Thank you for your interest in hosting one or more interns this year. Your application provides you with access to our College, High School, and Data Science Internship Programs, all of which run from May 1, 2025– April 30, 2026 and internships can take place at any time within the 12-month Program Year.
Please carefully review the detailed instructions below. Note that funding up to the amount specified below is available on a first-come first-served basis and only committed upon approval of your intern selection through the online portal. Reimbursement can only be processed after execution of the MLSC Agreement.
Step #1: Log in to your SmartSimple account by visiting mlsc.smartsimple.com and scroll to the bottom of your Home page to locate and openand open your “Approved” application. Depending on which boxes you checked in your application for the type of internship program you would like to participate in, new tab(s) will appear at the beginning of the application (one for each of the three programs). You can return to the Internship Positions tab at any time to check additional boxes for other programs. The databases of intern applications can be accessed by clicking on the “Search for Interns” buttons. You can filter the list of applications by entering a keyword and/or using the provided search criteria. To view all applicants, leave the Criteria section blank.
Step #2: If you find candidates of interest, contact them directly using either their phone number or email address. Please inform them that you are participating in the MLSC internship program and describe your company and the internship opportunity. If there is mutual interest, proceed to arrange for and conduct an interview.
Step #3: Once you have decided to extend an offer to a candidate, you must first click the “Request Offer” button to the left of the candidate’s name in the database. Your application displays a listing of all candidates you have requested approval to extend offers to, along with the status of each request. MLSC staff will then approve the request(s) or contact you about why one was not approved.
Step #4: Once approved by the MLSC, their status will change from “Offer Requested” to “Offer Approved.” You can then proceed to extend the formal offer letter to the candidate.
Step #5: If and when the offer is accepted, you MUST log back in to your application and change the status of the candidate to “Hired.” You can also change the status to “Not Hired” at any time if the offer is declined or rescinded.
You will then be prompted to upload the offer letter which must be signed by both the company and the intern and include the start date, anticipated end date, hourly pay rate, physical location of the internship, and explicit mention of the employment being an internship.
You will also be prompted to upload the signed Intern Sponsorship Agreement. You are required to upload one separate Agreement for each of the three internship programs (college, high school, and data science), but if there are multiple interns for the same program, please include names of each of those interns on one Agreement (to be listed on “Schedule A”). Should additional interns be hired later on, an Amendment to the Agreement will be required. The Agreement templates for each program are available for download within your application. If you need an amendment, please contact the MLSC team at internship@masslifesciences.com. Fully executed Agreements/Amendments can be sent to you once they are ready.
Step #6: Reimbursement is provided as one electronic fund transfer at the conclusion of the internship(s). Please submit all required paperwork only after the internship is completed and the final paycheck has been issued. If you hire interns from more than one of the three programs, a SEPARATE reimbursement request is required for each program.
- For the Internship Challenge (college program), reimbursements are capped at $9,600 per intern and the maximum reimbursable pay rate is $20/hour. Please note that interns must be paid no less than $18/hour. Companies are permitted to hire up to two interns per Program Year, but can hire up to two additional interns if they are enrolled in a 2-year college/community college/certificate program or a Minority Serving Institution (such as UMass Boston or an HBCU). Research institutions can hire up to six interns per Program Year with a maximum of 2 interns per lab/department, provided that at least three of the six (one per department) are enrolled in a 2-year/community college/certificate program, or MSI. If the research institution is a college/university, they cannot hire students/graduates that are/were enrolled at the institution.
- For the Data Science Internship Program, MLSC will reimburse for pay rates of up to $20/hour for an intern that is pursuing or has completed their Bachelor’s degree or enrolled in a Master’s program for a total reimbursement of up to $12,800; $25/hour for an intern that has completed their Master’s degree or is enrolled in a Ph.D. program, for a total reimbursement of up to $16,000; and $30/hour for an intern that has completed their Ph.D. for a total reimbursement of up to $19,200.
- Companies are limited to one subsidized data science intern per year, which counts toward the Internship Challenge (college intern) limit.
- Research Institutions can select up to four interns per Program Year with a maximum of 2 interns per lab/department, provided that two of the four (one per lab/department) are enrolled in a 2-year/community college/certificate program, or MSI.
- For the High School Apprenticeship Challenge, companies are required to pay interns between $15 and $17 per hour for a total reimbursement not to exceed $4,080 per intern. No more than two interns can be subsidized, and these interns will not count toward the Internship Challenge limit. Research institutions can select up to 35 interns per Program Year.
Organizations are welcome to pay more or less, but can only request reimbursement for paid wages based on these hourly rates.
When ready to request reimbursement, please upload the following to your application:
- Reimbursement Summary Form. Use the Excel spreadsheet(s) available for download within your application (note that there is a separate file for each of the three internship programs).
- Proof of payment (payroll documentation that shows gross wages paid, hours worked, organization name and intern name).
- Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Authorization Form (if not submitted previously or if information has changed). This form can be downloaded here.
- W-9 form for the company if not recently submitted (dated and signed within the past two years) or if the organization’s address/name has changed.
- Updated Certificates of Good Standing (within current calendar year).
For more details regarding documentation required for reimbursement, please review the Document Checklists available on the MLSC website for each of the three internship programs.
