Cambridge-India Partnership

AstraZeneca India Summer Internship Programme

In association with AstraZeneca India (AZI), the University of Cambridge has developed an internship programme that offers the opportunity to work for a summer project at AZ's research labs in Bangalore, India. Places are available for 2 Internships, one each in Discovery Research and Process R&D. The internship will be for 8 weeks between July and September at the AZI research and process development facilities in Bangalore India. Internship places will be offered on a competitive basis and the successful applicant will be allocated an appropriate project by scientists at AZI.

Eligibility:

The internship programme is open to Part 1A and Part II students from any department within the School of Biological Sciences at University of Cambridge.

Application Process:

To be considered for the above internship position, an application should be submitted with the following information;

• a transcript of your academic performance
• a letter of support from your Director of Studies
• a letter of support from one referee academic or personal
• a short statement  (500 words) explaining your interest in the internship, what you expect from the programme at AZI in India and why you feel it would benefit your professional career.

Applications for summer 2011 should be made by email, with the appropriate documents attached as Word or pdf files, to:

1. Professor Tom Blundell ([email protected])
2. Dr K Seshadri ([email protected])

(Applicants are requested to include their name in the Subject of the email)

All applications will be reviewed by a panel consisting of academics from the University of Cambridge and senior scientists from AZ. Successful applicants will undertake their internship project at AZ in Bangalore, India between July - September.

Research Project Selection:

Projects will be assigned to the students by senior researchers at AZI based on their background and interest. Applicants are encouraged to read the details of the internship training programmes in the Discovery and Process Development Groups.

Funding:

Some financial support will be offered to the candidates by AZI to cover the cost of local hospitality as below:

• Monthly stipend of Rs 8000
• Free breakfast and lunch in the AZ cafeteria
• Medical facilities
• Appropriate laboratory and computer access
• Support with securing paying guest accommodation

The internship holder will be responsible for international travel and related costs including return flights to India and airport transfers, visa and medical insurance, for travel to India. Students are expected to apply to their Colleges for travel bursaries. Support may also be requested from the Cambridge India fund.

Post Internship:

All students are expected to submit a report of no more than 4 pages within 30 days of completion of the internship project. The report should be submitted to the academic leads at Cambridge (Prof Tom Blundell) and AZI (Dr K Seshadri) and should cover the following:

• Summary of the project work undertaken
• Key outcomes from the research
• Experimental and other research methods used and learnt
• Additional activities including seminars attended/presented and visits to local companies and other research institutions
  

In addition, the report should also comment on the programme in general with specific suggestions on what worked well and areas for improvement.

About the Internship Programme:
The student internship programme was formally agreed between the University of Cambridge and AstraZeneca India Pvt Ltd through a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the previous Vice Chancellor, Prof Alison Richard and AZI's Director of Research, Dr Tanjore Balganesh. The key objective of the AstraZeneca internship programme is to provide students of biological, pharmaceutical, chemical sciences and engineering (chemical) a hands-on experience of the research methodologies and techniques in these areas within the environment of a pharmaceutical research organization engaged in drug discovery and process R&D. This program is designed to supplement and contribute to the on-going objectives of AZI while simultaneously providing such a learning experience to the students.  It has been conceived with a view to enrich the student with the principles and techniques of different disciplines such as synthetic organic chemistry, analyses, process safety scale-up etc.

About AstraZeneca India Pvt Limited:
AstraZeneca is one of the top 5 pharmaceutical companies in the world today and a recognised leader in medicines for Gastrointestinal, Cardiovascular, Central Nervous System, Infectious, Respiratory diseases, as well as for Pain control and Cancer. It's R & D facilities in Bangalore, India is an integral part of the global organisation, with a mission to discover new molecular entities of therapeutic importance for the treatment of Tuberculosis. With this goal in focus, the organisation has embarked on research programs in this therapeutic area, using molecular target-based approaches.