Scientific Internships:

3/15/24 Update:  At this time, our lab is full and we are unable to accept more research interns.  Should this change, we will update the information here.

Our current interns are working on two studies: one on brain metabolism and one on circadian rhythms.

To see a description of the type of internships we generally offer, please see details below:

Because we have a lot of people interested in working in the lab, our interns must be able to work independently, with minimal guidance.  To see if this experience may be right for you, consider your interest in the type of project described below:

Development of a Scientific Publication

Our  internships involve the development of a scientific publication.  Depending on the amount of time you contribute, you could be first author, or a co-author on the publication.  These positions require:

• • strong writing skills

  • ability to perform literature searches using pubmed

  • organizational skills

  • independence: Almost all the work will be performed outside of the lab, with your own computer.  We will correspond mostly by email.  (If you are interested in a Simons Fellowship, please see the FAQs below.)

  • patience!  On average, it requires over two years to assemble a scientific publication (see the timelines for current papers being written here).

We do not require a background in brain imaging or scientific writing.  You just need to be willing to perform research independently, and search (e.g. google, pubmed, text books) for answers as needed.

Putting it all together...

What we are looking for is motivated interns to form a hypothesis based on the the data that we collect.  How does that work?  

Step 1:

Basically, you need to do a little digging into any of the topics that may interest you from a list of data collected for our studies.   Based on that, you may come up with some questions that you are interested in examining.  Note that there are no requirements for what the hypotheses might be.  They may not include brain imaging at all, such as:

• Do people with higher levels of depression sleep less (as measured by actigraphy)?  Do they move less?  

• Does the length of time that someone has been depressed affect their outlook on the success of treatment?

Including brain imaging, you could ask something like:

• Does the circadian rhythm of brain receptors match the circadian rhythm measured by actigraphy?

• Do people with higher levels of brain receptors experience greater depression?

An important note regarding plagiarism: Many of you will be writing a scientific paper for the first time.  It is a learning process!  One critical piece of information: it is never ok to copy sentences or parts of sentences from other papers (even when you include the citation).  This is called plagiarism and it can end your scientific career and get you into a lot of trouble.  If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask.  And, please make sure all the wording in your paper is your own. 

Step 2:

Once you have the hypothesis (or multiple hypotheses) you're interested in, it's time to look through the literature to see if this question has been answered before.  The best way to do this is to use key words in pubmed.  If the question has been addressed before, that's good!  It means you came up with a really interesting question that someone worked to answer!  Perhaps you can modify your hypothesis a bit to find a question that's still open.  Or perhaps the authors did not address exactly what you were interested in.  You should carefully document all of the literature you read, as this will help form the introduction of your paper.  Based on this literature, you should update your hypothesis to address (1) a question that has not yet been answered and (2) one that is important for the field.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there an opportunity for a paid position?

A:  We do not have any paid positions available.  

Q: Who is eligible to apply for a CUBIT scientific internship?

A: Anyone!  As long as you are interested in working on a publication, you can complete an internship.  We've had high school, college, graduate and medical student interns.  We've also had postdoctoral and visiting faculty interns.  You do not have to be affiliated with Stony Brook.  Also, since the internships involve mostly independent research, you can be located anywhere.

Q: Can I forward this website to a friend?

A: Of course.  Anyone can apply for these internships by following the process above, so feel free to forward this website to anyone who many be interested.

Q: What are the advantages of working on the above project?

A: From the literature searches, hypothesis creation and writing process, you will be participating in graduate-level research.  You will learn a great deal about the brain and how it works.  And, if successful, you will obtain authorship on a publication.  

Q: What is the timeline for assembling a publication?

A: This strongly depends on how much time you put into the process.  Working ~10 hours a week, you should be able to have an outline of the publication in 3-6 months.  From there, it generally takes about a year to complete the paper.  Most people do not have the time to work on their paper every week.  We will work with your schedule.  However, keep in mind that the process will be longer in this case.  (See timelines for interns currently writing papers here.)

Q: When are these items due?

A: There is no official deadline.  We accept interns all throughout the year.

Q: Will I receive help in writing the paper?

A: CUBIT will assist you in creating your outline and writing the paper by answering specific questions, providing detailed feedback on  your work and providing additional information regarding the study.  Interns usually need the most assistance in writing up the scientific methods, as they were not involved in the design of the study.  We will provide that help.  However, as stated above, most of this work is performed independently.

Q: Who performs the image analysis?

A: In general, the image analysis is completed by us.  So, for example, we will provide you with a spreadsheet of mGluR5 density in every brain region (from PET). volumes of each brain region (from structural MRI), or whichever measures are needed for your paper.  

Q: Who performs the statistics?

A: Advanced interns can perform their own statistics.  For others, we provide statistical analysis through the Biostatistical Consulting Core.

Q: For high school students: Will CUBIT support my application to the Simons Summer Research Program?

A: If you have started on the above publication early enough such that you have an approved hypothesis and a written Introduction by the time of the Simons application, CUBIT will support your Simons application.  During the summer internship, you can work to complete this publication as well as work on other projects.

Q: Will I be able to work on other projects in addition to the publication?

A: The publication will be your first priority.  However, once significant progress is made on the publication, including a completed literature search, outline of the paper and progress towards writing the Introduction/Methods, you can become involved in more aspects of CUBIT's research, including attending lab meetings, and being involved in other imaging projects.  Prior to this, you must be trained in the protection of human subjects, as outlined here.