graduates.

Successful applicants will work alongside experienced botanists, mycologists and conservation scientists to contribute to projects designed to achieve the goals set out in Kew's Science Strategy. This could include contributing to ongoing botanical research, policy or conservation activities, and many undertake an extended project using Kew’s diverse collections of plant specimens and associated data.

They receive training in key research skills from our leading experts, so these placements offer valuable hands-on, professional experience. Interns also have access to our world-renowned collections of plants and fungi, our library and research facilities. 

Past internships have involved projects such as exploring the carpological collection in the herbarium, assessing mycorrhizas for ecosystem health across England, and studying the bees at Wakehurst.

If you are interested in pursuing an internship at Kew, please check the careers portal for advertisements.

8-week summer internships

Each summer, we offer six 8-week internships for undergraduates in any academic year and recent graduates (within two years). To be eligible, interns must have just completed their second year of undergraduate studies in biological sciences, bioinformatics or museum studies.

We advertise our available internships in March every year and placements begin in June/July. Please keep an eye on our careers portal for details.

Science Project Internships

Throughout the year, we advertise science project internships depending on availability. For this internship, the placement period varies from under six months (2 – 6 months) to over six months (6 – 12 months). 

For internships under six months, candidates must either be undergraduates on three or four year courses or recent graduates (within two years of graduating) seeking a short period of work experience. 

For internships over six months, candidates must be undergraduates on three or four year courses and that has a year in industry. If they are longer placements, they can be very similar to the 12-month sandwich internships and are likely to start in September or January.

To be eligible for a science project internship, you will be studying, or will have studied, biological sciences, bioinformatics or museum studies.