Partnership creates more than 700 life science internships in Greater Boston
Cambridge, MA—Life Science Cares Boston (LSC Boston) celebrates seven years of partnership with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) to grow Project Onramp, a program building onramps for talented students seeking career experiences in the life sciences industry.
Project Onramp, which matches students with paid summer internships in the life sciences, was created in 2019 by Massachusetts’ leading life sciences organizations: MassBio, MassBioEd, the MLSC, and LSC Boston. Since then, 763 students participated in meaningful, and often transformative, internships with 189 companies in the Greater Boston area. The program is supported in part by funding provided by the MLSC, donations from life science companies, and significant investment by companies such as Third Rock Ventures, Google Ventures, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
Created to make the talent pipeline into the life sciences industry more robust, Project Onramp matches undergraduates from low-income backgrounds with paid summer internships that build awareness of future career pathways, provide access to technical and real-world skills, and leverage opportunities to develop professional networks. Additional professional development workshops, industry leadership panels, and networking sessions scheduled throughout the summer ensure Project Onramp students receive a holistic picture of the industry and its opportunities.
Project Onramp works with college success organizations like Bottom Line and Minds Matter Boston, as well as local four-year colleges and universities, including Tufts University, UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, and others, to source high-performing Pell-Granted students who are interested in exploring careers in the life sciences industry. The summer internships these students secure allow them to gain technical expertise as well as other professional skills, which leave them in good stead as they graduate and look for that first “real” job in the Massachusetts life sciences ecosystem. In addition to scientific and lab opportunities, Project Onramp offers internships in business development, administration, HR, finance, IT, marketing, and more. Internships can be on site, virtual, or hybrid. Students from a wide variety of majors gain experience in a corporate setting, as well as build social capital in the industry.
“We all know that who you know can be as important as what you know when looking for a work opportunity,” said Lila Neel, national director of Project Onramp. “By engaging with industry professionals in office and lab work, mentoring, and career exploration, Project Onramp students build social capital and the networks necessary to secure a great job once they graduate.”
Recognizing the strategic importance of growing talent pipelines into the life sciences industry, the MLSC has been a committed partner since Project Onramp’s founding. Through the MLSC’s Internship Challenge, life sciences companies with 100 employees or fewer are eligible to apply for reimbursement of up to $9,600 per intern for gross wages. Since inception of the program in 2019, the MLSC has contributed $157,500 to LSC Boston to administer the program and has sponsored approximately ten percent of internships through the Internship Challenge.
“The MLSC is proud to celebrate another successful year of our longstanding partnership with Life Science Cares Boston,” said MLSC President and CEO Kirk Taylor, MD. “By supporting influential programs such as Project Onramp, we ensure that students from all backgrounds have equal access to opportunities which allow them to explore their passion for the life sciences.”
Project Onramp currently offers internships in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, with plans to expand to additional cities in the next few years.
About Project Onramp
A program of Life Science Cares, Project Onramp breaks down barriers and facilitates students on a pathway to success—while helping life sciences companies build a more robust talent pipeline for the growing needs of the industry. These internship opportunities serve as a stepping-stone to a rewarding career for a talent pool that has typically had difficulty gaining access to the life science industry. The program gives students—many of them the first in their families to attend college—hands-on experience and a valuable start towards a career in life sciences. Learn more: projectonramp.us.
About Life Science Cares
Since 2016, Life Science Cares (LSC) has leveraged the talent, passion, and community investments of the life science industry to fight poverty and provide a platform for the city’s leading industry to make a difference in the community. Through partnerships with life science companies and executives, LSC has invested more than $20 million and tens of thousands of volunteer hours in community-based organizations and programs that provide access to basic needs, education, and economic opportunity. LSC operates in Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York, as well as in Switzerland. Learn more: lifesciencecares.org.
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is an economic development and investment agency dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the life sciences in Massachusetts, home to the most verdant and productive life sciences ecosystem in the world. Since its creation in 2007, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has strategically deployed more than $1 billion in Massachusetts, through a combination of grants, loans, capital infrastructure investments, tax incentives, and workforce programs. These investments have created thousands of jobs and propelled the development of new therapies, devices, and scientific advancements that are improving patient health and well-being in Massachusetts and around the world. Learn more: masslifesciences.com.
###
