PUMAS is Gladstone’s flagship internship program designed to support and mentor community college students, providing them with hands-on research experience and a pathway into the sciences.
Join a Gladstone lab for the summer
As a PUMAS intern you’ll:
- Gain hands-on lab experience in state-of-the-art facilities.
- Work with a scientific mentor(s) on an independent research project.
- Network with researchers including investigators, graduate students, and postdocs.
- Learn lab skills and techniques, including etiquette, safety, and pipetting basics.
- Improve public speaking and communication skills with workshops.
- Increase your understanding of different career paths in science.
- Learn what it means to be a scientist and get paid for your work.
PUMAS Over the Years
2019-2023 Alumni
71% |
100% |
100% |
sustained or increased their interest in biomedical science |
received a STEM-related bachelor’s degree from a 4-year institution (e.g., UC Berkeley, UC Davis) |
aspire to pursue advanced degrees (M.S. or higher) |
71% |
sustained or increased their interest in biomedical science |
100% |
received a STEM-related bachelor’s degree from a 4-year institution (e.g., UC Berkeley, UC Davis) |
100% |
aspire to pursue advanced degrees (M.S. or higher) |
2024 PUMAS Interns
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible, you must:
- Be a United States citizen or permanent resident.
- Be currently enrolled as a community college student who is planning to transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).
- Have successfully completed at least two semesters of college-level science courses with a lab component (chemistry and molecular biology preferred, but not required), before the start of the internship.
- Have a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.50.
- Prior PUMAS interns are encouraged to apply.
- In-state candidates preferred.
2025 Program Details
- The program is limited: up to twelve qualified students will be accepted contingent on funding availability.
- Selected participants are paid minimum wage ($18.67/hour) and work part-time (approximately 20–25 hours per week).
- The tentative dates for the 2025 PUMAS nine-week internship program are from June 9, 2025 to August 8, 2025.
- PUMAS interns are assigned a project and conduct hands-on biomedical research in a laboratory, working one-on-one with at least one scientific mentor.
- Throughout the summer program, PUMAS interns also participate in weekly professional development meetings that cover a variety of topics, including résumé writing, research ethics, applying for graduate school, and scientific communications.
- The program ends with a scientific poster session, during which each PUMAS intern must present their research results to the community of Gladstone scientists and trainees.
- The internship will take place at Gladstone Institutes, located at 1650 Owens Street, San Francisco, CA 94158.
- Housing is not provided. PUMAS interns are responsible for their own housing and their own transportation to and from Gladstone.
TThe PUMAS program, established in 2014, is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The principal investigators of the grant are Melanie Ott, MD, PhD, Director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology, and Sudha Krishnamurthy, BDS, PhD, Director of Gladstone’s Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Education and Research Development Affairs.
