Project Onramp Application Process – Summer 2025 Internship Program for Pell Grant Students – Life Sciences, Computer Science, Business, Communications & HR

Project Onramp offers paid summer internships in the life sciences for undergraduate students who are under-resourced and often from under-represented groups or first-generation.

Join Project OnRamp and the Tufts Career Center on Oct. 18th from 1 pm – 2 pm to learn more about the program.   You can sign-up for the event in Handshake here.     

Students must be Pell eligible and U.S. Citizens to apply, and the Career Center will verify Pell Grant eligibility of all students. Unfortunately, international students are not eligible for this program.

Half the internships are available in industry labs, and the other half in departments such as computer science, business strategy, marketing, communications, clinical operations and HR.

Project Onramp currently partners with 90 companies, including multinationals like Pfizer and Takeda and small start-ups like Astria and TenSixty Bio. Because Project Onramp host companies reserve roles for Onramp students, you will only be competing against 10-15 other candidates.

Internships are 10-12 weeks long, and usually run June – August. The exact dates will be decided between you and the hiring manager. The pay range is $20/hr. – $27/hr. based on your year in school. You must work full time; you cannot be in summer school or have another part-time summer job. You must have housing in the Boston area for the summer, as the program does NOT provide housing.  Tufts students can explore options for living on-campus at Tufts through Residential Life.

The Process

• Students that are interested in receiving updates to internship opportunities should sign-up for this Project Onramp Interest List.
• The Tufts Career Center will have all students reviewed for good standing by the Office of Student Life in advance of sharing resumes with Project OnRamp & Employers.    By adding your name to our student interest list, you approve that the Tufts Career Center can undergo this process.
• If you are a Pell Grant student and U.S. Citizen interested in this program – please contact Susan Atkins at Susan.Atkins@tufts.edu to be added to our email distribution list so that we can send you updates for Project Onramp.
• Project Onramp positions will be posted in Handshake with the label projectonramp (search by this label for all positions)
• Students must review the internship opportunities in a timely fashion, ensure they meet the qualifications, and if interested, must send their resumes to Sue Atkins, Assoc. Director of Employer Relations in the Tufts Career Center at susan.atkins@tufts.edu BEFORE the specified deadline for that specific position. Please include your student ID Number along with your resume.
• We recommend having your resume reviewed in advance by a career advisor (in-person or virtually – check Handshake for availability) or a career fellow during Career Labs before submitting your resume to the open internship postings.

Timeline

The internship positions will be posted in Handshake from November 2024- May 2025. Students’ Pell Grant status will be verified for all applicants that meet this requirement will be forwarded to Project Onramp for consideration for currently available internship placements. Students will be contacted directly if selected for an interview and to complete the internship selection process. If you receive an internship from Project Onramp we ask that you no longer submit your resume for open internship positions.

Program Benefits

Project Onramp interns are part of bi-weekly professional development sessions over zoom.  Here, interns will meet industry professionals who have volunteered to network, connect with, and advise students on career relevant topics. Discussion topics include forging a career in the life sciences industry, being authentic in the workplace, building confidence and building networks among others.

This volunteer opportunity is a way for companies to leverage their employees’ talent and experience, and to give back to the community. It is also a way for students to build meaningful professional networks and interact with people who can be advisors and guides as they finish undergraduate degrees and enter the workplace or graduate schools.

Volunteers are from a variety of companies, including Abbvie, Acceleron, Agios, Apic Bio, Arrakis, Astra Zeneca, Back Bay Life Science Advisors, Biogen, Boston Public Health Commission, Bowdoin Group, Bristol Myers Squib, Casma, Cerevel, CJ White Bio, CorEvitas, Corval, Dewpoint, Entasis, Foundation, Genocea, Intellia, Johnson & Johnson, Jounce, Kymera, Magenta, Massachusetts General Hospital, Moderna, Novartis, Obsidian, Orchard, Pfizer, Relay, Sarepta, Scorpion, Seres, Synlogic, Takeda, TCR2, Third Rock Ventures, Valo and Vertex.

For any questions related to Tufts’ partnership with Project Onramp, please contact Sue Atkins, Associate Director, Employer Relations at Susan.Atkins@tufts.edu.

Sample List of Host Companies