Scientific Practice

Two research internships (lab rotations) must be carried out in research groups at the campus Vienna BioCenter. The choice of a laboratory outside campus Vienna BioCenter is subject to SPL pre-approval. These research internships can also be carried out as part of the stay abroad (subject to prior approval by the SPL). Two lab internships (one Scientific Practice and one Advanced Scientific Practice) can be done in the same laboratory in which the practical work for the Master project is to be carried out.

Lab internships can be done in any research labs at campus Vienna BioCenter (including all groups at the Perutz, IMP, IMBA, GMI, UniVie Faculty of Life Sciences) and beyond (e.g., Medical University of Vienna, ISTA, BOKU, TU, etc), for-profit companies with R&D departments, other institutions in Austria, Europe and worldwide. (Links to Vienna-based research institutions can be found at https://molekularebiologie.univie.ac.at/studien/masterstellen/ )

There are three important criteria regarding the topic of such internship projects: 1) the practical work for the internship is carried out in the environment of active, internationally recognized research group or for-profit partner; 2) the overall topic of the internship is congruent with the objectives and subject area of the corresponding Master program (i.e., topic is related to molecular life sciences); 3) the overall topic of the internship is primarily research oriented. The latter criterion means that projects without a clear research objective or working hypothesis (such as e.g., repetitive measurements in clinical labs, technician jobs and the like) are NOT authorized as topics for lab internships. 

Please notice that successful completion of the module MMB I is the prerequisite for the lab rotations (Scientific Practice)!
[NOT relevant for Master Neuroscience]

General guidelines

  • Registration and approval
    Fill out and sign the registration form for MMB Master or for the MNEU Master and send it via email to the SPL (Dr. Ivan YUDUSHKIN, Master program Molecular Biology) or Prof. Manuel ZIMMER (Master program Neuroscience) for approval
  • Execution of the rotation project
    The typical duration of the rotation project is ~8 weeks (corresponds to 10 ECTS credits upon completion)
  • Project report
    The project report should follow the usual IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion) structure and include explicitly formulated research question(s) or working hypothesis, description of the empirical findings and conservative conclusions. Other aspects of the report (length, level of details, reference format, etc) should be done according to the criteria and instructions set up by the project supervisor. The report should be drawn within a maximum of two months after the completion of the experimental work and handed in to the supervising group leader for feedback, including suggestions for improving. Having corrected the draft according to the suggestions, the project report must be signed by the supervising group leader
  • Assessment
    Your group leader/supervisor of the rotation project should suggest a grade and confirm it with her/his signature at the bottom of the registration form, which you should then send to the SPL. The SPL or the coordinator of the Scientific Practice may additionally request a written report for assessment

 Assessment criteria include:

  1. Practical performance:
    • understanding of the principles of used methods
    • understanding and proper usage of adequate controls and correct experimental design
    • correct interpretation of empirical observations and proper data presentation

    2.  

  2. Interest, dedication and reading:
    • understanding of the contribution of own work to the lab research (research goals)
    • comparing own observations to published data
    • reading 1-2 current papers relevant to the internship goals

    3.  

  3. Written report:
    • formulation of specific aim/research goal/working hypothesis addressed during the internship
    • reasonable description of materials and methods
    • clear high-quality illustrations/figures with statistical and reproducibility statements
    • clear description of empirical observations and, if possible, conservative conclusions
    • inclusion of 1-2 references to current papers relevant to the iinternship goals
    • acknowledgement of limitations.