Biology and M(B)LS students at Beta faculty
If you study Biology or M(B)LS at the Beta Faculty and want to do your BSc Thesis and Research Project at Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics, you can of course do so. Please note that for Biology students we only offer places for the Graduation Project (B-B3AFSTP), where your time split between thesis and internship components will usually be 60/40. We do not offer places for the extended internship B-B3-PLONS.
Undergraduate internships in our department are basically organized in quarter 4. In groups of 3 or 4 students, you will conduct experiments with a researcher from the department. You will individually write a report on the research project and an individual thesis. The topic of the thesis is related to the research project and you decide together with the leader of the research group in which you are placed. You may also combine the thesis and the report into a whole, but you do not have to.
For a thesis/internship placement, we assume a thinking and knowledge level of Molecular Cell Research (B-B3MCR18), or of the course Research Design and Analysis (B-B3RDA21). This can be done by attending one of these courses (preferably) or by demonstrating that it has been achieved by other means. However, having taken this course does not guarantee an internship position because the number of available internship spots in the department is smaller than the number of spots in the course.
If you would like to do your thesis + internship in period 4, please register by sending an email to BScCelbio@uu.nl, with the following information:
-Name and student number
-Which study are you following (Biology/MLS/MBLS)?
-Which year 2 and year 3 courses relevant to your internship at CNB have you taken/are you planning to take.
– indicate a top 3 of research leaders where you would like to do your internship (see here on the right of this website, or at https://cellbiology.science.uu.nl/research-groups/). We try to take that into account when allocating, but we also take the date of application into account when placing you. In other words, if you apply earlier, you are more likely to be placed with the desired group.
After application, we will let you know whether you meet the entry requirements and whether there is still room. During quarter 3 we will make a classification, you will hear in which research group you will be definitively placed and who your fellow students are.
A thesis + internship in another quarter then P4 can be done in three ways: with Florian Berger, Ihor Smal (experience with programming is required here) and the Research Hub, which is run by Sabrina Oliveira.
The Research Hub involves a different research leader each quarter, who is not necessarily from Cell Biology. There you work together with several students from the Chemistry, Biology, MBLS and Pharmacy program, with a maximum of 4 students per study program.
For more information about the Research Hub and the various topics per period, see: Projects – Biotechnology Student Research Hub – Utrecht University. To register with the Research Hub, send an email to s.oliveira@uu.nl, with Bsccelbio@uu.nl in the CC.
Of course, you can also look for a place outside the Biology department. Teachers from CNB can often act as the UU examiner and 2nd assessor. To do this, approach a research group yourself and contact BScCelbio@uu.nl. Of course, this applies to every period.
You can always ask for further information via BScCelbio@uu.nl.
Internships 2026-2027
Registration for internships in P4 will start at September 1st, 2026. Check the website before then, as some alterations will take place during the summer. Also, it may take some time before you get an answer.
Internships outside of P4 are also possible, but only in the groups of Florian Berger (Theoretical Biophysics), Ihor Smal (programming skills required) and the Biotechnology Student Research Hub. (P2,P3 & P4 still available, note that the research subjects are not yet known). Registration for these internships is already open and can be done by sending an email to Bsccelbio@uu.nl. “