A hub for everything internship-related
Internships can be a really great way of figuring out what careers interest you in the future - if you hate the internship, you know that career maybe isn’t for you!
General tips
When cold emailing, get in contact with labs early
Reach out to PhD students before PIs unless you already have contact with the PI (this applies to cold emailing but also selecting from ‘Participating Labs’ lists for internship programs)
This allows you to get a more honest perspective on what it’s like to work in that lab
PIs receive hundreds of emails a day, you’re much more likely to get a response from a PhD student
The PhD student will put you in contact with the PI if they are open to having you and if you contact a PI directly, they will almost certainly (if they even read your email) forward it to the relevant PhD student
You will most likely work with a PhD student (not with a PI), so choose a PhD student to work with specifically based on the most interesting on-going project from your perspective
Have sufficient background reading into the area of interest to be able to hold a conversation with a lab member – they are likely to want to meet (remotely or in-person) if not part of an arranged scheme, before potentially committing to a more formal interview process
Show a clear understanding of what techniques are currently being employed by the lab
Show enthusiasm! Whether this is through an interview or a letter of motivation in your application, your willingness and interest in their niche will set you apart
Try as much as possible to be flexible with timings! This is another way of showing commitment (albeit more complex for international students)