Unlocking potential: MSc students thrive in EBIB internship program at ZEISS

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, internships can build a critical bridge between academic learning and professional development. For Master's students, industry internships offer far more than course credits —they bring significant insights into different career paths and required skills to succeed professionally in the private sector.

Now entering its fourth year, Euro-BioImaging has been collaborating with its Industry Board and the M.Sc. in Biomedical Imaging (BIMA) at Abo Akademi and the university of Turku, Finland, to offer internship places in the imaging industry to M.Sc. students. ZEISS is one of the companies that has been on board from the start.

“We are very happy to collaborate in the internship program. It’s wonderful to interact with interested, motivated students early in their career. It’s important to show students that private companies also need researchers, and diversity is really important for ZEISS. Being part of an international internship programme is key,” explains Herbert Schaden, Vice President and Head of Global Academia Key Account Management at ZEISS Microscopy, who as EBIB Chair was convinced very early on to join the internship programme. “The process between ZEISS and Turku is really smooth – we define the profile of the students we are looking for and we usually get excellent candidates.”

Having completed all her course work, she was attracted to the internship opportunity at ZEISS because of the company’s international reputation for driving innovation, and the way the internship project aligned perfectly with her interests, by combining microscopy with data science. Ultimately, Hira wants to contribute to the development of AI-driven tools for diagnostics. At ZEISS, her role was to generate high-quality training data sets for machine learning algorithms and AI developments for different imaging modalities and cell types, for which Hira’s previous experience with cell culture and immunostaining came in handy.

In my view, Hira’s succeeded in majority of her projects aims and I hope her contribution could soon help scientists around the world to obtain important data about their cell cultures just in a few clicks.” And as Herbert Schaden adds: “All of our internship projects are embedded into an overarching development project, so it can be a very valuable experience for interns and us alike.”

Michal helped Hira shape her experiments and discuss the outcomes with her, but let her work quite independently in a lab with other ZEISS colleagues, supported by a lab technician. “Personal skills such as an eagerness to learn and work independently, good organization skills, and an open communication style are all very important for our trainees, and Hira fulfilled these admirably. In return, I hope that my interns can always get all necessary help, freedom to explore, and chance to get “infected” by the ZEISS team’s passion for high-end bioimaging.”

Hira confirms that open communication between team members and support are valued highly at ZEISS. “There were so many projects going on around me, whenever I had the time, I could freely discuss with the colleagues, observe and learn. Everybody was really supportive and I felt warmly welcomed in Jena.”  Working independently on a project and interacting with colleagues made her feel much more confident.

Hira used her time at ZEISS wisely, not only to exchange with team members, but also to broaden her technical training. As Hira describes: “Through ZEISS, I also had access to their e-training platform and obtained some certifications by completing their programmes. I also participated in the “Microscopy Day”, which offered a full day of high-level training on different instruments.”

Working at ZEISS has expanded Hira’s knowledge of working within industry. She liked the results-focussed approach in industry, compared to the more exploratory nature of academic research projects. “I feel more attracted by industry now – the biotech or imaging industries are both interesting. I am currently applying for jobs and in the meantime, polishing my skills in AI-driven software and languages.” While she is also considering pursuing a PhD to help her hone her skills, Hira thinks that industry is the perfect space to bridge between technology and advanced biology.

Companies like ZEISS, with a long history of nurturing young talent, understand that these programs are not just about recruitment, but about cultivating a dynamic ecosystem of innovation and growth.

“The spectrum of possible projects is huge and these young interns can contribute so much if you give them a chance”, Michal is convinced. “I personally would like to see more companies and universities participate in such a programme. As a follower of the Euro-BioImaging Tech Exchange, I saw many smaller companies and startups developing great bioimaging tools with opportunities for trainees of many backgrounds (future biologists, physicists, software engineers, data analysts, etc.). I assume that the working environment in these smaller companies could also be very attractive for interns.” While he acknowledges the administrative hurdles to set up an internship, he feels that any project from 3-6 months will be worth this investment.

“There are luckily more and more master programmes focused on bioimaging, and a majority of masters or PhDs will go to industry. Expanding this program for more participants and with more partners could be tremendously helpful for the prosperous future of bioimaging. The work of and with an intern will definitely pay off!”

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions is the world’s only one-stop manufacturer of light, electron, X-ray and ion microscope systems and offers solutions for correlative microscopy. Company website.

About BIMA

The MSc Programme in Biomedical Imaging aims to train professionals to have a thorough understanding and practical skills in a wide range of imaging technologies, methods and applications. The two-year programme is jointly administered and run by the two universities in Turku, the University of Turku (part of biomedical sciences programme) and the Åbo Akademi University. Programme webpage.

Interview conducted by Claudia Pfander and Marianna Childress-Poli.