Placement and internship opportunities for students are available within medical research and are commonly advertised directly on company websites. For inspiration we have compiled a list below of companies who offer placement schemes. Please note this list is not exhaustive.
Companies offering student placements or internships often establish strong links with universities in the UK and opt to communicate details of upcoming placements to university students directly, for example, Bath and Cardiff universities.
Applications for full-year placements usually open in November and often involve an assessment day typically including a competency interview, technical interview and a group exercise.
If you are interested in undertaking a placement and have any questions, or are an organisation that offers placements and would like to add your details to our website then please contact us.
In 2019, CALC did a series of podcasts talking about the career opportunities available in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry – you can listen to them here.
Please find below the video testimonials from both placement students and managers of the 2023/24 intake:
Many companies will advertise their placements and internships on job websites or via mailing lists such as ALLSTAT, and some contact universities directly. You can explore a number of specific placement and internship opportunities below.
Type of Placement: Statistics Length: 13 months Pre-requisite: Applicants should be studying for a degree related to Mathematics or Statistics. Placements are advertised at universities and on the Abbott careers website www.jobs.abbott. For more information about Abbott Diabetes Care, please visit the website. | |
Type of Placement: Statistics, Programming, Data Science | |
Type of Placement: Data Science
Length: 12 months AstraZeneca offers placements for students currently undertaking a numerate degree including Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science or similar. Applications usually close in October, visit the Research & Development Undergraduate Industrial Placement Programme page on the AZ website and sign up for job updates at the bottom of that page. | |
Type of Placement: Programming
Length: 12 months Placements occurring between the second and final year of an undergraduate degree in a Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, or other relevant mathematical/scientific discipline. Each year the applications are usually live by the end of October (closing in November), with interviews in December and a start date in July the following summer. Visit Early Careers and Internships | Fortrea for more information. | |
Type of Placement: Statistics, Programming | |
Type of Placement: Statistics, Trial Operations, Data Systems/Programming Length: 8 weeks (July to September) Imperial offers fully funded placements in the Clinical Trials Unit for students undertaking Statistics, Mathematics or related quantitative subject (statistics position); health or life sciences subjects (operations position); or computer science or related quantitative subject (data systems/programming position). These opportunities are typically advertised on the Imperial Clinical Trials Unit website from late March/early April and close late April/early May. | |
Type of Placement: Statistics, Programming | |
Type of Placement: Programming Pre-requisite: Janssen offer Statistical Programming Placement opportunities within the Statistical Programming & Analysis group based in High Wycombe, UK. Positions are advertised during the autumn semester for placements starting the following summer. Placements are open to undergraduate students studying Computer Science, Mathematics, Data Science, or another relevant scientific field. Visit their careers website to find out more. | |
 | Type of Placement: NIHR Data Science Summer internship Pre-requisite: The Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit (CTRU) within LICTR is an international leader in the field of clinical trials; we are one of the largest CTRUs in the UK, and conduct national and international randomised and early phase clinical trials in a variety of clinical fields. Our main aim is to support the challenge of changing clinical practice for the better, and our past results and current work have already helped to do this. Our results inform the academic development of this specialised field of clinical research on a national and international level. Particularly, we specialise in complex phase III trials, efficient phase I/II trials, biomarker driven designs, seamless phase II/III designs, adaptive designs, and the development and evaluation of complex interventions. The NIHR Data Science Interns will join a large, well-established group of statisticians to support the Unit’s work on clinical trials. They will work on internationally renowned trials designed to answer questions of real importance to patients and health professionals, ultimately improving disease outcomes and patient care. During the summer, each Intern will work on one of three projects, which will enable them to gain experience in literature searching, developing a statistical analysis plan, and conducting appropriate analysis using statistical software. There is also the potential for the projects to be incorporated into conference and journal publications. Application closing date: 3rd May 2026. For more information and to apply, please visit our Sway site (https://sway.cloud.microsoft/xPLEu1Bj7rQLYoCk?ref=Link ). Queries can additionally be directed to Alex Welsh (a.welsh1@leeds.ac.uk), one of the project supervisors. |
Type of Placement: Statistics, Programming Length: 12 months Lilly provides placement opportunities for undergraduates studying Mathematics or Statistics. Visit the Lilly website and scroll down to “Our Student Placement Program”. | |
Type of Placement: Statistics in healthcare This post is for undergraduate students studying for a degree with placement in industry in a statistical/numerate subject.
This post is an opportunity to join our committed team of statisticians for a year and become involved in extremely rewarding work, developing a broad range of statistical and other skills. The post will involve collaborative work with clinicians and others working in organ transplantation, blood donation and haematology. Placements are advertised on the NHS blood and transplant careers page. | |
Type of Placement: Programming Length: 12-14 months Pre-requisite: Placements offered to undergraduates studying Mathematics, Statistics or Computer Science (other courses with high numerical content considered). Each year the recruitment process starts during September and October for placement years starting the following summer. Apply directly here: Find Jobs and Careers With Parexel, a Pharmaceutical Services Leader and search for Student Placement, Location = Sheffield, England. | |
Type of Placement: Industrial Placement (Statistics, Programming, Data Science)
Type of Placement: Summer internship for PhD students Length: 8-10 weeks Pre-requisite: Anyone currently studying for a PhD in a data-oriented subject (e.g., Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, or any other STEM subject). Applications typically open in November each year. Please visit the Roche Careers website for details. | |
Type of Placement: Statistics Industrial Placement Placements offered to undergraduates studying Mathematics or Statistics (other courses with high statistical content considered). Opportunities are advertised around September/October for placement years starting the following summer.
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