D e p a r t m e n t o f B i o lo g y
Dr. Vikram Iyengar
Mendel Room 190C
vikram.iyengar@villanova.edu (610) 519-4837
Internship Program
The Department of Biology provides students majoring in Biology with the
opportunity to earn course credit for approved internships. A suitable internship is any
intellectually challenging activity grounded in basic science that actively involves the
student in the collection, analysis, and evaluation of data, or in other scholarly activities
such as teaching biology. An internship typically is pursued at an off-campus site in
conjunction with an extramural research or educational program. Examples of locations
potentially suitable for an internship include research laboratories, field stations, zoos,
aquariums, or museums. Although clinical experiences (e.g., work in physician's offices,
hospital emergency rooms, or physical therapy facilities) are worthwhile activities, these
are not suitable for internship credit, nor are enrichment activities such as non-credit
courses.
In most cases, a research activity approved for internship credit will also count as a
laboratory course. However, each internship will be evaluated for its suitability for
laboratory credit. In any case, only one of the upper level laboratory courses required for
the major may be filled by an internship and up to six total credits may be counted toward
the 36 total for the Biology major. Any additional internship credits (up to 9 for a total of
15) must be counted as "free electives." An internship may be undertaken over a semester
during either the academic year or the summer.
Requirements
To qualify for an internship, junior and senior biology majors must have an overall
GPA of 3.0 or better at the time of application. Students must apply for approval of an
internship through the Department of Biology before registering for the internship. Lists of
possible sites and the associated contact person(s) for internships exist in the offices of both
the Internship Program (within the Office for Undergraduate Students- SAC 107) and the
Department of Biology. To apply for any internship (whether on the list or not), the student
must prepare (1) a proposal that fully describes the planned activities and the objectives of
the internship, and (2) a supporting statement from the potential supervisor. Internships
may count for three or six credits; every three credits requires a minimum of 150 hours of
participatory activity over the course of the internship. Additional time will be required to
fulfill all of the requirements, including maintenance of a journal and completion of a final
report.
In order to receive credit for the internship, the student's performance on the journal
and final report, as well as an evaluation of the student by the supervisor, must be
acceptable after review by a committee within the Department of Biology. Although the
format of the final report may vary depending upon the nature of the internship, the typical
report should describe in detail the objectives and goals of the internship, how the
objectives and goals were met, what was accomplished over the course of the term, and any
interpretation or conclusions drawn from the experience. In the case of research projects,
for example, the report should specifically include a description of the conceptual
context/scope and objectives of the research, the methodology followed in the course of the
research, the results obtained, and the interpretation of the results in the context of the
overall objectives.
4/2016
Villanova University Department of Biology
Internship Agreement
Student Name
Phone
Internship Placement
Site:
Supervisor:
Address:
Biology Internship Coordinator
Phone:
Dr. Vikram Iyengar
Phone: (610) 519-8081
E-mail: vikram.iyengar@villanova.edu
An internship can be an invaluable experience. Internships in the Department of Biology may be
taken for free elective or biology credit, and are graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. If taken for free
elective credit (maximum 9 credits), register for BIO 1903 (3 credits), BIO 1906 (6 credits), or BIO
1909 (9 credits). If taken for biology credit toward the biology major (maximum 6 credits), register
for BIO 2993 (3 credits) or BIO 2996 (6 credits). Please note that the final decision regarding
biology credit is contingent upon the successful completion of the requirements below. See the
handout, Internship Program, Department of Biology available through the Internship Office
and Department of Biology office and the Biology web site (www.biology.villanova.edu) for
information on the general requirements for internship credit in the Department.
NOTE: YOU WILL BE REGISTERED for the internship course by the Internship Office
Proposed course BIO 2993
BIO 2996
BIO 1903
BIO 1906
BIO 1909
If the internship is taken as for biology credit, you need to complete successfully the following
requirements:
1. Complete an application for internship credit through the Internship Program Office (requires
junior or senior status and typically GPA > 3.0).
2. Meet with the folks in the Internship Program Office to discuss requirements.
3. Complete a Learning Objectives form and submit copies to both the Internship Program
Office and Biology Internship Coordinator. This report is typically submitted by the end of the
third week of the internship (consult the Internship Program Office for due date).
4. Submit an Internship Research Proposal to the Biology Internship Coordinator by the third
week of the semester (second week in summer). This proposal should be 1-2 pages, and
outlines the scientific purpose of the internship, presents the hypothesis (hypotheses) that you
are testing, identifies the type and amount of data that you are collecting/will collect, and
briefly describes your role and the methods that you are using/will use to collect and analyze
the data. In cases were the internship is not experimental in nature, describe your role as an
active participant in the project; for example, if the internship entails scientific education,
describe how you will participate actively in curricular development. Consult the Internship
Program, Department of Biology handout (or the web site) for a description of suitable
projects and/or contact the Biology Coordinator for more information.
4/2016
5. Keep a log (“Activity Journal”) of activities and your thoughts/reactions associated with the
internship. Entries should be frequent (at least weekly during the semester or twice weekly in
summer). Please submit a copy to both the Internship Office and to the Biology Internship
Coordinator. For more information, please see the description of the log in the material
distributed by the Internship Program Office.
6. Keep in close contact with the on-site internship supervisor throughout the term to ensure that
the goals and objectives of the internship are being met.
7. Contact the Biology Internship Coordinator at least once during the term with a progress
report.
8. Complete your Internship Evaluation Report about your experience in the internship. Also
ensure that your supervisor completes their Employer Evaluation about your on-the-job
performance before the end of the internship. Submit both to the Internship Office (via
Blackboard). The internship office will submit a copy to the Biology Internship Coordinator.
9. Submit a Research Report about the internship study to both the Internship Office (via
Blackboard), and the Biology Internship Coordinator. In cases where the project is
experimental in nature, the Research Report should follow the format of a scientific paper, with
an Abstract, Introduction (with background information on the project and a statement of the
hypothesis/hypotheses tested), Material & Methods section (with description of type and
amount of data collected and methods used), Results section (including graphical and tabular
presentation of data and statistical analyses, as appropriate), a Discussion section (with
interpretation of the data and a discussion of data in the broader context of what is known in
the field; the discussion can also include suggested future studies), and a Literature Cited
section (with citations from the primary, secondary, and/or tertiary literature).
In cases where the internship is not experimental, the Research Report should include a
detailed description of the substantive “results” of the experience and a Literature Cited (with
citations from the primary, secondary, and/or tertiary literature). In the example given above,
present the details of the educational curriculum developed in the course of the internship.
Typically, the Research Report is due by the last day of classes. However, if the internship
extends to the end of the term (or even beyond, such as during the summer), the student may
opt to take an incomplete grade to receive a 6-week extension. The Biology Internship
Coordinator may assign evaluation of the Research Report to another member of the department
with more expertise in the subject area
10. Register for the appropriate internship course through NOVASIS, and complete any
other requirements as specified by the Internship Office.
For more information on internships, visit the Office for Undergraduate Students in SAC 107, call
610-519-4232 or email charlotte.holmes@villanova.edu or as.internship@villanova.edu.
Student’s Signature
Date
4/2016