This summer I am doing an internship with the Biopsychology lab here at The University of Scranton. This internship will allow me to understand what it would be like to have research as a full-time job and hopefully, in the future, as a career. I will be able to learn things that I would not have had the opportunity or time to learn during the school semester. I am excited to expand my knowledge and interests in the field, and hopefully I will be able to apply these to future studies done by the Biopsychology Summer Internship.
In the first three weeks of my internship experience, I have learned many useful skills, including the husbandry of crayfish and creating a protocol. This week, I will be learning how to make dosages for the crayfish. This will be the last step before running the experiment. After data collection, I will learn how to analyze said data.
The biggest skill I hope to enhance is reading scientific literature and understanding whether the publication holds weight. As of right now, I have not fully grasped analyzing papers. Literature research is a critical part of any research, and I know this internship is a perfect opportunity to read tons of articles.
My career path would require me to receive a PhD. The skills I am learning align with the requirements of future research programs that I plan on applying to. This research internship will not only help me in understanding what my future may look like, but also prepare me for my future endeavors.
Sophia da Costa
Neuroscience & Philosophy, 2026
Analyzing papers is a hard subject to grasp! I hope you can continue to learn more about it this summer. I’m curious to know what really makes an article “worthy”, especially in the biology world. Analyzing & understanding scientific articles/readings is also a skill you will need for earning your PhD, so it’s really great that you can get some practice with it now. Have fun with your crayfish buddies!
Sophia, I’m really excited to see what this internship will do for you! It sounds like a great stepping stone toward your goal of earning a PhD. You’ll be doing a lot of experimentation and research, and by actively practicing these skills, you’ll continue to strengthen them. It’s great that you’re getting a different kind of experience, something beyond what you typically learn during the school year. I’m especially glad to hear that you’re diving into a detailed experimentation process with the crayfish. Wishing you the best of luck!
Sounds like an amazing opportunity to dive deeper into research! It’s great that you’re building skills and exploring what a future in the field could really look like. Wishing you the best with your experiments and studies!
That sounds like such a valuable experience, getting a real sense of what a full-time research career might be like must be exciting! It’s awesome that you’re already building important skills like creating protocols and analyzing scientific literature, which will definitely set you up well for your future PhD and research goals. Best of luck!
It’s cool to see how much experience you’ve already gotten! Learning these different procedures and research tactics will definitely go into building and reinforcing the skills you’ve talked about. Your passion for the work you’re doing will help you tremendously, and I can’t wait to see where the internship leads you. Best of luck!
This seems like a very cool internship. Research sounds like a lot of hard work and it looks like you’ve been given a lot of responsibility but are learning along the way, which is great. I know judging scientific publications on credibility is a large factor of research, but it seems like you are getting the hang of it. It seems like you are really committed to your studies and it’s awesome that you want to dedicate your life to scientific research and have a goal of getting your PhD.
It’s really great to hear how much you’re learning during your time in the Biopsychology lab. Getting hands-on experience and building new skills will definitely help as you prepare for your PhD. Your focus on improving and growing during your internship sounds like this opportunity is really setting you up for success. Wishing you the best of luck with your future studies!