Apply to Our Internship Program!
Are you someone who loves to engage with people and facilitate learning? Do you like designing, creating, working with a wide variety of mediums? Then apply to be one of our interns and come join our team of creative, passionate and (sometimes) quirky employees!
The Science Museum or Virginia is offering a variety of internship experiences for the upcoming summer. As an intern, you will learn the methods and theory behind inquiry-based learning and teaching in an informal science setting. You will be trained in key skills for careers in teaching, museums, or the nonprofit world. Come learn informal education techniques, program development, and how a museum operates. In addition, interns help participate in daily Science Museum activities.
- Internships are an opportunity to learn outside of the classroom and facilitate the Science Museum's mission: to inspire Virginians to enrich their lives through science.
- Internships are pre-arranged, structured learning experiences generally targeted towards a specific project.
- Internship time commitments are generally 20–30 hours per week for a period of 8–12 weeks. If you will be receiving school credit for your internship, your specific program will determine required hours and schedule.
- Internship opportunities are available during the spring, summer and fall semesters. Positions are open to college and graduate students and career changers.
Should you have any questions please reach out to Laura Brady, Volunteer Coordinator, lbrady@smv.org.
Summer 2023 Internship Opportunities
The Science Museum of Virginia is excited to offer paid internships for Summer 2023!
To raise awareness of professional opportunities among students of all backgrounds, summer internships are being offered in science education to students enrolled at an accredited college or university.
Successful candidates will spend the majority of their time focused on a mentored project and will also have the opportunity to learn about a wide cross-section of science-adjacent career opportunities and the Science Museum's broader operations. All interns will participate in professional development activities including meetings with senior leaders, direct work experience, lunch-and-learn presentations on science and the museum field, and networking opportunities.
Application Process
- Interested candidates will apply to a specific internship through the Commonwealth of Virginia job website - https://jobs.virginia.gov/.
- All submissions should include a letter of intent describing their interest in the specific internship, a résumé, and two letters of reference by March 15, 2023.
Candidates with questions can contact Volunteer and Intern Coordinator, Laura Brady, at lbrady@smv.org or at 804-864-1514.
Summer 2023 Positions Available
Communications and Curiosity Marketing Intern
The Science Museum of Virginia is seeking a highly motivated individual to help the Science Museum employ a diverse set of communications and marketing tactics – print, TV, radio, digital, social media, grassroots, etc. – to increase awareness of Science Museum initiatives, content visibility, and attendance at the Science Museum. The team also assists with communications for the Science Museum of Virginia Foundation, the Danville Science Center and the Northern Virginia Science Center.
Museum Maker Space Intern - The Forge
Science, technology, engineering and math are at the heart of making things. The Science Museum’s permanent makerspace, The Forge, works to develop the maker mindset within Science Museum guests. Maker-centered learning teaches life skills — critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. Forge Interns will take a deep dive into understanding the maker mindset, gain experience and skills key to careers in museums, non-profits, intergenerational methods of teaching and informal maker techniques for all ages.
Community Science Intern
Do you love science? Do you love to engage with people and facilitate learning? Then join our Community Science team! Our current community science project is studying air quality in Richmond neighborhoods and we need you! We recruit individuals and community partners to help us measure local concentrations of airborne pollution known as particulate matter (PM), a mixture of microscopic particles in the air that has been linked with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. With collaborative community science projects like RVAir, you get to be part of the magical journey of science by helping collect important information that will have a positive lasting value.
Science Museum Summer Exhibition Intern
Space: An Out-of-Gravity Experience (May 27 – September 4, 2023)
What does the future hold for humans and space travel? The exhibition seeks to answer that question and more by exploring the challenges of living and working in space. The Space Intern will gain experience and skills key to careers in teaching, museums or the nonprofit world, including program development, informal education techniques for all age groups and how a museum education department operates. They will serve as science facilitators, sparking excitement, curiosity, questioning and appreciation for scientific research related to the Space: An Out-of-Gravity Experience exhibition content.
Astronomy Intern
The Astronomy Intern will gain experience and skills key to careers in teaching, museums or the nonprofit world, including program development, informal education techniques for all age groups and how a museum education department operates. They will serve as science facilitators, sparking excitement, curiosity, questioning and appreciation for scientific research related to the Space: An Out-of-Gravity Experience exhibition content.
